The Impending Crisis of the South: How to Meet It
by: Hinton Rowan Helper

Hardcover. NY, Burdick Brothers, reprint, 1857, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, embossed brown cloth with gilt lettering on spine. Ninth thousand. The Impending Crisis is often considered the only popular antislavery work by a southern author prior to the outbreak of the Civil War. Helper (1829-1909)'s argument that "slavery was economically unsound" caused this work to be "officially banned in the South"; in the North, it "vied in popularity and influence with Uncle Tom's Cabin" (Howes). The book stoked fears among southern slaveholders that the "North would promote a class conflict among southern whites," and helped drive many towards secessionism. Bookplate on inside front cover, front fly leaf missing. Otherwise a clean copy in exceptionally nice condition.