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Heyrman Christine Leigh’s “Southern Cross: The Beginnings of the Bible Belt” goes hand in hand with Greenberg Kenneth’s concepts on the depiction of southern men. Both texts present the structural relationship between the social elites and those considered to be at the bottom of the societal pyramid. In this case, slaves held the last place as per the laws by the white people. Heyrman points out that the turn of the century brought changes that shook the south and said changes did not have the perfect qualities that have since been encompassed into America’s history. On the other hand, Greenberg’s ideologies and arguments regarding the American men seem to concur with and attest to all the points made by Heyrman while providing different views to the same. This paper seeks to identify the depiction of Southern white Americans in both books and identify the similarities and differences with the inclusion of societies and northern states.
When the original versions of the books were written, Americans were divided into the northern and southern states because of existing differences in the political and social dogmas. Said division found basis on the issue of slavery with the southerners being pro-slavery because of their massive cotton plantations. On the other hand, the northerners took the anti-slavery position as it adapted to the industrialism that was at the time taking over Europe and gradually advancing towards America. Heyrman presents her findings on the religious revolution that took over the south while presenting the depiction of the southern men through their economic and social statuses. This paper seeks to analyze Greenberg’s ideologies with those of Heyrman’s to ensure a thorough analysis of the required texts for the aforementioned thesis.
Southern men were considered the epitome of society and whatever they forbade ceased to exist. In “Southern Cross: The Beginnings of the Bible Belt”, Heyrman attests to this when she states, “evangelicals could not rest content with a religion that was the faith of women, children, and slaves” (193). In other words, as the years leading to the Civil War meant slaves were yet to be emancipated, the white masters controlled their movements and in turn, the extent to which blacks could participate in religious activities. On the other hand, women and children were considered weak at both family and societal level. Both factors ensured the southern white patriarchs’ capability to ensure the reactions to evangelism went as they pleased. Consequently, the evangelists “still struggled to claim the soul of the South” (Heyrman 23) In turn, it is evident that the masculinity in antebellum America saw to the men controlling societies. For instance, to gain access to the peoples’ households, there was a need for the evangelists to reassure the husbands, fathers, and male slave owners that control of their homes goes undeterred.
As the men became aware of their position in society, Heyrman argues that there was a time when the male evangelists could not be differentiated from the rest of the southern men. Heyrman states that this was due to the societal elevation of men that caused the southern men’s “surging testosterone” (231). Heyrman furthers her arguments by adding that, preachers and men alike have responded to matters of interest “with chest hair sprouting and fists swinging” (238). However, Greenberg refutes this by pointing out that ideologies of honor were disputed by the “evangelical groups that detected a lack of Christian values in the duel and the eye gouging” (58) Consequently, the evangelists assumed the abolitionists’ position while discouraging slavery and the methods southern men used to show their masculinity. It is important to note that the acts of honor disappeared in the North while the southerners continued to engage in the activities hence marking the beginning of abolitionism of slavery. The different presentation of southern male evangelists marks the major contrast between the two texts probably owing to the different approaches the two authors took to analyzing and identifying the leading dogmas in antebellum south.
Greenberg’s “The Nose, the Lie, and the Duel in the Antebellum South” attests to the importance of the men in antebellum South America. According to Greenberg, there were expressions among the southern men that covered the institution of slavery because, “we can relate the white Southern experience of slavery to the white Southern attitude toward the surface of the world” (65). Southern men lived for honor and truth, albeit in the face of the southern society, said men detected all that was acceptable among the southerners. In turn, the society described by Heyrman is present in that of Greenberg’s. For example, according to Greenberg, honor in the south originated from nose tweaking and dueling among the men in Antebellum South. Consequently, said honor was applicable to their homes and properties, which in the nineteenth century included black slaves. Greenberg concurs with this when he argues southerners believed that, for comprehensive understanding on the value of slaves to their owners, one has to understand the “important connections the language of honor and the experience of slave ownership” (58) As it is in Heyrman’s book, slaves made the bottom of society by belonging to their white owners. However, black slaves played a part in the societal elevation of their masters among other whites. Consequently, all matters pertaining to the honor were inapplicable to slaves meaning the nose tweaking and duels were restricted to the male whites. Greenburg argues that white women and slaves were considered similar with the only difference being the latter performed forced labor for the whites. Therefore, in the context of honor, Greenberg notes that “Slaves never pulled anyone's nose; neither did white women” (57).
Pride is an important quality among the southerners recorded by Heyrman and Greenberg. However, while Greenberg depicts truth as a quality observed through slaves and a southern man’s relation with his peers, Heyrman shows the importance of religion in the same. Consequently, the Southern men in “Southern Cross” view religion as a means of obtaining a form of balance in their lives and with each other. After all, since most southerners owned slaves, they saw each other as equals with the only difference lying in the amount of control one slave owner has in comparison to the other. Religion was, therefore, a form of refuge for the men as eventually they allowed the evangelists to draw them into the same. Greenberg’s sense of truth was seen through one’s ability to handle property through honest means. Such ideologies give rise to the concepts of honor that found basis on body parts. For example, while a white man could tweak the nose of another white man, slaves were forbidden from talking to or touching their white superiors. Since slaves were considered property, nose tweaking as a form of honor appears to be a plausible factor among the whites. It is important to note that honor and truth among the white men went hand in hand in antebellum south because of the existing social order in which all elite whites created the elite group. Therefore, there was a need for a form of management for the said elite otherwise; there would have been clashing ideologies due to the lack of boundaries to ensure civilization.
While the men were revered in antebellum south, the women had no such liberties. At the family level, men headed the house while women assumed the role of obedient wives waiting on their husbands. It is to this regard that Heyrman documents the evangelists’ need for accessing the husbands before progressing towards the rest of the household. In addition, Greenberg views the white women as equal to slave (58) hence showing the emphasis of masculinity in the south. However, any white woman or child was socially, politically and economically above all the African Americans. As said before, black people were considered property that could be dealt with as one would deal with an asset. Therefore, laws existed in America where blacks were instructed on how to act when in the presence of the whites while the white men had laws to protect their interests in said properties. Consequently, the social order in America dictated the whites being superior to the whites under all circumstances.
As aforementioned, men in antebellum South America sought to establish and maintain their positions as the finest of society. To ensure their position in society, whites sought to maintain slavery as an institution among the southerners. After black slaves, the white women assumed their place behind the white men. In the north, there was already talk of abolishing slavery in America and allow slaves to have rights as American citizens (Greenberg 68). Hence, the north was different from the south as none of the men cared for neither slavery nor societal position (Greenberg 58). Consequently, it is safe to argue that the clearly different aims, among the southerners and people from the north, about the African Americans gave rise to the observed differences between the men from both sides of America. In addition, said differences eventually led to the American Civil War, which was won by the north and led to the liberation of slaves.
Heyrman and Greenberg take different approaches in the analysis of southern men and societies. Heyrman’s approach through the religious order of the people allows her readers to understand the importance of religion to the southern men while clearly showing her readers the superiority of the men’s decision in the progression of evangelism in the area. Hence, Heyrman approaches the situation from the bottom of society and climbs up the social ladder. Since slaves, children and women are seen as the bottom of societies, Heyrman manages to represent the group before moving on to the men in the family and society level. On the other hand, Greenberg takes the opposite approach of analyzing the beliefs and desires of the southern men by concentrating on the men rather than the women. Consequently, readers are exposed to the fears the southern men had, with each one of them showing determination to hold on to his honor and place in society. The common ground in the two texts is the role of slaves in the white man’s world and the effects of the desires shared white men on religion. Heyrman’s whole book finds basis on religion while Greenberg’s arguments are proven true by recorded incidents and findings of Heyrman’s research.
Works Cited
Greenberg, Kenneth S. "The Nose, the Lie, and the Duel in the Antebellum South." The American Historical Review, Vol. 95, No. 1 (1990): 57-74. Print.
Heyrman, Christine Leigh. Southern Cross: The Beginnings of the Bible Belt. Canada: Random House , 2013. Print.
