mattie griffith, madge vertner, and kentucky abolitionism - The Filson ...
mattie griffith, madge vertner, and kentucky abolitionism - The Filson ...
mattie griffith, madge vertner, and kentucky abolitionism - The Filson ...
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THE FILSON HISTORY QUARTERLYstrike down at once, we must go cautiously <strong>and</strong> gradually to work,"Griffith depicts him as a compromiser who cannot confront the sinof slavery.• After Norton marries Helen <strong>and</strong> obtains control over herproperty, however, he quickly distances himself from the politicalfaith he has preached <strong>and</strong> uses gradualism as an excuse. Norton fullydeserves the cynical appraisal of townspeople who dismiss his <strong>abolitionism</strong>as show-talk <strong>and</strong> him as a fortune-hunter. Helen is a flailwoman who suffers from consumption, the same disease with whichGriffith killed off the sympathetic young John Peterkin, the plantationowner's young son <strong>and</strong> bearer of antislavery sentiments in Autobiography.By late in the novel, with Helen on her deathbed, Nortoncontinues to find excuses to delay emancipation, <strong>and</strong>, months afterher funeral, he drops all pretenses towards fulfillment ofhis promisesto liberate the family slaves. Instead, this once-abolitionist has beentransformed into a harsh <strong>and</strong> driving master whose slaves complainof ill treatment.Emancipation left promised <strong>and</strong> unperformed is emancipationdenied, <strong>and</strong> a male heart that does not underst<strong>and</strong> the cruelty of slaverycontinually finds economic reasons to leave emancipation in therealm of promises alone. Through the example of Norton, Griffithargues that the coercions of profit <strong>and</strong> loss are irrelevant within thecontext of divine recognition of individual souls <strong>and</strong> self-possession.Economic antislavery arguments, advanced by men with financialself-interests that generate deceit, ignore the central issue of freedom.Although luxury-loving society women like Mrs. Vertner, dependenton their husb<strong>and</strong>s for their indulgences <strong>and</strong> dependent upon blackdomestic labor for service, may endorse slavery, Griffith's "truewomen" have no need for these <strong>and</strong> can dispense with the system ofslavery. Madge is a stubborn child ofnature, convinced of the naturaljustice of her antislavery beliefs; Helen is eager to relinquish her50 1bid., 19.268