Inaugural Lectures (Oxford)
1 total work
To southern planters freedom meant their command of black people's labour, as it had been legitimized by the constitution of the United States. To the improving farmers and bourgeoisie of the North, it meant the self-realization of individuals in a competitive society, where the same rules applied to all men. To the former slaves, freedom meant land of their own, as a home on which an Afro-American people could fashion their own destinies. To their rural white neighbours, it meant being left to themselves, a privilege that had been secured for them by the plantation system but was undermined by postwar economic development. Industrial workers identified freedom with security from want and control over the use of their own talents and time. The conflict generated by these diverse aspirations shifted the focus of public discussion of the meaning of freedom from constitutional issues to the labour question.