Antifanaticism: A Tale of the South


In her Preface, Butt refers to herself as "a warm-hearted Virginian." In her Concluding Remarks, she acknowledges that she is young and this is her first book. In both places (and at several points inside the narrative) she says she is writing "to defend the South" from Harriet Beecher Stowe. At the end she invites Stowe to visit the South, sure that she'll see for herself how kind masters are, and how contented are the slaves. That's one of the two main motifs of Butt's novel: bringing Northerners with abolitionist sentiments into Virginia, to enjoy "Southern Hospitality" and to go back to the North singing the praises of the slave system. The other main motif is an account of slave life that makes it seem that the main business of the plantation was to insure the slaves' happiness. The book is poorly written, and even by the standards of pro-slavery novels fantastic in its depiction of slavery, but there's no doubt of how sincerely Butt embraces the fiction she's creating.
Antifanaticism: A Tale of the South, By Miss Martha Haines Butt (Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo and Co., 1853
Digital text prepared with the help of the
Wright American Fiction Project, Indiana University Library.

  • PREFACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v
  • CHAPTER I. SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY . . . . . . . 13
  • CHAPTER II. AUNT PHEBE'S CABIN . . . . . . . . 25
  • CHAPTER III. LITTLE HANNAH . . . . . . . . . 34
  • CHAPTER IV. MADORA . . . . . . . . . . 48
  • CHAPTER V. THE SURPRISE WEDDING . . . . . . . 59
  • CHAPTER VI. MADORA'S DEPARTURE FOR SCHOOL . . . . . 74
  • CHAPTER VII. MR. I----'S DESCRIPTION OF HIS VISIT SOUTH . . . 86
  • CHAPTER VIII. MADORA AT SCHOOL . . . . . . . . 96
  • CHAPTER IX. MADORA AT NIAGRA . . . . . . . . 105
  • CHAPTER X. AUNT PHEBE -- MR. AND MRS. M---- RETURN HOME . . 114
  • CHAPTER XI. LYDIA AND DORA -- THE LETTER . . . . . . 123
  • CHAPTER XII. AUNT NELLY'S DEATH -- DORA'S LETTER FROM HER MOTHER . 131
  • CHAPTER XIII. CHARLES AT COLLEGE -- GETS INTO A DIFFICULTY . . . 140
  • CHAPTER XIV. BENJAMIN AND HIS MASTER . . . . . . . 151
  • CHAPTER XV. DORA'S VISIT TO LYDIA -- THE RAMBLE -- THE DEPARTURE . 162
  • CHAPTER XVI. MRS. I----'S VISIT TO THE SOUTH . . . . . 174
  • CHAPTER XVII. MRS. I----'S RETURN HOME -- A CONVERSATION AMONG VISITORS . 189
  • CHAPTER XVIII. THE PARTING . . . . . . . . . 196
  • CHAPTER XIX. CHARLES AGAIN -- GRADUATES -- RECEIVES THE VALEDICTORYADDRESS . . . . . . . . . . 205
  • CHAPTER XX. THE PLANTATION DANCE . . . . . . . 215
  • CHAPTER XXI. MR. M---'S ILLNESS -- HIS RECOVERY -- THE LETTER . . 224
  • CHAPTER XXII. EDORA AGAIN -- THE EXAMINATION -- PLEASURE TOUR . . 232
  • CHAPTER XXIII. DORA'S RETURN HOME -- THE MEETING WITH AUNT PHEBE -- VISIT TO AUNT NELLY'S GRAVE . . . . . 241
  • CHAPTER XXIV. THE SURPRISE -- THE VISIT -- DORA -- MORE ABOUT AUNT PHEBE AND UNCLE DICK . . . . . . . 248
  • CHAPTER XXV. DORA'S MARRIAGE -- AUNT PHEBE AND UNCLE DICK . . 261
  • CONCLUDING REMARKS . . . . . . 266


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