The book begins in the pre-Civil War South and continues until the end of that war as it nearly tears the United States apart. It is a period of great growth in agriculture. Land owners in the South, eager to satisfy the world's thirst for cotton, are catering to a global market and competing against India's cotton production. These owners find cheap labor in slaves and freely traffic in slave labor for several decades as they eagerly seek profits. They become wealthy at the expense of human beings.

It is a time when these same people, who call themselves Christians, rationalize their actions. They convince themselves that black people are better off being slaves, that they are an inferior race and therefore destined to serve white men. It is a flawed belief system that allows land owners to profit from the misery of their fellow man. It is...