The Slaveholding Crisis: Fear of Insurrection and the Coming of the Civil War by Carl Lawrence Paulus

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Slaveholding Crisis: Fear of Insurrection and the Coming of the Civil War by Carl Lawrence Paulus Michael J. Megelsh The Slaveholding Crisis: Fear of Insurrection and the Coming of the Civil War. Carl Lawrence Paulus. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2017. ISBN 978-0-8071-6435-8. 311 pp., cloth, $49.95. With a vivid narrative, Carl Lawrence Paulus ably describes how fear consumed the American South on the eve of the Civil War. The horror that induced manic frenzy among southerners, primarily elites, was the concern that a slave rebellion was imminent. In The Slaveholding Crisis: Fear and of Insurrection and the Coming of the Civil War, Paulus examines the often-studied role that fear had in motivating southern secessionists. The fear of revolt, heavily intensified because of the 1791 Haitian Revolution, remained prevalent in the minds of pro-slavery advocates. Weaving together the themes of fear and the Haitian Revolution, Paulus contends that this anxiety reinforced a southern version of American exceptionalism that sought to preserve what they considered the ideal America. To reinforce this exceptionalism, slavery needed preservation and had to expand. Ultimately, a philosophy of fear and control spurred the South's actions. The Slaveholding Crisis weaves together content that is familiar within the historiography yet offers strong analysis of the political worldview of southern planters and how international events helped shape slavery in the United States. In the introduction, Paulus describes the conflicting visions between southerners and northerners. Both sides, in rhetoric and in practice, thought their nation was exceptional. Yet to the South, American exceptionalism could not persist, as well as their way of life, without the institution of slavery. "The southern planter class," Paulus asserts, "could never be convinced that their society—or their families—would safely survive emancipation in any form" (8). The slave versus "free soil" exceptionalism quickly became the root of division. Additionally, the omnipresent dread of a slave uprising seemed more likely unless slavery could expand westward—dispersing the high concentration of the enslaved people in the American South. With free soil Republicans in control of the White House and Congress in 1860, the South saw little option other than independence to [End Page 211] preserve their society, security, the American ideal, and belay a violent uprising akin to the one in Haiti. In seven chapters, The Slaveholding Crisis details three phases of the predicament. The first pertains to the Haitian Revolution itself. Paulus describes how the violent revolution alarmed the South's planter elite, who saw commonalities between their own situation and that of the European plantation colonies in the Caribbean. This intensified the South's efforts to appeal to the federal government to safeguard their peculiar institution. From there, Paulus emphasizes the futile political maneuvering of southern leaders to ensure that slavery could expand into newly acquired territory in the American West. Simultaneously, southerners coped with the rise of abolitionism that preached the undermining of the South's structure. Last, the book chronicles how wealthy planters concluded that an antislavery Federal government controlled by the Republican Party jeopardized the South's vision of American exceptionalism. Furthermore, they argued that unless a pro-slavery government was enacted, the ominous slave insurrection Dixie feared would finally manifest. This platform, resting on unease and exceptionalism, helped the planter elite garner the support of many southerners and lead the country to civil war. The Slaveholding Crisis is a solid contribution to the historiography. Expertly, and with an articulate narrative, Paulus highlights the fear of the planting class and how that distress—in the shadow of the Haitian Revolution—urged aggressive political action. This book does not break new ground in the historiography because it discusses how fear and racial supremacy encouraged southern secession. It does, however, chart a unique course by connecting international events to the slaveholding crisis in America while also examining the conflicting visions of American exceptionalism between North and South. By merging politically and racially incited fear prior to the Civil War with different visions for America, the book adeptly contributes to this field of study and feels relatively fresh in the midst of an extensive historiography. "With the election of Abraham Lincoln on...