Olmsted, De Bow, and the Weight of Evidence on the American Slave South

Scholarship on the American Slave South generally agrees that John Eliot Cairnes's The Slave Power provided a highly biased interpretation of the functioning and long-term viability of the southern slave economy. Published shortly after the outbreak of the Civil War, its partisanship is partly attributed to its clearly stated goal to shift British support from the secession states to the states of the Union. Thus, it is generally agreed, Cairnes sifted his sources to obtain the desired outcome. A more balanced use of the sources at his possession would have provided a very different outcome. This paper will challenge this general assessment of Cairnes's book by examining in some detail two of Cairnes's most important sources: Frederic Law Olmsted's travelogues on the American Slave South and James D. B. De Bow's compilation of statistical data and essays in his Industrial Resources, etc., of the Southern and Western States (1852-53). By contrasting De Bow's use of statistical evidence with Olmsted's travelogues, my final purpose is to question the weight of evidence on the American Slave South. Cairnes aimed, I will argue, much more to balance the evidence than is generally acknowledged, but it is misleading to think that balancing a wide range of evidence washes out bias if this evidence itself is politically skewed, as is the rule rather than the exception.

Correspondence between the American and British Plentipotentiaries relative to the commercial convention concluded on the 3rd of July, 1815.--

January 16, 1816.

Why are we still at war? : or, The American question considered ; in a series of essays rejected by the journalists as unpopular ; recommended to a candid perusal /

In the Pamphleteer, vol. 4, p. 551-576. London, 1814.

Correspondence between the American and British Plentipotentiaries relative to the commercial convention concluded on the 3rd of July, 1815

January 16, 1816. Printed by order of the House of Representatives. 14th Congress, 1st Session, 1815-1816. House. At head of title: [27].

Why are we still at war? : or, The American question considered ; in a series of essays rejected by the journalists as unpopular ; recommended to a candid perusal

In the Pamphleteer, vol. 4, p. 551-576. London, 1814

A View of the Fort and Harbour of Oswego from Lake Ontario, from the American Magazine March 1816

An image within the American Magazine, March 1816 Vol. I, No. 10. Page 369. A View of the Fort and Harbour of Oswego from Lake Ontario. Below the image it reads: "T. H. Wentworth del." Below the title it reads: "Representing the Attack by the British on the 6th of May 1814" Conducted by Horatio Gates Spafford, A.M. F.A.A.

The American Mercury, 5 October 1813 (vol. 30, no. 1527) - Newspaper

Volumes of interest were published between 1812 and 1815 with articles about the War of 1812. Issue for Oct. 5, 1813 includes: A report announces the arrival of Commodore Rodgers in the U.S. frigate President, in the harbor from his "brilliant cruise" of five months. There is also a list of the captures Rodgers made during his cruise. The feature item in this issue, however, is the famous dispatch sent by Oliver Hazard Perry at the Battle of Lake Erie to General William Henry Harrison. The dispatch, taken from the Chillicothe Supporter, of Sept. 15, is datelined "U.S. Brig Niagara, off the Western Sister, head of Lake Erie, September 10th, 1813, 4 P.M.", and reads: "Dear General, we have met the enemy; and they are ours! Two ships, two brigs, one schooner and one sloop. Yours with great respect and esteem." The dispatch is signed in type: O. H. Perry.

The American Mercury, 2 August 1814 (vol. 30, no. 1570)

Volumes of interest were published between 1812 and 1815 with articles about the War of 1812. The 1814 Aug. issues report events of the Battle of Chippewa

The American Weekly Messenger; or Register of State Papers, History and Politics for 1813 - 1814 Volume 1

Register of state papers, history, and politics for the years 1813 - 1814.

The American Naval and Patriotic Songster: As Sung at Various Places of Amusement, in Honour of Hull, Jones, Decatur, Perry, Bainbridge, Lawrence, Etc. Etc. Etc. (1834)

Volume of songs sung in praise of celebrated American War of 1812 heroes.