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Sons of the Fathers
The Virginia Slavery Debates of 1831-1832
Authors:
Publisher:
2012
Summary
Erik Root's book, Sons of the Fathers explores the Virginia Slavery Debate of 1831D1832, conducted in the House of Delegates. This is possibly the greatest debate to have occurred in any southern state before the Civil War. The speeches in this book provide, for the first time ever, an unedited version of that debate where many of the sons of America's Founders deliberated over the necessity of emancipating the slaves in Old Dominion. In August 1831, Nat Turner led the most successful slave rebellion in America's history, killing some 60 men, women, and children. This insurrection provided the historical backdrop to the proposal for a gradual emancipation plan. The forces for emancipation, led by Thomas Jefferson's grandson, Thomas Jefferson Randolph, were defeated in the course of the debate as the members of the House of Delegates rejected that it was a necessity to free the slaves. As a result, rift between what is now Virginia and Western Virginia developed, never to heal. Some in the debates believed slaves had the same rights as every human being. Those who balked at emancipation diminished slavery as an 'evil' and came closer to the view that the slaves were mere property. They affirmed that the slave was property and rejected the natural rights grounding of the Founding. In this collection of primary source material-which consists of the speeches made public to the press and the people-the reader will be able to decide just how close the emancipation forces attached themselves to the 'laws of Nature and Nature's God.' The reader will also be able to decipher how far many Virginians departed from not only the Declaration of Independence, but the Virginia Declaration of Rights.
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Bibliographic data
Copyright year
2012
ISBN-Print
978-0-7391-4171-7
ISBN-Online
978-0-7391-4173-1
Publisher
Lexington, Lanham
Language
English
Pages
347
Product type
Book Titles
Table of contents
ChapterPages
Table of Contents No access
Preface No access
Acknowledgments No access
Chapter 1: Introduction: Something Must be Done No access Pages 1 - 24
Chapter 2: First Day of Debate No access Pages 25 - 42
Chapter 3: Second Day of Debate No access Pages 43 - 60
Chapter 4: Third Day of Debate No access Pages 61 - 90
Chapter 5: Fourth Day of Debate No access Pages 91 - 120
Chapter 6: Fifth Day of Debate No access Pages 121 - 140
Chapter 7: Sixth Day of Debate No access Pages 141 - 168
Chapter 8: Seventh Day of Debate No access Pages 169 - 192
Chapter 9: Eighth Day of Debate No access Pages 193 - 214
Chapter 10: Ninth Day of Debate No access Pages 215 - 232
Chapter 11: Tenth Day of Debate No access Pages 233 - 254
Chapter 12: Eleventh Day of Debate No access Pages 255 - 268
Chapter 13: Twelfth Day of Debate No access Pages 269 - 290
Chapter 14: Thirteenth Day of Debate No access Pages 291 - 308
Appendix A: Legislative Petitions No access Pages 309 - 330
Appendix B: Related Speeches and Other Documents No access Pages 331 - 342
