Rothman,Adam

SlaveCountry
HarvardUniversityPress
London,EnglandandCambridge,Massachusetts
Copyright2005
ReviewbyParkerKohl
I would be lying ifIsaidreadingamansPhDdissertationonslaveryandtheoriginsof
the Deep South was a thrilling experience. To be fair, one cant expect a dissertation to be
the most flavorful of pieces to devour they are written to demonstrate the authors
considerable knowledge on their given subject, and after finishing my read through, its clear
Adam Rothman can easily be called an expert in early U. S. History. Slave Country is a
dense and comprehensive book on a subject that requirescopiousamountsofresearch,and
Rothman manages to heavily discuss the rise of slavery and the Southern states with
considerable backing. Initially hinted at in the preface, thenexamineddeeperthroughoutthe
course of the book, Rothman never explicitly brings up his thesis. However, through
examination of the preface and later chapters, I interpreted it to be as follows: was slavery
absolutely necessary for the development of the U. S., and if so, why was it more integral to
the development of the South than the North? Over the course of 224 pages, nine
hundredplus sources, and five lengthy chapters, Rothman carefully presents the argument
that,despitethehorrorsofslavery,itwasbothintegralandnecessaryfortheSouthtorise.
Rothmanpreventsthenarrative,andthusishisargument,inchronologicalorder. He
begins his examination of the expansion of slavery and the country with Jeffersons rise to
presidency and the acquisition of the Louisiana Territory. Immediately, the vitalness of
slavery for the new regions development was questioned. James Jackson of Georgia
1

thought slavery was necessary for the development of the Louisiana Territory, for as he
stated, Slaverymusteitherbeestablishedinthatcountryoritmustbeabandoned(Rothman
28). The slaveowning settlers were excellent at directing others to manage the land, but
terrible at doing so themselves, and often argued that [N]ot only wereAfricansnaturallyand
habitually better suited to labor in the climate of the country but also their labor was
necessary to redeem the lands from the forcesofnature(Rothman32). AsRothmanstates,
those in the Orleans territory unequivocally associated theAfricanslavetradewithprogress
(Rothman 32). InthemindsofthepeoplemovingtotheSouth,slaverywasnecessaryforthe
development of modern towns and civilization. Theissueofwhetherornotslaveryshouldbe
allowed in the new addition to the U.S. was so frustrating to some of the New England
Federalists that some of them even began totoywiththeideaofsecession,whichironically
foreshadowedtheSouthsfutureinsixtyyears(Rothman34).
Even today, most citizens of the U. S. associate the cotton crop with the South and,
more specifically, slavery. Chapter two of Rothmans novel deals not only with the cotton
crop, but the issues colonists faced with civilizing the area where it was grown. Atthetime
of the acquisition of the Louisiana Purchase, most of the area was stillunsurveyed,andasa
result, needed to be scouted bygovernmentofficialsbeforeitcouldbesoldandcommercially
used. That endeavor alone was enough to cause the growth of the fear that the squatter
communities (those claimed land before it was available for sale) would degenerate into
lawlessness and impedethesaleoftheland(Rothman43). Rothmanhimselffinallylayshis
thesis down plain and simply on page 49 with a statement about westward and southern
expansion: [s]lave labor was central to the whole enterprise (Rothman 49). The rest of
chapter two covers other topics such as issueswithNativeAmericanswhoinhabitedtheland
being claimed by settlers, to the growth of Christianity and spirituality among the slave

community and the subsequent rebellions radicals took upon it. The paradox of the fear of
slave rebellions, but the Southerner's dependence on slaves is first mentioned here. This
relationship consistently comes up throughout the rest of the novel, and laysthegroundwork
forelaborationonRothmansthesispresentedinthefirstchapterandthepreface.
Chapter three is where the book truly starts to pick up pace, if one can say that for a
published format of a dissertation. Rothman spends the first two chapters populating the
South, and his discussion on the importance of slavery to the economic development of
Louisiana was a refreshing one. Nolongeristhetopiconwhetherornotslaveryshouldhave
explicitly been allowedinthenewterritorialacquisitionoftheU.S.(forthatissuewasnottruly
resolved until the writing of state constitutions by nearly 1820), but whether how they should
get there. The multiple duties of slaves is broughtupearlyon,afterthedecliningimportance
of the sugar crop, and Rothman mentions that as their duties grew, so did their population,
stating that [t]he slave population everywhere increased faster than the white population
(Rothman 78). The economy of the slave trade was a highly controversial topic of politicsin
the region,andRothmanalsodoesanexcellentjobexaminingtheprejudicestowardsspecific
classesofslaves,orthepricespaidforofslavesfromdifferentregions. Thetwosectionson
the slave rebellionof1811andthefearofslaveinsurrections,aswellasgrossprejudicesand
maltreatment that free people of color in New Orleans faced, were among themostnarrative
sections of the book, and also the most interesting. The incredible maltreatment of slaves
had been common since its origin as an enterprise, but with growing fear of rebellion, [t]he
cruelty of slavery became its own justification,andRothmansexaminationofwhythefearof
slaveinsurrectionwaswellgroundedisworthyofpraise(Rothman96and106).
Chapters four and five are the morenovelesquechaptersofthebook. Iftheywereto
be given main characters, Andrew Jackson would seize the leading role and leave no room

for others The War of 1812, the focus of most of chapter four, features him as a prominent
military leader, which eventually makes way for his political career. Chapter five deals more
with theaftereffectsoftheWarof1812,aswellasthenationsgrowingangstwithsettlingthe
issue of slavery once and for all. Compared to the consistent narrative methods used in
chapter four,chapterfivehasanodderpace,andfeelslargelyunresolvedasRothmanbegins
mentioning people left and right towards the end. Usually, I feel as though epilogues in
nonfiction pieces of work are avoidable, but in Rothmans narrative it is necessary. Slave
Countrys epilogue successfully ties together the after effects of slavery in both political and
economic ways, stressing its role in globalization and the evolution of a worldwide market
economy.
Adam Rothman does an incredible job citing and using primary sources. However, it
would hardly be an exaggeration to say his primary sources outnumber his secondary
sources five to one (the ratio is, more likely, much higher thanthat),afeatremarkableinthat
many students have a difficult time using any primary sources in an essay. With over eight
hundred sources, Rothman creates an impenetrable fortress in his book with his plethora of
sources,allowingthereadertobeabletocheckanddoublecheckalmostanyutteranceinthe
book. Nearly every statement can be backed up with the formal letters and first hand
accounts he tosses out haphazardly. As a result, however, Rothmansdissertationbecomes
tainted with the bias of those he quotes, sometimes giving him theappearancethathefound
slavery deplorable, while simultaneously casting an odd shadow of support and, while not
praise,almostacceptance.
Slave Country is an incredibly informational piece, but it is not without its flaws.
Though Rothman mentions the political developments of the Southern states that the
Louisiana Territory was divided into in chapter five through analyzing Mississippis,

Alabamas, and Louisianas state constitutions, the majority of the book focuses exclusively
on conflicts that the state of Louisiana and the city of New Orleans faced, and not the deep
South as a whole. Throughout thesecondthirdofthenarrative,andfarmoreclearlytowards
the end, I couldnt help but feel as though Rothman had, to put it simply, a raging boner for
Andrew Jackson. Rothman glorifies and mentions Jackson whenever the situation remotely
calls for it. Particularly during the examination of Jacksons destruction of the Red Sticks,
Rothman rarely emphasizes Jacksons negative characteristics, and if he does, he tried to
justify them. For example, Rothman explains Jacksons critical view of his own troops but
stating that his more demanding view of the soldiers obligations drew from his deeply felt
patriotism and sense of honor (Rothman 132). Even with the ruthless neargenocide of the
Creek Indians taken into consideration, Rothman still manages to make Jacksons conquest
and expropriation of millions of acres of land sound positive by saying that happened under
Jacksonsindomitableleadership(Rothman162).
All things considered, Slave Country serves its point. Icameawayfarmoreeducated
in the rise of slavery in theU.S.,andnowhaveadeeperunderstandingofhow,andwhy,the
South became so dependent on slavery to grow. Rothman manages to support his thesis
using a variety of primary sources in the form of letters and journals, but also withtheuseof
published histories of the Southern states. He constantly uses an aggressive tone when
instructing the reader on the actions of Southerners, and while I do agree that they did
deplorable things, his voice didnt need to be present when doing so. I do not feel that he
presented a revisionistview,ashisuseofprimarysourceshelpcontributemultiplevoicesand
point of views tohisargument. SlaveCountryisincrediblyinformational,andRothmandraws
excellent conclusionsfromhisstudiesthatshownotonlyhowslaveryshapedtheSouthinthe
past,buthowitsfootprintsstillguidesomeoftheworldtoday.