Mind of the Old South

Eaton explores why the ante bellum South was the way it was. He does this by looking at the lives of 20 representative men, from radical politicians to scientists, from fire-and-brimstone religious fanatics to writers and humorists. The Southern mind was a strange one: stuck on the Romantic past, Calvinistic, anti-progress in all things, and obsessed with the slavery issue. In the 1820s it looked as if slavery might disappear (it was economically detrimental), but new cotton gin inventions/improvements, Abolitionist strong-armedness, and other factors made slavery suddenly seem like a necessity. Much of the Southern make-up seemed like so much smoke and mirrors--and self-delusionment. They hated the thought of a strong federal government, and that, tempered with an honor code that took precedence over all behavior (a superficial code at that) made the Civil War inevitable. Eaton's account is interesting and authoritative. Recommended.

Eaton, Clement; The Mind of the Old South; Ann Arbor, Michigan; Edwards Brothers, Inc.; 1967 In The Mind of the Old South, Clement Eaton, provides a diverse and in depth look at antebellum Southern culture. Eaton uses many unheard of denizens of the southern United States to illustrate social classes and races. The roles and mindsets of Southern businessmen, radicals, evangelicals, scientists, slaves, yeoman, and humorists are all portrayed through central and supporting historical figures. Eaton successfully shows how these individuals' positions as revolve around the generally conservative, economically agrarian based, and class conscious mindset of the Old South. Eaton's descriptions of diverse social orders succeed because of his use of individuals as spokesmen. Eaton provides a historical context within which the figures he selects are able to communicate his ideas. His discussion of tactics used by southern abolitionists is shown through two historical figures in the following passage: The contrast between Helper and Birney was even more striking: the older man came from a more aristocratic culture and was better balanced than the angry you agitator. Birney sought to make the voice of conscience prevail in the United States; Helper, on the other hand, was a racist who spoke for the cause of the under-privileged Southern whites. (Eaton, p. 169) The above commentary shows two contrasting motives of anti-slavery, using Eaton's style of individual based representation. Eaton's use of the individual throughout his book offers an in depth look at the Old South while making his points clear to the reader. Eaton's chapter on the Southern scientific mind offers a compelling individual based narrative on agriculture's impact on society. The following passage demonstrates how the use of slaves in agriculture affects Southern science: Frederick Law Olmsted in an article in the New York Times, January 12, 1856, attempted to make this analysis on the basis of his observations during three trips to the South. He believed that the close association of Southerners with shiftless Negro slaves tended to develop the habit of ignoring small things because the masters' patience was constantly tried by infinite vexations on the part of slaves...wrote Olmsted, were Southerners `disinclined to exact and careful reasoning.' The study of science requires concentration, perseverance...-qualities in which Southerners as a whole seem to have been deficient in comparison with Northerners. (Eaton, p. 244) The Southern planter's assumption that slaves were essential to agriculture is the proposed cause for the South's lack of scientists or great scientific achievement. This is an important argument because the under-achievement of the South in the field of science is being directly blamed on an agricultural technique, the use of slaves, fervently employed across the south; making the South's primary source of economic well being a self-inj