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Furman's Legacy of Slavery: A Digital Exhibition: James C. Furman Proslavery Stance
...universal emancipation will be declared.--Then every Negro in South Carolina, and in every other Southern State, will be his own master; nay, more than than, will be the equal of every one of you. If you are tame enough to submit, Abolition preachers will be at hand to consummate the marriage of your daughters to black husbands.
James C. Furman, on his public address on the issue of abolition of slavery, November 22, 1860
Image of Abraham Sims in Cherrydale
The above words were written by James C. Furman in "Letter to the Citizens of the Greenville District," published on November 22, 1860. On that same day Furman publicly addressed the same remarks before a crowd at the Greenville Courthouse on the same day, November, 22, 1860.
To Furman, who chaired and presided the Greenville's Women's College--depicted Black men as oversexed, stupid, lazy, dishonest, and thieving. And under his exploitative labor practices was Clark Murphy, an important figure directly link to the history of our Institution.
What historical and social forces are at play during the shaping of Furman's message?
These pronouncements made by James C. Furman, on the eve of the Civil War and in the weeks after Abraham Lincoln's election in 1860, were designed to appeal to the many non-slaveholding whites of Greenville. Furman's arguments for recession exhorted fathers and brothers to preserve the manhood and honor of Southerners, and to protect the virtue of their daughters and wives.
Having lived a vastly different political situation in the state and nation than that his father had experienced, James developed harsher views on slavery as the northern abolitionist movement wave of the 1830s threatened the Southern way of life. While Richard Furman reasoned with fellow Baptist or slave-holders on the question of slavery's morality, James went on to a campaign to reject abolition and protect Southern honor.
- In what ways do James C. Furman's rhetoric on slavery differed from that of his father, Richard Furman?
- Are there areas where they share a common ground? Which ones?
- What was the main political message Furman wanted to drive home?
Locate a copy of the book, "The life work of James Clement Furman"
On December 20, 1860, James C. Furman was one of 169 delegates in the secession convention to vote unanimously for South Carolina to secede. During a fallout with his Brushy Creek Baptist Church congregation in October of 1863, church members criticized Furman's role in the blood-letting of the war. Amid internal criticism of his aggressive Confederate stance, Furman pushed back, accepted no responsibility, and resigned his position at the church.
Letter to Brushy Creek Baptist Church, autograph letter, signed, 18 October 1863.
James C. Furman Papers, Box 2.
“So far from regretting my action in the convention...I would do the same thing over again tomorrow. I believe that the secession of South Carolina saved civil liberty on this continent...“after-generations will thank the men who saved popular liberty from extinction."
Letter to Brushy Creek Baptist Church, autograph letter, signed, 18 October 1863.
James C. Furman Papers, Box 2.