Lacy K. Ford writes about the South's ideas and contradicting beliefs on slavery. Ford explores three stages in the South's struggle to answer questions about slavery through political, religious, and economic stand points. The first stage was between 1780's and 1808 the cotton revolution, second stage from 1808 to 1830's "whitening" and Paternalism, and third stage in 1830's opposition to abolition. Ford first argues an internal divide in the South began during the Founding of the Republic in 1789. He splits the Old South into two groups: Upper South (North Carolina, Tennessee, Missouri, Kentucky, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia) and the Lower South (South Carolina, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia) Ford uses this divide to explore the first stage between 1780's and 1808. The Upper South sought ways to phase out slavery with minimal disruption 1 while the Lower South found labor through slavery vital to the cotton revolution.…show more content… The Upper South sold slaves to the lower South in a "whitening" effort. Ford goes into great detail about Paternalism. Paternalism is "the attitude or actions of a person, organization, etc., that protects people and gives them what they need but does not give them any responsibility or freedom of choice."2 The Lower South used religion and the bible to defend their stance on slavery: Christian theology and teaching about moral stewardship, family responsibility, and evangelism, and drawing on a pool of able leadership provided by the protestant clergy and active lay leaders, the emerging paternalist insurgency challenged existing notions of the master-slave relationship, including norms of slave management, discipline, and instruction, without challenging the morality of slavery itself.
