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Sociology for the South; Or, the Failure of Free Society
George Fitzhugh (1806-1881) was an American social theorist who published racial and slavery-based sociological theories in the antebellum era. He argued that "the Negro is but a grown up child" who needs the economic and social protections of slavery. Fitzhugh practiced law and was a planter for years, but attracted both his fame and infamy when he published two sociological tracts for the South. He was a leading proslavery intellectual and spoke for many of the Southern plantation owners. Before printing books, Fitzhugh tried his hand at a pamphlet titled Slavery Justified (1849). His first book, Sociology for the South; or, the Failure of Free Society (1854) was Fitzhugh's most powerful attack on the philosophical foundations of free society. In it, he argued that free labor and free markets enriched the strong while crushing the weak. However, it was not as widely known as his Cannibals All! ; or, Slaves Without Masters (1857) which was a sharp criticism of the system of "wage-slavery" found in the north. Fitzhugh believed that slavery reduced the pressure on the poor and lower class.
206 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1854
About the author
George Fitzhugh
30 books11 followersAmerican social theorist, judge and writer.
He was a critic of the philosophical foundations of personal liberty and capitalism.
His Sociology for the South was an attack on Adam Smith, John Locke, & Thomas Jefferson and also the entire liberal tradition. He argued that free labor and free markets enriched the strong while crushing the weak.
His Cannibals All! was a sharp criticism of the system of "wage-slavery" found in the north.
He was a critic of the philosophical foundations of personal liberty and capitalism.
His Sociology for the South was an attack on Adam Smith, John Locke, & Thomas Jefferson and also the entire liberal tradition. He argued that free labor and free markets enriched the strong while crushing the weak.
His Cannibals All! was a sharp criticism of the system of "wage-slavery" found in the north.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 22, 2021
I have to be honest and say that this book absolutely blew my mind. I can not believe, even as a dissident in our third positionist ideological circles, that I had never heard of this book until Imperium Press published it.
Out of the many books I have been reading over the last 2 years this book was one of the most educational, intriguing and eye opening books critiquing capitalism, classical liberalism, industrialization and free society out there and one of the best parts about it is it is written by an American and so long ago! Strictly speaking I do not endorse Slavery simply from an economic standpoint ( although I just admit he answerers all of the arguments even white nationalists have about Slavery rather well and gives one much room to think) and also because we are looking to move forward damage is done. I'm not a reactionary and I don't believe the solutions lie in going backwards to the "good ol days". However that being said purely from an understanding on a subject of history standpoint this book makes an excellent case for the logic behind the South in america and most of civilizations throughout human history and how they viewed the importance of Masters and Servant Societies.
George Fitzhugh goes into many areas from Morality and Free Trade to Economics and Immigration. As an American Third Postionist this book does not disappoint in providing new ideas to sit and think on. It is also very interesting to note how much this idea has in common with way National Socialism if you take the term slavery to mean " one must be a slave or a servant to his nation". Once that lenses is applied you are looking at almost like a very early form of "Anglo Fascism" if you will in many ways. This author is writing in a time eperiod where socialism and communism is also starting to gain traction and he even has critiques and applause for those groups as well along with personal knowledge of some of the founding fathers and Americas founding documents which he also takes a swing at.
All things considered I highly encourage all American Third Positionists to read this book I would even label it a must read. It is the almost counter attack to American Libertarianism as well. If you love going after some lolberts from time to time like I do then you are sure to be glued to this book!
Out of the many books I have been reading over the last 2 years this book was one of the most educational, intriguing and eye opening books critiquing capitalism, classical liberalism, industrialization and free society out there and one of the best parts about it is it is written by an American and so long ago! Strictly speaking I do not endorse Slavery simply from an economic standpoint ( although I just admit he answerers all of the arguments even white nationalists have about Slavery rather well and gives one much room to think) and also because we are looking to move forward damage is done. I'm not a reactionary and I don't believe the solutions lie in going backwards to the "good ol days". However that being said purely from an understanding on a subject of history standpoint this book makes an excellent case for the logic behind the South in america and most of civilizations throughout human history and how they viewed the importance of Masters and Servant Societies.
George Fitzhugh goes into many areas from Morality and Free Trade to Economics and Immigration. As an American Third Postionist this book does not disappoint in providing new ideas to sit and think on. It is also very interesting to note how much this idea has in common with way National Socialism if you take the term slavery to mean " one must be a slave or a servant to his nation". Once that lenses is applied you are looking at almost like a very early form of "Anglo Fascism" if you will in many ways. This author is writing in a time eperiod where socialism and communism is also starting to gain traction and he even has critiques and applause for those groups as well along with personal knowledge of some of the founding fathers and Americas founding documents which he also takes a swing at.
All things considered I highly encourage all American Third Positionists to read this book I would even label it a must read. It is the almost counter attack to American Libertarianism as well. If you love going after some lolberts from time to time like I do then you are sure to be glued to this book!
January 25, 2021
Right liberals, Paleocons, Reactionaries, and Nationalists occupy a nebulous position ideologically. They're essentially alienated from an illiberal heritage and worldview due to their acquiescence to their enemy's priors (morally and historically).
The only prominent reactionary milieu in American History belonged to the side that attempted to secede from the American project, the Confederacy. Chief among them was George Fitzhugh, who identified the unbridled application of the individualist Laissez-Faire principle to economic, social, and political life as the death knell signalling the fall of all government. In other words, these men saw the abolition of slavery along individualist lines as only the beginning - next, this sick voluntarist logic would slay patriarchal familial and marital relations; Consent Über Alles.
That Slavery vs Abolition was a microcosm of a larger struggle was noted by James Henley Thornwell:
"If our principles are true, the world must come to them .... It is not the narrow question of Abolitionism or Slavery – not simply whether we shall emancipate our Negroes or not; the real question is the relations of man to society, of States to the individual, and of the individual to States – a question as broad as the interests of the human race .... The parties in this conflict are not merely Abolitionists and Slaveholders; they are Atheists, Socialists, Communists, Red Republicans, Jacobins on the one side, and the friends of order and regulated freedom on the other."
Fitzhugh on the liberal principle:
"All modern philosophy converges to a single point – the overthrow of all government, the substitution of the untrammelled “Sovereignty of the Individual,” for the Sovereignty of Society, and the inauguration of anarchy. First domestic slavery, next religious institutions, then separate property, then political government, and, finally, family government and family relations, are to be swept away."
The right must abandon all equivocation and contrarianism.
In sum, it must recognise the principles of Patriarchy: Paternalism, Formalism, Culture-Fomentation, Telos, positive non-competitive Inegalitatarianism
The only prominent reactionary milieu in American History belonged to the side that attempted to secede from the American project, the Confederacy. Chief among them was George Fitzhugh, who identified the unbridled application of the individualist Laissez-Faire principle to economic, social, and political life as the death knell signalling the fall of all government. In other words, these men saw the abolition of slavery along individualist lines as only the beginning - next, this sick voluntarist logic would slay patriarchal familial and marital relations; Consent Über Alles.
That Slavery vs Abolition was a microcosm of a larger struggle was noted by James Henley Thornwell:
"If our principles are true, the world must come to them .... It is not the narrow question of Abolitionism or Slavery – not simply whether we shall emancipate our Negroes or not; the real question is the relations of man to society, of States to the individual, and of the individual to States – a question as broad as the interests of the human race .... The parties in this conflict are not merely Abolitionists and Slaveholders; they are Atheists, Socialists, Communists, Red Republicans, Jacobins on the one side, and the friends of order and regulated freedom on the other."
Fitzhugh on the liberal principle:
"All modern philosophy converges to a single point – the overthrow of all government, the substitution of the untrammelled “Sovereignty of the Individual,” for the Sovereignty of Society, and the inauguration of anarchy. First domestic slavery, next religious institutions, then separate property, then political government, and, finally, family government and family relations, are to be swept away."
The right must abandon all equivocation and contrarianism.
In sum, it must recognise the principles of Patriarchy: Paternalism, Formalism, Culture-Fomentation, Telos, positive non-competitive Inegalitatarianism
November 22, 2022
"We cannot believe that the socialists do not see that domestic slavery is the only practicable form of socialism - they are afraid yet to pronounce the word"
I am not sure that Fitzhugh managed to convince me in the virtues of slavery or socialism, or in the ills of "economic liberty" but I must admit that his little book has been one extremely interesting, provocative, challenging and illuminating read.
I am not sure that Fitzhugh managed to convince me in the virtues of slavery or socialism, or in the ills of "economic liberty" but I must admit that his little book has been one extremely interesting, provocative, challenging and illuminating read.
July 2, 2018
Oh.My.
How can anyone read this and not think that idiots were able to publish books even back in the way back. I would say that the Kommunist Manifesto was the worst thing I'd ever read, but I DNF both it and this.
I'd have to say this is worse than the Mainifesto, because the premise is that slavery is a good and proper concept, which is unconscionable. In fact, Mr. Fitzhugh declares that Capitalism is in fact a form of slavery, and that it's proper and good for all workers to then be enslaved to their corporate masters.
For my part, I am grateful to be employed, and work out of a need for provision as well as a desire to labor and do good. It is not under duress or force, it is, 'at will.'
This author also declares that slavery was a good and kind concept, and that the majority of slave owners in the South were kind to their slaves, much like the depiction I suppose of Washington, who freed his servants in his will. In fact, though, it was obviously a mix of masters, from those who treated their slaves like indentured servants, to the whip-wielding Simon LeGree.
My daughter actually received this book as a school assignment, and I've only read a portion, but I wanted it off my queue and decided to leave a review.
How can anyone read this and not think that idiots were able to publish books even back in the way back. I would say that the Kommunist Manifesto was the worst thing I'd ever read, but I DNF both it and this.
I'd have to say this is worse than the Mainifesto, because the premise is that slavery is a good and proper concept, which is unconscionable. In fact, Mr. Fitzhugh declares that Capitalism is in fact a form of slavery, and that it's proper and good for all workers to then be enslaved to their corporate masters.
For my part, I am grateful to be employed, and work out of a need for provision as well as a desire to labor and do good. It is not under duress or force, it is, 'at will.'
This author also declares that slavery was a good and kind concept, and that the majority of slave owners in the South were kind to their slaves, much like the depiction I suppose of Washington, who freed his servants in his will. In fact, though, it was obviously a mix of masters, from those who treated their slaves like indentured servants, to the whip-wielding Simon LeGree.
My daughter actually received this book as a school assignment, and I've only read a portion, but I wanted it off my queue and decided to leave a review.
September 13, 2026
This book made more liberal than I expected. Despite every thing the author describes about capitalism, socialism, slavery or liberalism. I can proudly say, that nowdays i am more of a classical liberal, than I was.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews