Blog Two: Learning Outcome Three: Cannibals All

The novel “Cannibals All! Or Slaves Without Masters” by George Fitzhugh was written in 1857. George Fitzhugh grew up in Virginia and was an American social theorist. He also was pro-slavery and wrote a few books on slavery. In the novel, Fitzhugh is arguing that slavery is a form of protection for the weak and poor. He claims that it is necessary, because otherwise, blacks would not be able to survive. http://books.google.com/books/about/Cannibals_All.html?id=ECdb7EjiBnEC
The cultural beliefs of the time period in which this was written greatly impact and shape the language and meaning used throughout the novel “Cannibals All! Or Slaves Without Masters.” During the 1850’s, the southern part of America still allowed slavery. Although it was in great jeopardy at the time, it was a big part of the culture. In Chapter 19, Fitzhugh states, “But there can be no efficient protection without enslavement of some sort.” If someone were to write a novel in this day and age and include the previous statement, it would not be accepted by many, since slavery has been abolished for quite some time now. But for this time period, it was something completely acceptable simply because slavery was a common part of southern American culture. Fitzhugh also refers to the blacks as negroes throughout the novel. In the first paragraph of Chapter 20, he refers to them as negroes when he says, “But the negro has neither energy nor enterprise, and, even in our sparser population, finds, with his improvident habits, that his liberty is a curse to himself, and a greater curse to the society around him.” “Negro” was just a fairly common word used in the language of this time. Also, in this quote, society’s view on blacks and their inferiority affected the words he chose to use to describe them. He basically calls them lazy when he says they have no energy. And he also calls them improvident, which means they are without foresight or are not sensible, cautious, or wise. The culture of the time clearly had an impact on the language used in this novel.