THE PECULIAR INSTITUTION: SLAVERY IN THE ANTE-BELLUM SOUTH.
The Peculiar Institution: Slavery in the Ante-Bellum South, by Kenneth Stampp offers an unbiased look into the atypical form of labor implemented in the deep south. Kenneth Stamp explains every facet of slavery from a dispassionate and impartial point of view. He explains the economic advantages that the southern farmers had by using this system of labor. In addition to explaining the southern farmers standpoint, Kenneth Stamp also shows the struggles of the slaves themselves, struggles from their bondage, their escapes, and how they lived their lives. .
In order to fully comprehend how slavery originated, it is essential to know the setting in which it took place. The south was perfect for cultivation. It had hot weather with long growing seasons, quality soil, and navigable rivers. It was ideal for commercial agriculture and it based its whole economy on its harvest. If the southern economy was based on farming and crops the move by many southerners to large farms and plantations was logical, the more crops you grow the more financially successful you are. These large landholdings are the root of where slavery originated. The large farms owned by southerners needed many laborers to tend to their fields. Slavery seemed to be a rational and practical form of labor that would fit the south's every needs. Hence, slavery was adopted and used as an inexpensive way to cultivate large amounts of land and to generate large profits for the proprietor.
To have slavery as a successful labor system it needed to cooperation of slaves. There were two main methods the south used to get the slaves to tend to the fields. The most popular way was by using fear. The slaves were scared into working by a variety of methods. The most famous was the use of whipping and other forms of punishment given to slaves who did not complete their jobs successfully.
