Summary Of James Henry Hammond And The Old South?

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James Henry Hammond was a southern planter who dedicated his entire life to winning allegiances and achieving an aristocratic goal of mastery. Hammond’s father, Elisha, played a prominent role in predetermining the future of his eldest son. When James Henry Hammond married Catherine Fitzsimons he became a member of a wealthy and prosperous family. Along with marriage, Hammond took possession of a plantation Catherine was the heiress to. This plantation in Silver Bluff, South Carolina; was more than just fertile farm land and swampy areas. The Silver Bluff plantation also included human capital in the form of 147 African-American slaves. According to Drew Gilpin Faust in her book James Henry Hammond and the Old South: A Design for Mastery, “[Hammond’s] efforts to shape the group of blacks into a disciplined, productive, and expanding force would be challenged and thwarted at every turn” (Faust, 72). The …show more content…

Under the previous Fitzsimons control, the slaves were living unsupervised, without a master in permanent residency, and were overall a very unhealthy group. In order to fulfill his dream of turning the plantation into a profitable enterprise, Hammond would have to conquer a complex social order among the enslaved people. In attempt to assert his dominance, Hammond stripped the blacks of many freedoms they once enjoyed. Hammond was threatened by the assembly of slaves who gathered in worship and praise. Hammond wanted to psychologically dominate the slaves and used the regulation of church to enforce that control upon the negroes by emphasizing obedience and tranquility in Sunday afternoon services led by white ministers. Faust says, “slaves…were not accustomed to the rigorous demands made by their new master, and they resented and resisted his drive for efficiency” (Faust,73). Hammond called for physical whippings or lashes to those caught undermining his

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