--- title: "2 David Brion Davis Quotes - Famous Historian (Homicide in American fiction, 1798-1860)" description: "David Brion Davis was an American intellectual and cultural historian, and a leading authority on slavery and abolition in the Western world." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b007/author-david-brion-davis-27277.jpg" --- ![Portrait of David Brion Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b007/author-david-brion-davis-27277.jpg) # David Brion Davis (1927–2019) Historian **2** quotes in **9** categories Rate this collection: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet David Brion Davis was a historian, best known for *Homicide in American fiction, 1798-1860*. ## Quick Facts About David Brion Davis Born February 16, 1927 Died April 14, 2019 Profession Historian Notable works Homicide in American fiction, 1798-1860 ## About David Brion Davis David Brion Davis was an American intellectual and cultural historian, and a leading authority on slavery and abolition in the Western world. He was a Sterling Professor of History at Yale University, and founder and director of Yale's Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition. He was a self-described "leftish Democrat." ## Quotes by David Brion Davis > [We must face the ultimate contradiction that our free and democratic society was made possible by massive slave labor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brion-davis/we-must-face-the-ultimate-contradiction-that-our-free-and-democratic/) David Brion Davis [Contradiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contradiction/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd2/david-brion-davis-108339_contradiction_we-must-face-the-ultimate-contradiction_360656.jpg) > [“Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, who had spent much of his youth in Europe, expressed surprise and shock when John C.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brion-davis/secretary-of-state-john-quincy-adams-who-had-spent-much-of-his-youth/) David Brion Davis [Skin color](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/skin-color/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/33f/david-brion-davis-108339_skin-color_secretary-of-state-john-quincy-adams-who_773599.jpg) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brion-davis/#itemlist", "name": "David Brion Davis Quotes", "numberOfItems": 2, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We must face the ultimate contradiction that our free and democratic society was made possible by massive slave labor.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Brion Davis" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brion-davis/we-must-face-the-ultimate-contradiction-that-our-free-and-democratic/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd2/david-brion-davis-108339_contradiction_we-must-face-the-ultimate-contradiction_360656.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd2/david-brion-davis-108339_contradiction_we-must-face-the-ultimate-contradiction_360656.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd2/david-brion-davis-108339_contradiction_we-must-face-the-ultimate-contradiction_360656.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We must face the ultimate contradiction that our free and democratic society was made possible by massive…” — David Brion Davis", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, who had spent much of his youth in Europe, expressed surprise and shock when John C. Calhoun, a fellow cabinet member, confided to Adams that one of the major benefits of racial slavery was its effect on lower-class whites, who could now take pride in their skin color and feel equal to the wealthiest and most powerful whites. Thus slavery, in Calhoun’s eyes, defused class conflict. Precisely because slavery was the most extreme instance of inequality, it helped to make other relationships seem relatively equal.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Brion Davis" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brion-davis/secretary-of-state-john-quincy-adams-who-had-spent-much-of-his-youth/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/33f/david-brion-davis-108339_skin-color_secretary-of-state-john-quincy-adams-who_773599.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/33f/david-brion-davis-108339_skin-color_secretary-of-state-john-quincy-adams-who_773599.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/33f/david-brion-davis-108339_skin-color_secretary-of-state-john-quincy-adams-who_773599.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, who had spent much of his youth in Europe, expressed surprise and…” — David Brion Davis", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "Person", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brion-davis/#person", "name": "David Brion Davis", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brion-davis/", "image": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b007/author-david-brion-davis-27277.jpg" }, { "@type": "ProfilePage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brion-davis/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brion-davis/", "name": "David Brion Davis", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brion-davis/#person" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd2/david-brion-davis-108339_contradiction_we-must-face-the-ultimate-contradiction_360656.jpg" }, "description": "David Brion Davis was an American intellectual and cultural historian, and a leading authority on slavery and abolition in the Western world.", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brion-davis/#breadcrumb" } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brion-davis/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Authors", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/authors/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "David Brion Davis", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brion-davis/" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```