State

Hinton Rowan Helper Ills book. "I in ponding Crisis.” did as much flo hsisItMi the* coining of the conflict among the states as did “Uncle Tom's Cabin." bv Harriet lleeclier Stone. WHEN John the Baptist was first heard, his voice was as that of one “crying in the wilderness"; and in Carolina few were the voices raised against slavery prior to the Civil War. Yet from the earliest days, slavery had its opponents. As early as 1768. the Quakers adopted resolutions preventing any member of that sect from traffick¬ ing in slaves. In 1788 James Ire¬ dell. Sr., later a Justice of the Su¬ preme Court of the United States, boldly advocated the abolition of slavery; and in 1820 our United States Senator Stokes voted for the Missouri Compromise. Then came 1832 and Judge Wil¬ liam Gaston delivered the Com¬ mencement speech at the Uni¬ versity. He boldly struck out against slavery, declaring that it was "the worst evil which befalls the Southern part of our Confed¬ eration," and he demanded its "ultimate extirpation.” People smiled tolerantly, but Gaston’s reputation was so high that he was elected as a Justice of the Supreme Court the following year. Robert E. Lee was not a believer in slavery, but freed his own slaves. Hitter Feeling As the events leading up to the Civil War moved to a crisis, public feeling flamed at white heat over the issue. For advocating its aboli¬ tion. Daniel R. Goodloe was called by the Raleigh Standard, a "rene¬ gade son of the State." In 1856, Prof. B. S. Hedrick of the Uni¬ versity faculty, in response to a public demand for a statement of his views, replied in a mild manner and in language as restrained as one could use. Yet feeling was so high that he was burned in effigy by the students and he was dismissed from the faculty. Then came the publication of two books which did more than any others to hasten the coming of the conflict; the one written by a Northern woman. Harriet Beecher Stowe, the other by a Southern man, Hinton Rowan Helper. Mrs. Stowe’s "Uncle Tom’s Cabin" was pure fiction, a grossly misstated »i/ 1C. C. LAWRENCE and overpainted picture, a book evidently designed for the purpose of inflaming the passion of the people. It swept over the North like wildfire; and for many it be¬ came fact instead of fiction; for many it became not mere political propaganda but a veritable Gospel. Her book was translated into twenty-three languages, and it is not without its sale even today. Helper’s book the "Impending Crisis” is now read by none save a chance scholar in search of in¬ formation. Born in Davie County Hinton Rowan Helper was born in Davie County in 1829, of German- American ancestry. In his early manhood he moved to New York, whence he went to the California gold fields in search of fortune. After an unsuccessful pursuit of this for three years he returned to Carolina, with only an unprofitable book, the "Land of Gold" as the result of his labors. He was but twenty-eight when he produced his famous "Impend¬ ing Crisis,” a book which shook the nation from center to circumfer¬ ence. At the North it was received with enthusiasm. Horace Greeley praised it highly in the editorial Ж of the New York Tribune ; received the warm endorse¬ ment of William H. Seward (later Secretary of State in Lincoln’s cabinet) who was then regarded as the head of the newly formed Re- Cublican party. It was endorsed у sixty - eight Congressmen, headed by John Sherman and Schuyler Colfax. During the Lin¬ coln campaign a committee had one hundred thousand copies printed for distribution. Look at the mem¬ bers of this Committee: Francis P. Blair, Jr.. Charles W. Eliot, David Dudley Field, Cassius M. Clay, and Charles A. Peabody. "Uncle Tom’s Cabin" appealed to the heart, but Helper’s book appealed to the head, and it was given the credit for effecting the result in 1860 in the "doubtful” States of New Jersey, Pennsyl¬ vania, Indiana and Illinois. Helper’s book met with quite a different reception in the South. Three men were hanged in Arkansas for owning copies; and under sections 16 and 17 of chap¬ ter 34. Revised Code of North Carolina, it was made a penal of¬ fense to own the book or circulate it. Under this statute, in Guilford County, Rev. Daniel Worth w« convicted, and was forced to jump his bond and flee the State to avoid imprisonment. Three other preacl ers, Crookes. McBryde and Bacon were expelled from Guilford and Randolph counties for endorsing it. The Raleigh Standard denounced Helper as a "poor traitor to his native sod and native skies." In 1859 Helper’s book caused a long and an angry discussion in Congress, then engaged in a pro¬ longed effort to eleet a Speaker. It is said that it was John Sher¬ man’s endorsement of this book which caused his defeat for the Speakership. Contents of the Book Just what sort of book was this "Impending Crisis"? The worst evil I find is its intemperate tone, for it was written with all the venom that might have been ex¬ pected had it been written by Josiah Turner himself. But laying to one side its language of doubt¬ ful propriety, and considering only its array of statistics, its cold logic, its lucid statement of certain funda¬ mental economic principles, I find much about it to be impressive; and I do not believe its political econ¬ omy can be successfully assailed. Reasoning from eause to effect, marshalling an impressive array of government statistics to his sup¬ port. Helper undertook to support his main theorem that slavery was economically unsound and was slowly but surely strangling the South in its embrace. He showed that the South, under the blight of slavery was withering; whereas the North, once a slaveholding section, had prospered and ad- ( Continued on page 23)