Masterless Men

Poor Whites and Slavery in the Antebellum South

Nonfiction, History, Americas, United States, 19th Century, Business & Finance
Cover of the book Masterless Men by Keri Leigh Merritt, Cambridge University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Keri Leigh Merritt ISBN: 9781316877586
Publisher: Cambridge University Press Publication: May 8, 2017
Imprint: Cambridge University Press Language: English
Author: Keri Leigh Merritt
ISBN: 9781316877586
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Publication: May 8, 2017
Imprint: Cambridge University Press
Language: English

Analyzing land policy, labor, and legal history, Keri Leigh Merritt reveals what happens to excess workers when a capitalist system is predicated on slave labor. With the rising global demand for cotton - and thus, slaves - in the 1840s and 1850s, the need for white laborers in the American South was drastically reduced, creating a large underclass who were unemployed or underemployed. These poor whites could not compete - for jobs or living wages - with profitable slave labor. Though impoverished whites were never subjected to the daily violence and degrading humiliations of racial slavery, they did suffer tangible socio-economic consequences as a result of living in a slave society. Merritt examines how these 'masterless' men and women threatened the existing Southern hierarchy and ultimately helped push Southern slaveholders toward secession and civil war.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Analyzing land policy, labor, and legal history, Keri Leigh Merritt reveals what happens to excess workers when a capitalist system is predicated on slave labor. With the rising global demand for cotton - and thus, slaves - in the 1840s and 1850s, the need for white laborers in the American South was drastically reduced, creating a large underclass who were unemployed or underemployed. These poor whites could not compete - for jobs or living wages - with profitable slave labor. Though impoverished whites were never subjected to the daily violence and degrading humiliations of racial slavery, they did suffer tangible socio-economic consequences as a result of living in a slave society. Merritt examines how these 'masterless' men and women threatened the existing Southern hierarchy and ultimately helped push Southern slaveholders toward secession and civil war.

More books from Cambridge University Press

Cover of the book Authority and Expertise in Ancient Scientific Culture by Keri Leigh Merritt
Cover of the book 1922 by Keri Leigh Merritt
Cover of the book Great Australian Dissents by Keri Leigh Merritt
Cover of the book Disability and Community Living Policies by Keri Leigh Merritt
Cover of the book Capitalizing on Nature by Keri Leigh Merritt
Cover of the book Privacy, Confidentiality, and Health Research by Keri Leigh Merritt
Cover of the book The Public Law of Gender by Keri Leigh Merritt
Cover of the book Paratexts by Keri Leigh Merritt
Cover of the book Kant and the Laws of Nature by Keri Leigh Merritt
Cover of the book Learn to Teach by Keri Leigh Merritt
Cover of the book Global Justice and International Labour Rights by Keri Leigh Merritt
Cover of the book The Nanotechnology Challenge by Keri Leigh Merritt
Cover of the book Collective Security by Keri Leigh Merritt
Cover of the book Imperialism, Sovereignty and the Making of International Law by Keri Leigh Merritt
Cover of the book Politics in the Roman Republic by Keri Leigh Merritt
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy