"Straha" wrote:
>Well I thought the rebellion caused a backlash in favor of slavery...
Yes and no.
OT1H, it encouraged whites to think of blacks as
dangerous savages who must be kept under strict
control.
OTOH, it encouraged whites to think of blacks as
dangerous savages who should be sent elsewhere as
soon as possible. I believe that emancipationist
sentiment in Virginia at this time was tied to
the 'colonization' movement, which wanted to send
all free blacks 'back to Africa'. Note that the
capital of Liberia is Monrovia, named for President
Monroe, a Virginian who was a prominent colonizationist.
OYAH, there were some Virginians who felt that the
slavery system was unduly harsh and provoked its
victims to rebellion and other violence for want of
any other remedy. While there was a lot of rhetoric
about the danger from free blacks and legislation
on the subject, there was no systematic effort to
drive out or re-enslave the free black population
in Virginia. Which suggests that most whites did
not share the paranoid views of the pro-slavery
hard-liners.
--
| He had a shorter, more scraggly, and even less |
| flattering beard than Yassir Arafat, and Escalante |
| never conceived that such a thing was possible. |
| -- William Goldman, _Heat_ | |
