“A Question of Labor”: Planters, Freed Slaves, and Alternate Laborers in the American South, 1865‐1875
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Authors
Gordon, Kelsey
Issue Date
2012
Type
Thesis
Language
en_US
Keywords
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Abstract
“The Labor Question” was planters’ response to freedpeoples’
various acts of resistance on their plantations. By looking at the way
Southern planters characterized black laborers in this debate, one can
see how plantation owners interpreted the various disputes with freed slaves that were erupting on plantations. The continuous set of articles
on freedpeoples’ acts of resistance also serves to remind us that freed
slaves actively fought to improve their status in Southern society. Freed
laborers’ insistence on redefining their position in Southern society
framed conditions of their emancipation.
“The Labor Question” also displayed how racist ideologies led
planters to come to conclusions that in hindsight, made them look like
fools. The paternalistic myth from the Antebellum era that slaves liked
slavery convinced many planters that the Chinese would willingly flock
to their plantations, and joyously perform backbreaking labor out of
sheer love and devotion. Planters also believed that white laborers,
being white, would be the smartest, most industrial laborers the world
had to offer. Their hopes were soon proven to be incredibly unfounded. Research for the thesis looked at as many states and regions in
the South as were possible. Whenever discussing the South as a whole, it
is important to remember that nothing was homogenous. Consequently,
the events described were broad trends that occurred throughout the
South. In terms of relations between planters and their laborers,
whether they were black, white, or Chinese, there were bound to have
been exceptions to every trend discussed.
Description
iii, 47 p.
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