ABSTRACT
Southern apologists for slavery veered between identifying their civiliza tion with that o f the English country gentleman and resenting British crit icism of slavery and its support of American abolitionists who collectedfunds abroad in furtherance of their States-side activities. Proslavery arguments drew strength from Parliamentary reports describing the pitiful lives of fac tory, mine, and other classes of laborers. The White Slaves of England, by John C. Cobden, was lavish in its sympathy for these oppressed elements, quoting copiously from detailed accounts of the conditions they endured' and contrasting their lot with the allegedly happier and more secure lives of American slaves. The book's t(twelve spirited illustrations” depicted women and children at the looms, a young girl dragging a coal cart through a nar row seam underground, and other scenes of like character. John C. Cobden has not been identified.
