Idea for an antebellum novel...

[DGS49]

I've been reading a series of novels about the run-up to the civil war where the author takes pains to explain the two different sides' opinions on slavery, and their justifications for those positions. At the same time, current public discourse contains a lot of condemnation of not only slavery and its aftermath, but of "white people" today."

So here's my idea for a novel. The owner of a large plantation in, say South Carolina, dies intestate, without children, and the search for an heir identifies a young unmarried lawyer in, say, Massachusetts who will inherit the plantation and all other "property" owned by the deceased gentleman.

The inheritance is communicated to the lawyer and the size of the estate is such that he decides to pick up and move to South Carolina and take over the plantation. He is aware, obviously, that his deceased relative owned significant real estate and slaves, but has no knowledge of the actual living conditions of the surviving relatives or the enslaved people that are part of the estate. At the time of the ancestor's death, the plantation was thriving, and he had been a pillar of the community.

The lawyer is mature enough that he doesn't just go down and immediately start raising hell (and making enemies), but he determines early on that he wants no part of being a slave owner. - and of course he knows absolutely nothing about agriculture or running a large plantation. There are a few instances in the first few days after he takes ups residence where his slaves are brutalized for relatively minor offenses and insults. He befriends a local minister and confides in him his moral misgivings about being a slave owner, and seeks his counsel about what can be done without destroying the estate. He is also uncomfortable with the idea of just selling the slaves and trying to replace them with hired hands. That really does nothing to help the slaves.

He is referred to a local attorney who can advise him on how individual slaves could be emancipated (I think it's called "manumission"), and how any freed slaves might be set up to survive either locally or after travel to a non-slave state. They talk about setting up slave families as (free) sharecroppers - but of course if they are freed it would be their decision of whether to do that or just leave.

Other possibilities are endless. Could he send someone to recruit Irishmen to work the fields? Obviously, some sort of a romantic interest must arise - a neighbor woman, or even someone from the ancestor's family.

Writing this novel would require a lot of research, but I think it has great possibilities, especially to day.

 

[night_son]

I've been reading a series of novels about the run-up to the civil war where the author takes pains to explain the two different sides' opinions on slavery, and their justifications for those positions. At the same time, current public discourse contains a lot of condemnation of not only slavery and its aftermath, but of "white people" today."

So here's my idea for a novel. The owner of a large plantation in, say South Carolina, dies intestate, without children, and the search for an heir identifies a young unmarried lawyer in, say, Massachusetts who will inherit the plantation and all other "property" owned by the deceased gentleman.

The inheritance is communicated to the lawyer and the size of the estate is such that he decides to pick up and move to South Carolina and take over the plantation. He is aware, obviously, that his deceased relative owned significant real estate and slaves, but has no knowledge of the actual living conditions of the surviving relatives or the enslaved people that are part of the estate. At the time of the ancestor's death, the plantation was thriving, and he had been a pillar of the community.

The lawyer is mature enough that he doesn't just go down and immediately start raising hell (and making enemies), but he determines early on that he wants no part of being a slave owner. - and of course he knows absolutely nothing about agriculture or running a large plantation. There are a few instances in the first few days after he takes ups residence where his slaves are brutalized for relatively minor offenses and insults. He befriends a local minister and confides in him his moral misgivings about being a slave owner, and seeks his counsel about what can be done without destroying the estate. He is also uncomfortable with the idea of just selling the slaves and trying to replace them with hired hands. That really does nothing to help the slaves.

He is referred to a local attorney who can advise him on how individual slaves could be emancipated (I think it's called "manumission"), and how any freed slaves might be set up to survive either locally or after travel to a non-slave state. They talk about setting up slave families as (free) sharecroppers - but of course if they are freed it would be their decision of whether to do that or just leave.

Other possibilities are endless. Could he send someone to recruit Irishmen to work the fields? Obviously, some sort of a romantic interest must arise - a neighbor woman, or even someone from the ancestor's family.

Writing this novel would require a lot of research, but I think it has great possibilities, especially to day.

I've published a number of novels, one of which is a planned series. Ideas are worth less than a dime a million, or so they tell me. Your idea fascinates me, however, the only thing to do about it is to sit down and start the thing and keep going until THE END. If you ever do, and I hope you do, keep in mind the insanely short attention span of many modern readers. Myself, I was a student, in spirit at least, of Faulkner. I admired his hundred plus word sentences and found great excitement in attempting to emulate his style. Apparently, these days, kids choke on sentences longer than ten words. Don't let that stop you. There are literary markets for just about anything out there, although many traditional genre markets have shrunk to the faintest whisper of a breath.

 

[DGS49]

As I think about it, it's a better idea for a television series. The protagonist could deal with a different micro-issue every episode - they would be endless. For example, he wants to give his slaves real NAMES. Instead of calling this field hand, "Toby," I will create a document formalizing the name "Tobias Washington." We will still call him "Toby," but he will have a real name.

• He wants the slaves to call him "Mister" instead of "Master."
• He occasionally asks his slaves to do something (in front of others) by using the word, "Please."
• He wants to reward a slave for a job well done, or give a birthday gift to a slave.

What kind of pushback would he get from his neighbors? From his "white" employees?

I like it.

 

[beautress]

I've been reading a series of novels about the run-up to the civil war where the author takes pains to explain the two different sides' opinions on slavery, and their justifications for those positions. At the same time, current public discourse contains a lot of condemnation of not only slavery and its aftermath, but of "white people" today."

So here's my idea for a novel. The owner of a large plantation in, say South Carolina, dies intestate, without children, and the search for an heir identifies a young unmarried lawyer in, say, Massachusetts who will inherit the plantation and all other "property" owned by the deceased gentleman.

The inheritance is communicated to the lawyer and the size of the estate is such that he decides to pick up and move to South Carolina and take over the plantation. He is aware, obviously, that his deceased relative owned significant real estate and slaves, but has no knowledge of the actual living conditions of the surviving relatives or the enslaved people that are part of the estate. At the time of the ancestor's death, the plantation was thriving, and he had been a pillar of the community.

The lawyer is mature enough that he doesn't just go down and immediately start raising hell (and making enemies), but he determines early on that he wants no part of being a slave owner. - and of course he knows absolutely nothing about agriculture or running a large plantation. There are a few instances in the first few days after he takes ups residence where his slaves are brutalized for relatively minor offenses and insults. He befriends a local minister and confides in him his moral misgivings about being a slave owner, and seeks his counsel about what can be done without destroying the estate. He is also uncomfortable with the idea of just selling the slaves and trying to replace them with hired hands. That really does nothing to help the slaves.

He is referred to a local attorney who can advise him on how individual slaves could be emancipated (I think it's called "manumission"), and how any freed slaves might be set up to survive either locally or after travel to a non-slave state. They talk about setting up slave families as (free) sharecroppers - but of course if they are freed it would be their decision of whether to do that or just leave.

Other possibilities are endless. Could he send someone to recruit Irishmen to work the fields? Obviously, some sort of a romantic interest must arise - a neighbor woman, or even someone from the ancestor's family.

Writing this novel would require a lot of research, but I think it has great possibilities, especially to day.

Hip, hip, hooray! Great idea, DG549. Be sure to let there be some black heroes who earns himself such accolades your new plantation owner uses the excesses of his fortune on the educations of black men and women who lead the nation to want blacks to have pride in their own ability to roll up their sleeves and do right by all concerned, particularly fatherliness to their children. The best use of fiction would be to help blacks repair what's wrong, and do it strongly so that there can be no doubt they are our equals in every way. If you can win black children a guaranted father, the blacks of the future can face life with love for all without repeating a reverse history, but one of uniting fellowship in the nation.
I tip my hat to the possibilities of change your book will produce for strengthening people whose strengths can change the world. Make people see Martin Luther's "I have a dream" come true posthumously. You can do it.

 

[Esdraelon]

Writing this novel would require a lot of research, but I think it has great possibilities, especially to day.

It sounds like a great read BUT, you're correct, it would take a huge amount of working knowledge of that period to be able to make it realistic and believable. Slavery was so woven into society and culture that even trying to be kind to blacks would have had to be done judiciously. I know this from family experience.
My grandfather was poor and lived in rural south Alabama. He was a sharecropper for a while but would have his black neighbors over to share meals at times. Even THEN they had to come through the back door lest a white neighbor saw them going in.