“Cottenham’s offense was Blackness.”

From the first page, Blackmon highlights the inherent connection made between Blackness and criminality that underscored the neo-slavery of the post-Civil War era. This introduces the theme of The Intentional Revival of Slavery because laws arose to support this belief rather than punish actual crimes.

“Surely that was freedom.”

Here, Blackmon imagines how Henry Cottinham might have felt about his marriage to Mary and their newfound ability to raise children independent of white authorities. Thought this seems like the ideal Black life after the Civil War, by ending the chapter with this quote, Blackmon subtly hints that this will not last.

“[I]n 1865 there was no strategy for cleansing the South of the economic and intellectual addiction to slavery.”

Blackmon breaks down why slavery continued in the South after the Civil War despite the emancipation of the slaves. White Southerners gained tremendous economic benefits by engaging in slavery, and many believed Black people were intellectually inferior and therefore should be enslaved.