Southern Outcast: Hinton Rowan Helper and The Impending Crisis of the South

333 Pages·2006·1.499 MB·English

by  David Brown

SOUTHERN BIOGRAPHY SERIES
Bertram Wyatt-Brown, Editor
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SOUTHERN
OUTCAST
0-
Hinton Rowan Helper and
The Impending Crisis
of the South
p[
DAVID BROWN
Louisiana State University Press
Baton Rouge
Published by Louisiana State University Press
Copyright © 2006 by Louisiana State University Press
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
FIRST PRINTING
DESIGNER: Michelle A. Garrod
TYPEFACE: Whitman
TYPESETTER: The Composing Room of Michigan, Inc.
PRINTER AND BINDER: Edwards Brothers, Inc.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Brown, David, 1968 Apr. 25–
Southern outcast : Hinton Rowan Helper and
The impending crisis of the South / David Brown.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13 978-0-8071-3178-7
ISBN-10 0-8071-3178-4 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Helper, Hinton Rowan, 1829–1909. 2. Helper, Hinton Rowan, 1829–1909.
Impending crisis of the South. 3. Slavery—United States. 4. Slavery—Southern States.
5. United States—Politics and government—1857–1861. I. Title.
E449.H48344 2006
973.7(cid:1)114092—dc22
[B]
2006001387
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee
on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources. ø
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments vii
Abbreviations xiii
Introduction 1
1. In the Forks of the Yadkin, 1829–1850 8
2. To the Land of Gold, 1851–1854 25
3. Negotiating Race in a “Human Menagerie” 43
4. Pushed to the Limits: Writing The Impending Crisis of the
South,1854–1857 69
5. The Logical Outcome of the Nonslaveholders’ Philosophy? 91
6. Blowing up a Storm, 1857–1859 124
7. Impending Crisis: The Speakership Contest and the
Coming of the Civil War, 1859–1860 152
8. American Spokesman in Buenos Aires: Consul, 1861–1866 189
9. A Rage for Whiteness, 1867–1871 213
10. Railway to the Moon, 1871–1909 248
Conclusion 271
Bibliography 279
Index 311
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book has been so long in the making, both as a dissertation and as a mono-
graph, that I’m tempted to claim exhaustion and skip writing any words of
thanks. That, of course, will not do because numerous people have helped im-
mensely in the process of completing this work. I’ll separate them into four,
sometimes overlapping, categories: those who have aided and funded my re-
search; those who have put me up during the course of my research trips; those
who have read my work; and those who have not only given me the necessary
time to write but have also kept me sane enough along the way to know that there
are many more things in life other than academia.
First, I must thank all those who have helped me track down letters and ob-
scure books in archives and libraries on both sides of the Atlantic. Elizabeth Har-
ris was enormously helpful in tracing the genealogical history of the Helpers and
the Browns. Special mention must go to the brilliant sta≠ of the North Carolina
Collection and in particular to Nicholas Graham, who saved me from mistakes
by rechecking material for me. Sta≠ at the North Carolina Division of Archives
and History were also extremely helpful. I enjoyed my trips to St. Louis im-
mensely and thank John N. Hoover, Charles Brown, and Greg Ames at the St.
Louis Mercantile Library. But biggest thanks to Jim Rhodes, who not only went
above and beyond the call of duty in retrieving material for me but also took me
to the baseball games and has kept me up-to-date with the Cardinals’ results ever
since. I am also grateful to the John Rylands Library, University of Manchester,
for allowing access to its collections. Getting to the United States has gotten
cheaper in recent years (although getting into the country is more difficult, I
should add), but it is still an expensive business. The University of the West of
England, Bristol, generously awarded funding to a temporary lecturer back in
the mid-nineties to get me started. Likewise, the North Caroliniana Society took
a chance in granting an Archie K. Davis Fellowship to someone working part-
time on his Ph.D. at that time. They also awarded me another extremely timely
Archie K. Davis Fellowship in 2002, as research for this book was coming to a
conclusion, at which time I had the honor of being the 200th Davis fellow. I re-
vii
viii acknowledgments
ceived an extremely generous fellowship from the St. Louis Mercantile Library
in the same year. The Humanities School at Northampton University was always
willing to listen to my requests for their stretched resources, contributing to sev-
eral research trips over the years. It is also a pleasure to acknowledge a term’s
worth of study leave funded by an AHRB Research Leave Award in 2001.
Research trips were made much more fun by the fact that I could visit old
friends in North Carolina. Top of the list is Kevin Widderich, my roommate for
a year at North Carolina State University. Kev and his whole family looked after
me like one of their own back then and have continued to do so ever since. Ger-
hard, Marianne, and Regina were fortunately located very close to my second
major research location, Washington, D.C., and had copious supplies of good hu-
mor and good beer. I fondly recall getting up early in the morning for several
weeks in the summer of 2001 to catch a lift with Gerhard to Baltimore to get the
train to Union Station. It is a tragedy that he is not around to see the completion
of this book, but I hope in a small way it is testament to his memory. Kevin and
his wife Amy, as well as their children Allison, Sarah, and Molly, always give me
a fantastic welcome in North Carolina, which is greatly appreciated. Likewise,
Pat Gilmore has always put me up in D.C., which, due in no small part to his hos-
pitality, has become one of my favorite cities. Kai Gossweiler, if you ever read
this, where are you now, mate? Although I didn’t have as much reason to fly to
Chicago as often as I would have liked, I always had an enjoyable time there
thanks to Matt and Tracy Abrams. Closer to home, some very good friends have
put me up on a regular basis. It is a sign of how long it has taken that they have
all gotten married and had families while this work was in progress. Many
thanks, as well as several pints, are due to Tony, Maggie, Ben, Jack, and Daniel
Sanderson; Tim, Michelle, India, and Hugo Rogers; Matt, Jane, and Cormac
Loader; and Greg, Sophie, Freddie, and Gabriel Orme. And I always said if I ever
got as far as the acknowledgments I’d note my appreciation of the Saddlers and
the extended community of the Duke of York.
Many people read parts of this work at various stages, and some went beyond
the call of duty by reading all of it. Collectively they have improved my prose and
argument immeasurably. I am very grateful to the editor(s) of American Nine-
teenth Century History,the Journal of Southern History,and the Historical Journal
for permission to reproduce extracts from articles, mostly in revised form. To all
the referees, thanks for pointing out the silly mistakes and forcing clarification
of my arguments. I also owe a debt to students and audiences who have listened
to my lectures about Helper and raised questions over the last decade. Former
acknowledgments ix
colleagues in the Division of American Studies at Northampton University merit
a special mention, especially Ron Mendel, Nick He≠ernan, and the one and only
David Waller, who listened to my ideas with great patience. Ron generously
looked at material in New York for me, as did Michael Oliver, and Joe Street and
Robert Cook retrieved letters from Washington at the last minute without too
much grumbling. My mum, dad, and brother Andrew read parts of the book as
well, and Dad volunteered his timely and invaluable help with the index.
Michele Gillespie, John Inscoe, Joseph Smith, Sylvia Hilton, and Silvana Siddali
gave me the benefit of their expertise on specific chapters. Bertram Wyatt-Brown
and John David Smith were readers for LSU Press, o≠ering many valuable ob-
servations and suggestions. John David’s own fine biography of William Hanni-
bal Thomas is a model for anyone trying to deal with difficult subjects. Rand Dot-
son at LSU Press was unfailingly helpful, as were Lee Sioles and Catherine
Kadair. Thanks to Marie Blanchard for her expert copyediting. Paul Heywood
and Ian Scott both read early versions of what eventually became this book and
have always provided valuable support. Louis Billington read the thesis and the
book manuscript, and if he became tired of reading about Helper, he never
showed it. Louis has been a staunch supporter since my undergraduate days. Jim
Crisp has also been a vital source of support since I was an exchange student at
N.C. State longer ago than I care to remember. Though I didn’t know it then, that
year in Raleigh was the beginning of this book, as I became fascinated by the
South and its history. One of the great pleasures of research trips has been the
opportunity it gives me to stay with Jim and Lynn, and we have had many ex-
tended conversations about southern history.
It is my good fortune to be part of BrANCH (British American Nineteenth
Century Historians), a wonderfully convivial group of Americanists in Britain,
not least because it allows me to have a weekend drinking with Adam Smith,
Emily West, Vivien Miller, and other friends every year and even occasionally at
our conferences in the United States. I have frequently drawn on the extended
and diverse expertise of British-Americanists. Adam provided a critique of a
chapter here that made me realize just how much he knows about Civil War po-
litical history and how much I needed to find out. I will be forever thankful that
Martin Crawford was external examiner of my Ph.D., and he has been a source
of great wisdom on all matters pertaining to North Carolina, and much else, ever
since. Don Ratcli≠e read the whole of the manuscript with great attention to de-
tail and saved me from a number of silly errors. Michael O’Brien did the same,
and after my manuscript had come through bruised but at least intact from his