A Journey in the Seaboard Slave States, with Remarks on Their Economy

Beginning in 1852, Olmsted began his travels in the American South. Olmsted wrote dispatches to the New York Times and then wrote three volumes, of which A Journey in the Seaboard Slave States; With Remarks on Their Economy was the first, containing descriptions and analyses of his findings. In Journey, Olmsted comments on the land, the people, agriculture, industry, and slavery. He frequently notes the inadequacy of roads and travel accommodations in the region, and laments the waste of valuable product due to the lack of means and routes. His travels also take him to turpentine and rosin works. He provides detailed descriptions of the turpentine forests and examines the naval stores, tobacco, and tar industries. He casts an especially critical eye on the institution of slavery concludeing that slavery retarded the economic and social progress of the South. He was especially troubled by the lack of urbanization and manufacturing and agricultural diversity and sophistication. Modern readers will notice that Olmsted, has little sympathy for individual African Americans. Olmsted's portrayal of the enslaved peoples he encounters is steeped in racist rhetoric. Nonetheless, though he may not have lent much credence to the abolitionist cause, Olmsted's writings did have considerable influence on the development of the free soil doctrines of the Republican Party, which sought to prevent the extension of slavery into the West.--