Mudsill theory
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A "theory" which proposes that there must be, and supposedly always has been a lower class for the upper classes to rest upon. The inference being a mudsill, the lowest threshold that supports the foundation for a building.
It was used by its composer Senator/Governor James Henry Hammond, a wealthy southern plantation owner to justify what he saw as the willingness of the lower classes and the hegemony of non-whites to perform menial work which enabled the higher classes to move civilization forward. With this in mind, any efforts for class or racial equality that ran counter to the theory, would inevitably run counter to civilization itself.
Many saw the argument as a weak justification for exploitation, and a flimsy example of creating your own science to reference as proof. An obvious flaw lies in that there are no indications as to which class or race rightfully belongs to the mudsill other than the pre-supposed regional groups that were already in place at the "bottom", causing a circular argument.
It was directly used to advocate slavery in the rhetoric of John C. Calhoun and other Pre-Civil War Democrats, that were struggling to maintain their grip on the Southern economy. They saw the abolition of slavery as a threat to their powerful new Southern market that revolved almost entirely around the plantation system which was furthered by the use of primarily African slaves, but also utilized destitute whites
These and other colloquials were used as rhetoric in what has been dubbed "the Marxism of the Master-Class" which fought for the rights of the propertied elite against what were perceived as threats from the abolitionists, lower classes and non-whites to gain higher standards of living.
