KEYWORDS
Race and Society
Slavery
Southern Society

COURSES FOR WHICH MODULE IS MOST APPLICABLE
American History
Social Policy
Political Theory
Ethnic Studies

MODULE DESCRIPTION
In October 1831, Alexis de Tocqueville and Gustave de Beaumont ventured into Southern society for the first time and encountered the institution of slavery. While in Baltimore, they went to the races and observed a black man who, having taken the liberty of entering the arena with some whites, received a volley of blows from a white man with his cane without this deed appearing to surprise either the crowd or the negro himself. Upon visiting an almshouse the two Frenchmen were startled by the howls of a violently insane slave who had received brutal treatment at the hands of an especially notorious slave trader. Now locked in a cell, the man imagined his abuser was coming for him. The pair witnessed the consequences of American miscegenation and racial prejudice by observing the segregated seating arrangement in a theater where seemingly white women of mixed race were forced to occupy the colored section. These three examples, recounted in George Pierson's Tocqueville and Beaumont in America (cited in the bibliography below), help students understand what the Frenchmen witnessed and ultimately what shaped Tocqueville's analysis of race relations in America. The Pierson passages are rich in detail and help students understand slavery's impact on American society.

IN-CLASS DISCUSSION
Have students READ Pierson's passages regarding Baltimore and what Tocqueville eventually says about race in Democracy in America, especially Vol. I, Chapter 18.

DISCUSS the social climate of the period. IDENTIFY the characteristics of the institution of slavery and the impact it had on American society. This will enable them to participate in an informed analysis of the historical and contemporary issues surrounding race and race relations.

DESCRIPTION OF ASSOCIATED VIDEOS
The Purdue Video Archives contains C-SPAN videotapes from Booknotes programs that address antebellum themes. They include biographical material on Henry Clay, Abraham Lincoln, John C. Calhoun, and Sam Houston. In addition, the archives has interviews with authors who address contemporary issues on race, including Nathan McCall (Makes Me Want to Holler), Cornel West (Race Matters), Derrick Bell (Confronting Authority), and Lani Guinier (Tyranny of the Majority).

C-SPAN's Lincoln-Douglas debate series also offers rich opportunities to discuss slavery and race in antebellum America. Recent congressional hearings on child labor would enable students to view exploitation from a contemporary perspective.

SHOW parts of any of the videos suggested below and any of the videos resulting from the
C-SPAN series Tocqueville in America to be telecast by C-SPAN in 1997 and 1998. A number of the discussions will deal with the issues of this module.

Note: C-SPAN allows free off-air recording of all or any part of this series for educational use.

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Berlin, Ira. Slaves Without Masters. (1974). A comprehensive treatment of the conditions and status of free blacks in the South during the antebellum period.

Blassingame, John. The Slave Community (rev. 1979). Addresses the issue of slavery from the perspective of the enslaved. Is concerned with the social and cultural aspects of the slaves life.

Litwack, Leon. North of Slavery (1961). Discusses the erosion of rights for free blacks in the Northern states during the first half of the 19th century.

Pierson, George W. Tocqueville and Beaumont in America. New York: Oxford University Press, 1938; Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1996. The best book on Tocqueville and Beaumont's trip to America.

Splaine, John. A Companion to the Lincoln Douglas Debates. Washington, DC: C-SPAN, 1994. Convenient summary of the debates for educators who want to select video from the C-SPAN telecasts of 1994.

Stamp, Kenneth. The Peculiar Institution. (1956). Approaches slavery from the perspective of exploitation of labor and its impact on the slave.

Tocqueville, Alexis de. Democracy in America. New York: Alfred Knopf, 1994. An inexpensive, hardback recent edition.