Flush Times and Fever Dreams: A Story of Capitalism and Slavery in the Age of Jackson

Title Page, Copyright

Flush Times and Fever Dreams Race in the Atlantic World, 1700–1900 Published in Cooperation with the Library Company of Philadelphia’s Program in African American History Series Editors Richard S. Newman, Rochester Institute of Technology Patrick Rael, Bowdoin College Manisha Sinha, University of Massachusetts, Amherst Advisory Board Edward Baptist, Cornell University Christopher Brown, Columbia University Vincent Carretta, University of Maryland Laurent Dubois, Duke University Erica Armstrong Dunbar, University of Delaware and the Library Company of Philadelphia Douglas Egerton, LeMoyne College Leslie Harris, Emory University Joanne Pope Melish, University of Kentucky Sue Peabody, Washington State University, Vancouver Erik Seeman, State University of New York, Buffalo John Stauffer, Harvard University Flush Times and Fever Dreams ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A Story of Capitalism and Slavery in the Age of Jackson Joshua D. Rothman The University of Georgia Press Athens and London Parts of chapters 5 and 6 were originally published as “The Hazards of the Flush Times: Gambling, Mob Violence, and the Anxieties of America’s Market Revolution” in the Journal of American History 95, no. 3 (2008): 651–77.© 2012 by the University of Georgia Press Athens, Georgia 30602 www.ugapress.org All rights reserved Set in Adobe Caslon Pro by Graphic Composition, Inc. Printed and bound by Sheridan Books The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources. Printed in the United States of America 12 13 14 15 16 C 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Rothman, Joshua D. Flush times and fever dreams : a story of capitalism and slavery in the age of Jackson / Joshua D. Rothman. p. cm. — (Race in the Atlantic world, 1700–1900) ISBN 978-0-8203-3326-7 (hbk. : alk. paper) — ISBN 0-8203-3326-3 (hbk. : alk. paper) 1. Slavery—Southern States—History. 2. Theft—Southern States—History—19th century. 3. Criminals—Southern States—History—19th century. 4. Vigilance committee—Southern States—History—19th century. 5. Slave insurrections— Southern States—History—19th century. 6. Southern States—History—1775–1865. 7. Southern States—Economic conditions—19th century. I. Title. E441.R82 2012 306.3 620975—dc23 2012030124 British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data available ISBN for this digital edition: 978-0-8203-4466-9 A Sarah Mills Hodge Fund Publication This publication is made possible, in part, through a grant from the Hodge Foundation in memory of its founder, Sarah Mills Hodge, who devoted her life to the relief and education of African Americans in Savannah, Georgia. This page intentionally left blank For Rebecca This page intentionally left blank He came here with a horse and two pistols and a name which nobody ever heard before, knew for certain was his own anymore than the horse was his own or even the pistols, seeking some place to hide himself. —William Faulkner, Absalom, Absalom! We have become the most careless, reckless, headlong people on the face of the earth. “Go ahead” is our maxim and pass-word; and we do go ahead with a vengeance, regardless of consequences and indifferent about the value of human life. What are a few hundred persons, more or less? —Philip Hone, May 22, 1837 This page intentionally left blank ...