University, Court, and Slave: Pro-slavery Thought in Southern Colleges and Courts, and the Coming of Civil War

University, Court, and Slave: Pro-slavery Thought in Southern Colleges and Courts, and the Coming of Civil War
ISBN-10
0199964238
ISBN-13
9780199964239
Category
History
Pages
409
Language
English
Published
2016
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Author
Alfred L. Brophy

Description

"This book reveals long-forgotten connections between pre-Civil War southern universities and slavery. Universities and their faculty profited from their labor while many slaves endured physical abuse on campuses. The profits of enslaved labor helped pay for education, and faculty and students at times actively promoted the institution. They wrote about the history of slavery, argued for its central role in the southern economy, and developed a political theory that justified slavery. The university faculty spoke a common language of economic utility, history, and philosophy with those who made the laws for the southern states. Their extensive writing promoting slavery helps us understand how southern politicians and judges thought about the practice. As Alfred L. Brophy shows, southern universities fought the emancipation movement for economic reasons, but used history, philosophy, and law in an attempt to justify their position. Bolstered by the courts, academics took their case to the southern public-and ultimately to the battlefield-to defend slavery. A path-breaking and deeply researched history of southern universities' investment in and defense of slavery, this book will fundamentally transform our understanding of the institutional foundations of pro-slavery thought." -- Book jacket and publisher's website.

Other editions

Similar books