The War Before the War: Fugitive Slaves and the Struggle for America's Soul from the Revolution to the Civil War

Today we often look back in disgust at the period of African slavery in the US. However, at the time, the situation was much more complex. Servitude was common. Many immigrants came as indentured servants. People were also often apprenticed to masters to learn a trade. Slavery was proscribed as a more compassionate punishment than death. The slave trade seemed like a logical outcrop of situation. However, somewhere in the process, a racial aspect was applied. (It wasn't clear whether Africans were deemed as inferior because they were slaves, or whether they were slaves because they were deemed inferior.) The African slaves were unfamiliar with the land and less likely to be flight risks. At first they were used primarily on tobacco farms in the upper south, but later the focus was on cotton in the deep south. The south ended up growing to have some of the greatest concentrated wealth in the country - all built on slave labor.
The north did not depend directly on slavery. However, they did benefit from the slave production. They had adopted a holier-than-though attitude. They hated slavery, yet they did not have a whole lot of respect for blacks. There was one story where they went through great lengths to get the freedom of a slave girl that was brought into a northern state. However, nobody wanted her and she ended up in an orphanage. The new territories also did not want slaves, but did not want free black residents either. This seems somewhat similar to our situation with immigrants today.
The fugitive slave law was seen as a compromise that may have delayed the civil war. However, it also helped increase tensions. The conflict was intense. Today it is easy for us to look at the god and the bad and the inevitable fall of slavery. However, at the time the outcome was not clear. Automation was still some time away from wiping out the need for slavery.
This book is a very balanced look at the complexities of the slave issue. There were no clear answers that would have neatly resolved the situation. The narratives adopted by both sides of the slave debate were filled with contradictions and holes.