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Author : Le Conte Joseph
Title : The race problem in the South
Year : 1892

Link download : Le_Conte_Joseph_-_The_race_problem_in_the_South.zip

Personal relation to the problem. On a subject which has been discussed with so much passion and from such opposite points of view, it is absolutely necessary that one who undertakes to enlighten others should first vindicate his own right to be heard by showing his opportunities for knowing the facts at first hand, and also his ability to form an unbiased judgment. This is my excuse for bringing forward some points in my own personal history which might otherwise seem out of place. I was born in 1823, on a large plantation near the coast of Georgia. Until approaching manhood I lived surrounded by at least two hundred blacks. In early life, therefore, I knew no other relation between whites and blacks than that of master and slave. My father managed his plantation himself, and exercised authority with firmness and kindness. The property, which had been inherited through several generations, grew by natural increase alone, none of the slaves, during my recollection, having been either bought or sold. Their moral and religious instruction, moreover, were carefully looked after. I have never known a laboring class more orderly, contented, and happy. I do not mean, however, to deny the great evils inherent in slavery, but of these I became aware only by wider experience at a later period. ...