Visions for Society

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Recommended: George Fitzhugh, Slavery Justified (1854) summary

When it comes to visions of what a "good society" meant in the late 19th century, there were perhaps no greater conflict of ideological ideas than those of George Fitzhugh and Abraham Lincoln. Of course the one of the obvious differences are each of their stances on the issue of slavery. Fitzhugh was an adamant supporter of slavery and its positive influences on society while Lincoln was thought slavery directly went against what the founders of our country wanted for our society in America. One of the greater differences between these two was their ideas on the very nature of a free society. A free society, to Lincoln, was the foundation for what he saw America should look like. It was undeniable proof of the dignity of mankind. In the eyes of Fitzhugh a free society was the catalyst for everything that was wrong in the societies North and in Europe. Although there are some similarities, the mid 19th century was a time of change in America and each of these men represent different sides of the argument and therefore cannot belong to a single tradition.
George Fitzhugh was a lawyer-journalist from Port Royal, Virginia. Although he came a late to the debate over slavery and free states, he still a prominent figure in the middle of Southern intellectuals in the late 19th century. He was a part of the pro-slavery thought that was more along the lines of patriarchal and aristocratic paternalism way of looking at slavery. By this outlook Fitzhugh saw the African American race as dependent on the white population. Throughout the chapter called "Negro Slavery" in his book, Sociology for the South, Fitzhugh compares African Americans to children. Much like children he believes society should not expect them to understand the laws of ...

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...This meant that they would forever need to live in slavery because he believed it was truly what they needed, to be led by whites. He believed that free societies produced selfish people and a country could not thrive when everyone in it is looking out for only themselves. Abraham Lincoln believed in democracy, in the idea that everyone should have a say in the way our government was to be carried out. He believed that slavery was morally and constitutional wrong. He followed what our founding fathers laid out for our country and that is the right that "all men are created equal". Finally, he believed in a free society were people are allowed to promote themselves and will ultimately better the country in at the end of the day. Each had their own ideas on what a "good society" was made up of and the traditions that they each followed cannot be categorized together.

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