The control of the slave and social rifts in the white community of the U.S. South, 1830-1860

Abstract

Racism was a powerful force uniting the white community in the antebellum South, but it was never able to erase the frictions caused by social inequalities. This article approaches the conflictive relations between slaveholders and nonslaveholders through the analysis of several cases of slave crime. The cases bring into relief that slaveholders were dependent of common whites for the surveillance and control of the slaves. Paradoxically, in spite of that dependence, slaveholders were quick to find fault in the performance of common whites in tasks of surveillance and control, and they were distrustful of their allegiance to the slave regime. Simultaneously dependent and distrustful of common whites, slaveholders faced a difficult dilemma and looked in vain for a solution.