Dattel - Cotton and race in the making of America : the human costs of economic power

Praise for This Book

A fascinating account of an essential aspect of American history. Gene Dattel brings clarity and insight to a subject weve long known about but not known well. A model for integrating economic, social, and political historyand a terrific read too. H. W. Brands, University of Texas

This is an epic story with a deeply tragic element... Dattel explores it with a steeliness that raises the most serious questions about the nature of the American democratic experiment today. Lee A. Daniels, Legal Defense Fund, NAACP

Gene Dattel has written a very important and necessary book.... No examination of American heritage is complete without an understanding of the force that cotton wrought upon its economic and social landscape. Americas racial dilemma cannot be sequestered to one part of the country. Roger Wilkins, professor emeritus George Mason University

I... am very impressed by the extensiveness of the research, the quality of the writing, and the vigor of the narrative. Gene Dattel has produced an important book.... The book will be welcomed by both specialists and the general reader. John M. McCardell, Jr., Vice-Chancellor, University of the South, Sewanee

Gene Dattels command of the details of American economic and social life is impressive in this sweeping study of the relationship between cotton and its human legacy in the treatment of African Americans. The book is full of sage judgments and fresh insights, eminently fair and unflinching in its critical assessments. Charles Reagan Wilson, University of Mississippi

Gene Dattels experiences superbly position him to remind us, in overwhelmingly persuasive detail, that for almost a century and a half cotton was Americas leading export; and that before, during, and after the Civil War, white America, North as well as South, endeavored to keep an African American labor force contained in the cotton fields. Thus cotton was the foundation of both the growth of the national economy and of racism in the United States. Staughton Lynd

A landmark... very powerful and informative. Once I started to read it, I was hooked. Dattel combines a firm grasp of finance and its controlling impact on the pattern of rural life in cotton-growing regions with human sympathy for both field hands and planters. William H. McNeill, history professor emeritus, University of Chicago

Gene Dattels tough-minded, insightful book is an overdue reminder that the Siamese twin of white racism and black repression was always the American dilemma and that cotton was its sire. Should be required reading in Oregon and Massachusetts no less than in Mississippi and South Carolina. Hodding Carter, University of North Carolina

In refreshingand sharpeningour memories about the role of cotton and the enormity of slavery in American history, Dattel makes a valuable contribution. Peter A. Coclanis, University of North Carolina

Dattel offers a fine, pioneering study of central social issues in the story of cotton development and race relations, discussing the leading export crop of the country and its connections to Afro-American experiences. Any college-level library strong in race relations and economic and social influences will find this narrowed focus key to understanding cottons role in race relations and developments. MBR California Bookwatch

This book will have a broad appeal and will serve to educate a wider audience. Stanley L. Engerman, University of Rochester

This fascinating book reminds us that what remains one of Americas most divisive issues has its roots in the dismal science. Dattel clearly demonstrates that any attempt to understand American slavery is doomed to failure unless there is a reckoning as well with the worldwide financial web that was taking shape around the cotton trade. In other words, globalization is nothing new.... This is an excellent book with an important tale to tell. Virginia Quarterly Review

This is a highly readable account of the centrality of cotton in any attempt to understand the dynamic historical interplay of race relations and economic development in the United States.... One of the most compelling aspects of the book is its harsh view of Northern complicity in slavery and hostility toward the migration of free Blacks before the Civil War and after. Slavery was a truly American tragedy, not merely the shame of the South. In Dattels view, emancipation was as much a calculated geographic, political, and economic containment strategy as it was the instrument of freedom for slaves. Antioch Review

For many people, Gene Dattels study will be an eye-opener guaranteed to change their idea of the American experience. Foreword Magazine

Independent scholar Dattel provides a thoughtful analysis of cottons economic power and the ways in which it helped shape race relations in the US. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels/libraries. Choice

Part One

Slavery in the Making of the Constitution

I know of no country, indeed, where the love of money has taken stronger hold on the affections of men [than in the United States].... The love of wealth is therefore to be traced, either as a principal or accessory motive, at the bottom of all Americans do.... [The white Northerners] acquisitive ardor surpasses the ordinary limits of human cupidity; he is tormented by the desire for wealth, he boldly enters upon every path that fortune opens to him... , and the avidity in the pursuit of gain amounts to a form of heroism....

Alexis de Tocqueville, 1835