Slavery:

Published in 1959, Stanley Elkins' "Slavery" opened up new avenues of debate in the historiography of American slavery. Though a generation of historians would later prove him wrong, Elkins argued that there was little uncharted ground left to explore in our knowledge of slaves' material conditions, and that the debate should shift to consideration of the psychological effects of bondage upon slaves. Regarding the role of whites in the institution, Elkins cared less about their economic motivations than their philosophical views, arguing that the lack of a true intellectual class or established institutions exerting moral authority prevented the United States from settling the slavery debate in a peaceful manner.