Cannibals all! or, Slaves without mastersFitzhugh, George
General
Cannibals all! or, Slaves without masters
Fitzhugh, George
Slave labor; Slavery -- Justification; Slavery -- United States; Working class
There are three kinds of force that occur to us will sustain a
government. First, "inside necessity," such as slavery, that occasions a
few to usurp power, and to hold it forcibly, without consulting the
many; secondly, the force of foreign pressure or aggression, which
combines men and States together for common defence; and thirdly, the
inherent force of a prescriptive or usurpative government, which
sustains itself by standing armies. Such are all the governments of
Western Europe. Not one of them could exist forty-eight hours, but for
the standing armies. These standing armies became necessary and grew up
as slavery disappeared. The old Barons kept the Canaille, the
Proletariat, the Sans Culottes, the Nomadic Beggars, in order, by
lashing their backs and supplying their wants. They must be fed and kept
at work. Modern society tries to effect this (but in vain) by moral
suasion and standing armies. Riots, mobs, strikes and revolutions are
daily occurring. The mass of mankind cannot be governed by Law. More of
despotic discretion, and less of Law, is what the world wants. We take
our leave by saying, "THERE IS TOO MUCH OF LAW AND TOO LITTLE OF
GOVERNMENT IN THIS WORLD."
Physical force, not moral suasion, governs the world. The negro sees the
driver's lash, becomes accustomed to obedient, cheerful industry, and is
not aware that the lash is the force that impels him. The free citizen
fulfills, "con amore," his round of social, political and domestic
duties, and never dreams that the Law, with its fines and jails,
penitentiaries and halters, or Public Opinion, with its ostracism, its
mobs, and its tar and feathers, help to keep him revolving in his
orbit. Yet, remove these physical forces, and how many good citizens
would shoot, like fiery comets, from their spheres, and disturb society
with their eccentricities and their crimes.
Government is the life of a nation, and as no one can foresee the
various future circumstances of social, any more than of individual
life, it is absurd to define on paper, at the birth of either the nation
or individual, what they shall do and what not do. Broad construction of
constitutions is as good as no constitution, for it leaves the nation to
adapt itself to circumstances; but strict construction will destroy any
nation, for action is necessary to national conservation, and
constitution-makers cannot foresee what action will be necessary. If
individual or social life were passed in mere passivity, constitutions
might answer. Not in a changing and active world. Louisiana, Florida and
Texas would have been denied to the South under strict construction, and
she would have been ruined. A constitution, strictly construed, is
absolutely inconsistent with permanent national existence.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
WARNING TO THE NORTH.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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