Tales of the peculiar is a collection of our most beloved folklore. The whole commerce between master and slave is a perpetual exercise of the most unremitting despotism on the one part, and degrading submission on the other. Because of this, actual conditions of slavery are biased and marred by personal opinion. He is the author, most recently, of flush times and fever dreams. I was looking for a single volume treatment of the subject because, despite being steeped in 19th century american history during my time of study at ucla, i had. A single overriding issue exacerbated the regional and economic differences between north and south. Dec 17, 2009 the peculiar institution the civil war duration.
Winner of the lincoln prizestampps classic study of ame. Texas developed a peculiar version of the peculiar institution. Admittedly, his writing is deep, yet it is vital and relevant. Stampps most popular book is the peculiar institution.
Spanish and portuguese settlers brought the first african slaves to the new world in 1501, establishing the new worlds first international slave port in santo domingo. The peculiar institution does not merit sentimintality in any form. The peculiar institution linda doesnt fully understand the horrors of slavery. Religious motives sometimes prevailed, however, as many devout white christians educated slaves to enable the reading of the bible. However, for scholars, students, and those with a foundation in the topic, stampps peculiar institution is a mustread. Many centuries earlier some men learned that they could gain practical. Some tales are cautionary unwise choices lead to bad results, while others praise such qualities as leadership and use of your talents to benefit others the book, supposedly edited by series character millard nullings, is dedicated to miss peregrine and features other notable creators of. Open library is an open, editable library catalog, building towards a web page for every book ever published. The ship shows the low decks that were constructed on slaving vessels so that the maximum number of african captives could be transported. She knows that her role is to serve white people, but doesnt really understand what that means.
The peculiar institution, as antebellum southerners referred to slavery, started. She is the headmistress of her schoolsafe haven for peculiar children in a loop on cairnholm. Slavery scarred everyone associated with it, both black and white. Stampp of the university of california, berkeley and other universities. The peculiar institution i recently completed what is roundly regarded as the seminal work on slavery in america, kenneth stampps classic the peculiar institution. A story of capitalism and slavery in the age of jackson 2012, and is currently working on a book about the slave traders isaac franklin, john armfield, and rice ballard. More than four decades ago, in 1956, historian kenneth m. The practice of state killing is an archaic relic, a hollow symbol that accomplishes nothing but reflects a puritanical, punitive culture bloodthirsty in its pursuit of retribution. Slavery in the antebellum south is a nonfiction book about slavery published in 1956, by academic kenneth m. When she was an infant, jack would abuse her out of jealousy.
Who is frederick douglass intended audience in his. The death penalty has not been a stagnant institution. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Slavery in the antebellum society vintage books ed by kenneth m stampp isbn. Alma was one of three siblings, her brothers were jackcaul bentham and myron bentham.
The peculiar institution was the first book to smash the theory of the day put forth by southern historians during the jim crow era that slavery was. An account of some of the principal slave insurrections. In reading the book a halfcentury after its publication, and with some benefit of having read subsequent studies, i was struck with the moderate tone of the book. If you are the publisher or author of this book and feel that the. Stampp wants to show specifically what slavery was like, why it existed, and what it did to the american people. Even in the book s preface, william lloyd garrison and wendell phillips express to the audience that this. In 1754 an american tobacco planter residing in england decided to send his slave aron back. Peculiar institution tells a fascinating and important story that illuminates why the death penalty is so problematic and yet so well suited to american practices. These same christians did not recognize marriage between slaves in their laws. Cotton is king in the 19th century, cotton replaced sugar as the worlds major crop produced by slaves. It was recognized and protected by national laws as well as the constitution, and not considered illegal under nineteenthcentury notions of international law. A look back at the peculiar institution by fitzhugh brundage editors note.
The book describes and analyzes multiple facets of slavery in the american south from the 17th through the mid19th century, including demographics, lives of slaves and slaveholders, the. Prior to the civil war southern slavery was americas most profound and vexatious social problem. Slave codes had ruinous effects on african american society. Rothman is professor of history and chair of the department of history at the university of alabama. Stampp read 9 aug 1987 this is a 1956 book on slavery in the antebellum south and is. Incidents in the life of a slave girl, written by herself is an autobiography by harriet jacobs, a mother and fugitive slave, published in 1861 by l. The peculiar institution was the first book to smash the theory of the day put forth by southern historians during the jim crow era that slavery was a benign, paternalistic institution with which slaves were actually better off than if they had remained in savage africa. Offers a new slant on life as a slave in the antebellum south and tells how slavery brought about its own end. Alma lefay peregrine nee bentham, is a female peculiar with the peculiarity of being an ymbryne. Peculiar institution kindle edition by garland, david. The concern that the mass imprisonment of the late 20th and early 21st centuries is a recreation of americas peculiar institution of slavery has been the subject of academic commentary. November 6, 1860 a peculiar institution from the earliest years of the new world, every economy from canada to argentina was, to varying degrees, involved with slavery. For many europeans, the persistence of americas death penalty is a stark reminder of american otherness. The constitution contained enough ambiguity to allow antislavery forces to maintain by the middle of the nineteenth century that the federal.
Yes, there were humane masters in an inhumane system and yes,there were variants in time and place. These tales hail from various parts of the globe, from oral as well as written traditions, and have gone through. The centrality of the peculiar institution in american. Things like, her new masters, the flints, are really cruel to her brother william. Stampp has 14 books on goodreads with 2408 ratings. This institution deserves close study if only because its impact upon the whole country was so disastrouspreface. Slavery in the antebellum south kenneth milton stampp snippet view 1956. Free southern blacks continued to live under the shadow of slavery, unable to. Frank and virginia williams collection of lincolniana mississippi state university. After abolition in the north, slavery had become the peculiar institution of the south that is, an institution unique to southern society. Garland artfully shows how capital punishment has a remarkable capacity to transform itself so as to adapt to shifts in politics, culture. Winner of the lincoln prize stampps classic study of american slavery as a deliberately chosen, practical system of controlling and exploiting labor is one of the most important and influential works of american history written in our time.
Racism was only a part of this argument, but they also used. In his narrative, frederick douglass seeks to educate an uninformed northern audience. But in america, political, religious, economic and social arguments in favor of the continuation of slavery emerged. This guy is some history teacher from berkley who wrote this in 1954 so he uses the word negro to describe black people. The book documents jacobss life as a slave and how she gained freedom for herself and for her. The paperback of the peculiar institution by kenneth m. Incidents in the life of a slave girl analysis shmoop. Capital punishment and the american condition peculiar institution provides the best explanation i have ever read as to why the united states, alone among western democracies, retains.
For one, it started out as the territory of faraway mexico, which outlawed slavery, resulting in an odd legal fiction in which slaves, no doubt under duress, contracted their labor out for longer than they could conceivably live. Resenting the large profits amassed by northern businessmen. The book explores the negative impact of slavery on both whites and blacks in the antebellum period and is largely about dispelling myths created by previous historians of the 1940s and 1950s who. The following selection is from the peculiar institution. More than any other problem, slavery nagged at the public conscience. Passed down from generation to generation since time immemorial, each story is part history, part fairy tale, and part moral lesson aimed at young peculiars. The peculiar institution, as antebellum southerners referred to slavery, started as a chattel system that eventually developed into. Although scores of academic studies on slavery have been published. The book documents jacobss life as a slave and how she gained freedom for herself and for her children. A quest for full citizenship slaverythe peculiar institution. Certainly, the book makes it clear to me that the very least we could have hoped for was decades more of slavery. Pictures from a peculiar institution the new york times. Slavery in the antebellum society vintage books ed by stampp, kenneth m isbn. The book describes and analyzes multiple facets of slavery in the american south from the 17th through the mid19th century, including.
The peculiar institution lays the groundwork for understanding the most tragic and criminal institution in our nations it presents the horrors of slavery where, even at its most humane it was an inhuman and barbarous institution. Their ability to express themselves, however, was determined by whether they lived in the north or the south. The peculiar institution is one of the most important and provocative works on southern history to appear in our generation. Slavery is perhaps the most polarizing subject of american history. The peculiar institution lays the groundwork for understanding the most tragic and criminal institution in our nations his this is a great resource and a terrific book on american slavery.
If all men are somehow naturally endowed with such unalienable rights as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, this principle was discovered relatively late in human history. Slavery in the antebellum south and the era of reconstruction, 18651877, two books that. Stampp provides deep insight into the institution of slavery. The peculiar institution 1956 edition open library.
Slavery in the antebellum south volume 253 of a vintage book. Free blacks in the antebellum period the african american. Centrality of the peculiar institution views as the law of the land. Great britain had outlawed the slave trade long before its former american colonies. C ritics of sean wilentzs essay in the september 16 new york times have rightfully noted that contrary to wilentzs claims, the constitution quite clearly entrenched racial slavery in the national government and made it a national institution. But shes a smart girl, and she starts noticing things.
The abolitionists made use of the plights of slave. Alma lefay peregrine the peculiar children wiki fandom. Mar 16, 2011 the death penalty has not been a stagnant institution. Free blacks in the antebellum periodthose years from the formation of the union until the civil warwere quite outspoken about the injustice of slavery. The book contains biographical statements for each of the surviving africans, with illustrations, including profile portraits of each captive. In debating capital punishment, the usual rhetoric points to americas deviance from the western norm. Immediately download the peculiar institution summary, chapterbychapter analysis, book notes, essays, quotes, character descriptions, lesson plans, and more everything you need for studying or teaching peculiar institution. Sep 30, 2010 taking us deep inside the world of capital punishment, the book offers a detailed picture of a peculiar institution its cultural meaning and symbolic force for supporters and abolitionists, its place in the landscape of american politics and attitudes to crime, its constitutional status and the legal struggles that define it. Despite its comprehensive abolition elsewhere in the western world, capital punishment continues in dozens of american statesa fact that is frequently discussed but rarely understood. But in spite of these cataclysmic events, most southerners clung to slavery. Slaverythe peculiar institution library of congress. Twentiethcentury artist romare bearden presents a stylized depiction of the odyssey of captives from africa to the united states.
Stampp declared in his work, the peculiar institution, southerners live in the shadow of a real tragedy, american slavery. Apush chapter 11 the peculiar institution flashcards. The peculiar institution was the first book to smash the theory of the day put forth by southern historians during. A black mans silhouette frames a view of the african continent, a u. Stamp is a mythbuster busting myths with firsthand quotes, statistics, and primary sources. Racism was only a part of this argument, but they also used history and biblical claims the practice was alright. Indeed i tremble for my country when i reflect that god is just.