Transatlantic Encounters and the Origins of James Henley Thornwell's Proslavery Ideology

The European travel experiences of antebellum Southern intellectual James Henley Thornwell and his subsequent publications in the USA shed light on the history of transatlantic ideological exchange. This case study indicates that British antislavery concepts failed to sway Thornwell; instead, his writings reveal that European travel sometimes strengthened Americans’ proslavery beliefs rather than fostering antislavery views. Condemning abolitionists as illogical fanatics and blaming capitalism for the wretched situation of London's laborers, he returned home a staunch defender of the slave system and paternalism. A leading intellectual, Thornwell profoundly influenced the South, including secessionists, through his powerful proslavery argument.