southern dissenter. The southern dissenters were also in the middle of a serious identity conflict. From the perspective of a northerner they were southerners, from a majority southern perspective they were defiantly not southern at least as far as values and ideals were concerned. So, in laymens terms they were between a rock and a hard place, they were too southern to be accepted in the north and too much like a northerner to be accepted in the south. Degler illustrates the position of the southern dissenters quite well and in essence believes that they have not received any of their well deserved credit. In the writing of this book Degler brings to light the importance of the southern dissenters both in the history of the south and more specifically what their presence says about the south as a whole. Degler seems to be defending the south throughout the course of the book attempting to rationalize the south in a way quite contrary to how it is portrayed in main stream American history. The influence of blacks in the south is an aspect that Degler casts great amount of importance to. The black influence was not directly political but had vast inadvertent effects on politics in the south. It subtlety influenced every waking moment of all southerners but was rarely spoken of on a public forum of any kind. This great influence as Degler portrays it, stemmed from the mere presence of the blacks in the south. Basically, their presence effected every part of southern society and the central conductor for this influence was fear. Degler's primary support for this claim starts with a slave uprising in 1831 initiated by a black preacher named Nat Turner4. Nat Turner had a handful of followers who, in the early morning hours of August 22 went from farm house to farm house in Southhamton County Va killing all whites they encountered. They moved unopposed thru the country side for the first day of their insurrection. By the time militia patrols...
