Peculiar Institution
lervns
CH APT ER
8
The " Peculiar Institution', : Slaves Tell Their Own Story
ii THE PROBLEM
With the establishment of its nelw government in 1789, ihe United States became a r.irtual rnagaet for foieign traveiers, perhaps never more so than during the three Cecades immediately preceding our Civil lVar. N{iddle to up_ per class, interesied in everything from politics to prison reform to botanical specimens to the position of women in American society, these cu_ rious travelers fanrred out across the United States, and almost all wrote about their observ-ations in ieLters, pamphlets, anci books widej-v read orr both sides of rhe ocean. Regardlcss of their special interests, ho*.ever, ferv travelers f.itled to notice-an.d comment on-the "peciiliar instrtution', of' -\frican Anre, rican slal,e,-v. As rl'ere narl-v nineteenth-cenlurr. \\'onterr writers, English author Har_
i*t inter_ riet Martineau was especiaily
tc exploit female siaves sexually, a practice that often produced mulatto children born into slavery. The young Frenchman Alexis de Tocqueville came to study the Ameri_ can penitentiary system and stayed to investigate politics and society. In his book Democracy in America (1g42), Tocqueville expressed his belief that American slaves had completelr. lost their .drican cuiture-their custorns. lariguages, religions, ancl even ihe memories of their countries. An Eng_ ]ish novelist rvho \4/as enor.moLr_.lv poprrlar in the !p;1"6 Srrtr.-.. : t-,.
ested in those aspects of American so_ ciety that affected women and chil_ dren. She was appalled by the slave system, believing ii deg::adcd mar_ riage by aliowing southern white rnen
[1791
-\
,ll
{.(:ul,lAIt
3ftr1'loN":
.rrls 1'lll,l,
,tElR O\\'N
.+,r()ltY
crusty Charles Dickens, also visited in 1842. He spent very little time in the South but collected (and published) advertisemenis lor runaway slaves that contained gruesome descriptions of their burns, brandings, scars, and
CH APT ER
8
The " Peculiar Institution', : Slaves Tell Their Own Story
ii THE PROBLEM
With the establishment of its nelw government in 1789, ihe United States became a r.irtual rnagaet for foieign traveiers, perhaps never more so than during the three Cecades immediately preceding our Civil lVar. N{iddle to up_ per class, interesied in everything from politics to prison reform to botanical specimens to the position of women in American society, these cu_ rious travelers fanrred out across the United States, and almost all wrote about their observ-ations in ieLters, pamphlets, anci books widej-v read orr both sides of rhe ocean. Regardlcss of their special interests, ho*.ever, ferv travelers f.itled to notice-an.d comment on-the "peciiliar instrtution', of' -\frican Anre, rican slal,e,-v. As rl'ere narl-v nineteenth-cenlurr. \\'onterr writers, English author Har_
i*t inter_ riet Martineau was especiaily
tc exploit female siaves sexually, a practice that often produced mulatto children born into slavery. The young Frenchman Alexis de Tocqueville came to study the Ameri_ can penitentiary system and stayed to investigate politics and society. In his book Democracy in America (1g42), Tocqueville expressed his belief that American slaves had completelr. lost their .drican cuiture-their custorns. lariguages, religions, ancl even ihe memories of their countries. An Eng_ ]ish novelist rvho \4/as enor.moLr_.lv poprrlar in the !p;1"6 Srrtr.-.. : t-,.
ested in those aspects of American so_ ciety that affected women and chil_ dren. She was appalled by the slave system, believing ii deg::adcd mar_ riage by aliowing southern white rnen
[1791
-\
,ll
{.(:ul,lAIt
3ftr1'loN":
.rrls 1'lll,l,
,tElR O\\'N
.+,r()ltY
crusty Charles Dickens, also visited in 1842. He spent very little time in the South but collected (and published) advertisemenis lor runaway slaves that contained gruesome descriptions of their burns, brandings, scars, and