George Fitzhugh (1806-1881), American polemicist and pioneer sociologist, was a prominent defender of slavery. By his methods of debate he broke new ground for social analyses.

George Fitzhugh was born on Nov. 4, 1806, in Prince William County, Va., of a well-regarded but only moderately well-off family. His title to aristocratic ancestry, of importance to him, was not firmly established. His father, a surgeon, soon moved the family to Alexandria, a gracious and aristocratic region that nourished young Fitzhugh's belief in the Southern way of life. Fitzhugh studied law, married, and moved to Port Royal, Caroline County, where he built a law practice.

Although the fact was not appreciated at the time, Fitzhugh was a pioneer analyst of society in such pamphlets as Slavery Justified and What Shall Be Done with the Free Negroes" (both 1850). He expanded his views in Sociology for the South; or, The Failure of Free Society...