Stanley Elkins’ Slavery

. analyze different views on slavery, the central issue in the U.S. Civil War. Read Stanley Elkins’ Slavery and then write a comparative analysis of Elkins’ historical interpretation of slavery with James McPherson’s interpretation in Ordeal by Fire
Instructions:

€¢What are the points of agreement and disagreement between the two authors, Stanley Elkins and James McPherson, concerning the institution of slavery?

€¢Specifically, what influence did institutions like the church have on the character of American slavery?

€¢How much control did the masters have over their slaves? Did the slaves exercise any autonomy over their own lives?

€¢Did American devotion to limited government and laissez faire capitalism ameliorate the brutality of slavery?

€¢What evidence does each author use to support his arguments, and is the evidence anecdotal or quantifiable?

€¢Which author more accurately describes antebellum American slavery? Why?