The Mark of Slavery: Disability, Race, And Gender in Antebellum America.
George Fitzhugh was born in Prince William County in the state of Virginia in 1806. Raised in King George County, Fitzhugh would graduate high school and eventually go on to study law and get married and begin practicing in Caroling County, VA. Fitzhugh has historically been known as a fierce and articulate defender of slavery. Prior to the American Civil War, Fitzhugh managed to build a prominent platform for sharing his ideas and promoting his position on the benefits of racial slavery, particularly in the south. He also worked in Washington D.C. briefly and for the Confederate Treasury in Richmond Virginia. Following the war, Fitzhugh worked for the Freedman’s Bureau.
In this episode, we examine the influence that George Fitzhugh had in historically linking disability to Blackness by insisting that racial slavery in the south was morally superior to free labor in the North.
Slaves Without Masters Part Three