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American Counterpoint: Slavery and Racism in the North-South Dialogue
Dust jacket is slightly chipped at the edges,
- GenresHistory
First published June 1, 1971
43 people want to read
About the author
C. Vann Woodward
37 books55 followersComer Vann Woodward was an American historian who focused primarily on the American South and race relations.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
December 11, 2017
Woodward, not yet twenty years in the grave, has gone from towering over Southern historiography to getting three ratings and no reviews at all for this invaluable collection of essays. As he says in his piece on W. J. Cash, "In America, historians, like politicians, are out as soon as they are down."
The book contains ten essays. They are all stimulating, informative and engagingly written.
"The Southern Ethic in a Puritan World" starts out as an exploration of the mythical (or is it?) conflict between Southern "laziness" and the Northern work-ethic, and fans out into a concise outline of Woodward's views of Southern social trends through the Populist period.
"Protestant Slavery in a Catholic World" has less to offer, partly because much more substantial work has since been done on the relationship between Southern and Latin-American slavery, but also because to a considerable degree Woodward is simply taking the opportunity to introduce American readers to the work of Brazilian historian Gilberto Freyre.
Similarly, "A Southern War Against Capitalism" is an excellent introduction to the work of the ever-entertaining George Fitzhugh (it was in fact first published as the preface to CVW's edition of Cannibals All!), and "A Southern Brief for Racial Equality" brings to attention the career of maverick racial progressive Lewis Harvie Blair, which was altogether new to me.
"The Northern Crusade Against Slavery" is a highpoint in the collection, and should be mandatory reading for admirers of Northern triumphalism. Making use of Voegeli and Litwack and others, Woodward offers some home truths about the title subject. "Seeds of Failure in Radical Race Policy" is also excellent.
There are also pieces on Plessy v. Ferguson and the mystery of exponential population growth among Southern slaves, the aforementioned critique of Cash's The Mind of the South (exploring some obvious but widely ignored problems with this much-admired work), and an essay on the controversy surrounding Woodward's own The Strange Case of Jim Crow.
I can't imagine anyone interested in Southern history not profiting from Woodward's observations, assuming they are not wholly captured by early 21st-century groupthink.
The book contains ten essays. They are all stimulating, informative and engagingly written.
"The Southern Ethic in a Puritan World" starts out as an exploration of the mythical (or is it?) conflict between Southern "laziness" and the Northern work-ethic, and fans out into a concise outline of Woodward's views of Southern social trends through the Populist period.
"Protestant Slavery in a Catholic World" has less to offer, partly because much more substantial work has since been done on the relationship between Southern and Latin-American slavery, but also because to a considerable degree Woodward is simply taking the opportunity to introduce American readers to the work of Brazilian historian Gilberto Freyre.
Similarly, "A Southern War Against Capitalism" is an excellent introduction to the work of the ever-entertaining George Fitzhugh (it was in fact first published as the preface to CVW's edition of Cannibals All!), and "A Southern Brief for Racial Equality" brings to attention the career of maverick racial progressive Lewis Harvie Blair, which was altogether new to me.
"The Northern Crusade Against Slavery" is a highpoint in the collection, and should be mandatory reading for admirers of Northern triumphalism. Making use of Voegeli and Litwack and others, Woodward offers some home truths about the title subject. "Seeds of Failure in Radical Race Policy" is also excellent.
There are also pieces on Plessy v. Ferguson and the mystery of exponential population growth among Southern slaves, the aforementioned critique of Cash's The Mind of the South (exploring some obvious but widely ignored problems with this much-admired work), and an essay on the controversy surrounding Woodward's own The Strange Case of Jim Crow.
I can't imagine anyone interested in Southern history not profiting from Woodward's observations, assuming they are not wholly captured by early 21st-century groupthink.
Displaying 1 of 1 review