A Defence Of Virginia - Softcover

Robert L. Dabney

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0371565189 ISBN 13: 9780371565186

Publisher: HardPress, 1866

Synopsis

A Defence Of Virginia by Robert L. Dabney. Written in 1867, this tract defends the slavery and social order of the Confederate South against abolitionist critics. Dabney argues that the relation of master and slave is a morally legitimate institution, grounded in natural law and reinforced by biblical authority from both the Old and New Testaments. He distinguishes between slavery as a legal economic relation and its abuses, denouncing cruelties while insisting that slavery can be righteous when administered with justice and mercy. The work surveys the African slave trade, the legal status of slavery in early America, and the economics of slaveholding, claiming that slavery promoted stability, virtue, and national wealth, while abolitionism represents Jacobinism and threats to constitutional liberty. It includes polemics against the Union cause, emancipation, and Northern policy, arguing that the defense of Virginia was a defense of God’s word, civil order, and a stable social system. The text, reflecting its era, combines religious argument, constitutional history, and political economy to justify a controversial social order.

Edition details

• Publisher: HardPress
• Publication date: 1866
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0371565189
• ISBN 13: 9780371565186
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 364