Pre-Civil War America was basically a nation divided by culture as much as geography (North versus South). However, this cultural divide existed because of the fact that Northerners and Southerners were primarily two peoples with two cultures as opposed to two groups of people who misunderstood one another.
While money emerged as the godhead in the North due to the effects of rapid industrialization, in the South a culture remained steeped in tradition, honor, and pride. The valuation system in each culture was from a completely different perspective. Social values in the North were those of the middle-class, the working class, while those that prevailed and were constructed in the South were those of the Master class. In the North, religious fanaticism arose due to a host of social conditions, ones that created an “excluded” class of people who Robert Matthews, according to Johnson and Wilentz, exploited by “including” in his cultural kingdom. Piety, temperance and Sabbatarianism ruled the day as opposed to the culture of blood sports, intemperance and gambling that were hallmarks of Southern culture. In The Kingdom of Matthias, the authors argue that the social changes occurring in the North (industrialization, changing roles of women, an increase in religion, etc.) allowed Matthews to exploit those displaced within his kingdom of holiness more designed for his own glory and sexual gratification than the glory of God. Women were viewed as being removed from God in this self-proclaimed prophet’s world “When a Methodist girl knocked at the door and announced that she had been sent to Jesus, Matthias whipped her, told her God did not talk to girls, and sent her home to her father” (Johnson and Wilentz 100).
In Prince Among Slaves, we are treated to the life story of a former Muslim prince, one of power, wealth, and education who was sold into slavery after e
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