Slavery by Another Name

Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the
Civil War to World War II
BOOK EXCERPT: Copyright 2008 • Douglas A. Blackmon

Slavery: . . . that slow Poison, which is daily contaminating the Minds and
Morals of our People. Every Gentlemen here is born a petty Tyrant.
Practiced in Acts of Despotism and Cruelty, we become callous to the
Dictates of Humanity, and all the finer feelings of the Soul. Taught to
regard a part of our own Species in the most abject and contemptible Degree
below us, we lose that Idea of the dignity of Man which the Hand of
Nature had implanted in us, for great and useful purposes.

GEORGE MASON, JULY 1773 VIRGINIA CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION