Authors Slavery Positions

The issue of slavery in the nineteenth century produced an overwhelming issue in society. There were some writers that favored slavery and then there were some that did not favor slavery. In favor of slavery were William Gillmore Simms, and Caroline Hentz. Those opposed to slavery were Frederick Douglass, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Henry David Thoreau, and Herman Melville. All of these writers presented their views of slavery in the their literary works. William Simms was a supporter of slavery and this evident in his novel, “Woodcraft.” This novel takes place in the south during the closing of the Revolutionary War. Simms was born in Charleston, South Carolina, so he was raised on the souths’ position of pro-slavery. In Simms novel Woodcraft, he states, “ Exhaustion not wisdom, or a better state of feeling, was the secret of the peace which was finally concluded between the two nations (America and Great Britain), and of which, South Carolina, and Charleston in particular, was eagerly expecting the benefits. (Simms 35) Great Britain had spent most of the Revolutionary War occupying Charleston and the soldiers would stay at the peoples’ home with out the homeowners consent. This angered many townspeople in Charles

Shelby treats the young boy as if he is just a possession and a toy to him. Shelby said this right after he talks about how slaves handle being split from the their families and especially their birth mothers. Shelby says, "Why, I"tmve got a friend that"tms going into this yer branch of the business--wants to buy up handsome boys to raise for the market. Stowe became an internationally known writer and helped start the Civil War sooner than later. They were all mates to one another. Thoreau did not believe in slavery and he purposely did not pay the tax to show he did not support slavery. During the Revolutionary War, Great Britain was re-stealing the slaves of slave owners in the south. " (Douglass 265) Douglass also shows some of the reality of how slaves were fed, which was sometimes not very much or they were just not given much time to eat at all. Many slave owners were very angry with the British for this, but in hindsight the slave owners had done the same thing when they would take slaves from their families or would split slaves families up. Hentz uses examples in her novel, "The Planter"tms Northern Bride," as to how well treated slaves were. Those who were opposed to slavery were Frederick Douglass, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Henry Thoreau, Herman Melville.