Originally published in 1854. Sorry for the very long review, but, hopefully, this will save you from ever having to read this ridiculously biased book. Plus, I want to remember what the book was about so I never have to read it again.

This was a free eBook download on my Google Play Books App. It was a very hard book to read and understand as it is written in that early, pretentious English style of the 19th century. I found his writing very “flowery” and just horrible all the way around.

Nehemiah Adams was a preacher from Massachusetts who travelled south to observe slavery firsthand. He painted slavery as picture perfect, a complete utopia of total bliss in the south. He did this 2 years after Harriet Stowe published her book, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”, showing how brutal the southern plantations can really be and the true emotional impact it had on the slaves. Tensions were rising throughout the states and there didn’t appear to be a solution anytime soon.

Below, are some pretty outrageous takes that Adams came away with after spending three months down in the south and, supposedly, getting a “real” bird’s-eye view on all that is slavery.

He saw slaves dressed very sharp in marching bands, choirs, as firemen, slaves in broadcloth suits in church on Sunday morning.

Liberty was given to any slave as long as they showed a pass from their master. There were no mobs and fights in the streets due to limited liberty and curfews. There was no crime like they have up north. And the women slaves were modestly dressed unlike the scantily dressed black free women of the north.

He made it sound like cotton plantations were no more severe than hired hands on an agricultural farm up north. It was the nature of the work that was so difficult.

Master and slave rode side by side as "they" counted up their net profit and they went off to the bank together to make a deposit into the ever growing savings of his slave.

Negro slaves had a choice to improve their dwellings, or not. It was a personal choice how they lived. Mud logged homes were cooler in summer and warmer in winter, that's why they differ from black dwellings in the north.

They trust their slaves implicitly to send on long journeys, even with their master's gold coins. They will not keep a slave who doesn't "want" to be there. If he runs away, he will be sold to another master.

They chose to be enslaved over freedom because they had the support of their masters throughout their lives, even when they were too old or too sick to be of any use. They had no concerns on their economic welfare.

Their prayers were all about their spirituality and never seen to be about their conditions of being enslaved.

They had mental stability because they had security in their future...no bills due, no markets or short crops to worry about, and no planning...literally, all hard thinking done for them.

Then the author suggested that if there is a dark side to slavery, it should be kept separate from the good and just rejoice in the good.

Finally, the author sees a flaw in slavery: Separating children from their mothers. Where he was, wherever that was, he never stated, he saw a 14 year old little girl sitting on the outside steps of a courthouse waiting to be sold. She was 3/4 black, so when sold, she would be worked 3/4 of the time with her new master and 1/4 of the time of with her old master who retained a vested interest in her. [NOTE: Later in the chapter, I caught author in a contradictory statement, unless I misunderstood. He later wrote the purpose of this sale was so that the purchaser would be her sole owner.]. A large crowd of educated business men and gawkers had gathered to watch as if this was business as usual, but every one of them humane and kind, he added. When the auction began she was told to stand and the bidding began. She began to cry, wiped her tears with the backs of her hands and turned her back to the audience, shoulders heaving and mumbling something to a man behind the sheriff, who happened to be her mother's master. She was sold for $450 to that man who said to her 'kindly', "Well, run and jump in the wagon.", in which she did ' happily'. The author writes that he had a 14 year old daughter at home who he had just sent a gift back home for her birthday a few days before, so now, finally, he can relate.

He claims he was told by one physician, and seems to believe him, that the hearts of negro slaves was more like a hen, very protective for the first few weeks, but after chicks are gone for a few weeks, then the hen completely forgets about her baby chicks and life goes on.

NOTE: I catch this author in another contradictory statement. He previously had gone to the courthouse and saw a man holding an infant sitting on the courthouse steps waiting to auction off the infant. The author went inside, but did not watch this auction. A friend of his asked if he had witnessed it, and he said NO. Later in the chapter, he writes that during his stay, 3 or 4 prominent gentlemen came to him in private and said that they understood he had ‘witnessed’ an infant being auctioned off and apologized, even though it was illegal to auction off a child under 5 years old. And, as far as they knew, nothing like that had ever happened before. They justified it by saying that the woman became pregnant by a man who belonged to another master, so the baby belonged with the man. The baby was put up for auction to be purchased by the woman's master so the baby could be with his mother.

All regard of humanity is taken when auctioning off slaves as if they were white orphaned children. The advertisements in the papers, that the northerns had found horrifying, was explained as just a sale that had to be made public by law. The auctions were not totally unrestricted, the community knew the sales had already been arranged for in private. Many slaves pretty much got to choose who they would like as masters and many good masters would come together and stop a purchase to known bad men of the community. Well, so finally, he doesn't refute that there at least were some bad masters.

The author says the north is responsible for the word of God not reaching millions of souls down south. The abolitionist were stirring the slaves up with their propaganda to the point that the southern slave owners were afraid of an uprising. So, stricter laws had to be put into place regarding their education and learning to read and write. They were to be taught the Word of God by their owners so that outsiders couldn't come in and twist their minds against their masters. He claimed the south were simply acting in self-defense and so extended the laws of slavery into new territories. It was like a contest between the north and the south, and the south was not going to let the north tell them what to do.

According to this author, while searching for God’s purpose in slavery, when slaves earned their freedom and were taught the love of Christ, then they could be sent back to Africa to turn more souls there to God, spreading God’s word. They could not be emancipated to remain here at their own demise. They would not know how to survive on their own. He literally stated that the southern states was a friend and protector of the Africans. The south was ready to free the slaves just as soon as self-defense from the north accusations were taken away.

This one subject in all of history is the one subject that divided the nation, pitting families against families, churches against churches, friends against friends. No other thing had ever divided a nation to the point of a Civil War. The author suggested that if the subject of slavery could have been discussed on its moral issues instead of its political issues, then there would have been far less excitement. He blames the north for constantly slandering the southern plantation owners and sending out propaganda and inciting rising tensions between the north and south.

He reminds readers that in 1800, against the wishes of the south, the north voted to extend the slave trade another 8 years until enough money could be saved to take care of the 300,000 emancipated slaves. He suggests we not look at slavery as taking bondage but as saviors of the African race in this country, again, his words.

The author finally gives his opinion on Uncle Tom's Cabin. He says it gives a false perception of slavery in the south and he worries how it will influence the foreigners perception of slavery in America. Northern critics believe he had been deceived and, of course, the most prestigious plantation owners showed their best side during his visit and interview, I mean, who wouldn’t? The southern critics thought it was the best thing since sliced bread. Finally, someone gave them their due recognition as good, honest and God-fearing slave owners. I noticed that the author never mentioned the names of plantations or names of any slave owners, or even the names of any towns he visited. But, he was sure to mark down that a particular owner, which he was speaking very highly of, was 'very well known and liked in his community'.

In the back of the book, is an “Extra”, where he felt he had to go back and explain himself to some really harsh critics from up north. He said he does not defend slavery. He went down to actually get the “Christian’s” point-of view of slavery and how best it could be removed. Adams had to defend and change the northerns point of view on the humane and Christian slaveholders of the south.

The one thing that did resonate with me, he said that the slave’s weren’t allowed legal marriages. Also, the husband was usually shacked up with one slave owner, and the wife with another. They wouldn’t see each other most of the time but maybe one day a week for a few hours, if that. So, there wasn’t a father around when children were born, and he most likely wasn’t a faithful father at times, or a faithful wife, being human and all. And, according to other authors, the children were easily auctioned off. So, I can see how they learned to mentally detach themselves from developing real relations. Maybe we are still seeing the repercussions from this today, handed down from generation to generation? ( )