Address to the Non-Slaveholders of the South: on the Social and Political Evils of Slavery

"Address to the Non-Slaveholders of the South" by Lewis Tappan is a political treatise written in the mid-19th century. The work directly addresses the non-slaveholding white population in the southern United States, highlighting the detrimental effects of slavery on their social and economic condition. Tappan argues that slavery benefits only a minority of wealthy slaveholders, while it impoverishes the vast majority of the population, and he encourages the non-slaveholders to recognize their power to abolish the institution. The opening of the text presents Tappan's compelling argument that slavery is not only a moral evil but also a social and economic burden on non-slaveholding citizens. He begins by challenging the prevailing belief that all white southerners are benefitting from the system of slavery, emphasizing that the wealth of planters is built on the exploitation of slave labor. As he cites statistics and comparisons between slave states and free states, Tappan illustrates the stagnation of Southern society compared to the prosperity found in free areas, urging his audience to awaken to their own disenfranchisement and take action against the institution of slavery that undermines their wellbeing.