Mudsill theory

Mudsill theory is a sociological term indicating the proposition that there must be, and always has been, a lower class for the upper classes to rest upon. The term derives from a mudsill, the lowest threshold that supports the foundation for a building.

The theory was first used by South Carolina Senator/Governor James Henry Hammond, a wealthy southern plantation owner, in a Senate speech on March 4, 1858, to justify what he saw as the willingness of the lower classes and the duty of non-whites to perform menial work which enabled the higher classes to move civilization forward. Efforts to reduce class or racial inequality, under this theory, 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", or the class or race that was the least technologically and culturally advanced, thus causing a circular argument.

It was directly used to advocate slavery in the rhetoric of others 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.

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