oppressed by a small but politically dominant aristocracy of wealthy slave-owners. The reaction in the South was very negative. John Spencer Bassett studied the issue and observed in 1898 that circulating Helper's book could be the basis of criminal charges. Politicians often accused each other of having read it, but many of the most successful politicians read it and used its observations of the negative effects of slavery as the basis of their attempts to solve some of the problems Helper pointed out slavery caused. In his 1867 essay, "War of races. By whom it is sought to be brought about. Considered in two letters, with copious extracts from the recent work of Hilton R. Helper," John Harmer Gilmer calls Helper "a profane miscreant," one of many insults directed at Helper in that essay. There are very few references to blacks in the book, and certainly slavery as an economic institution is denounced, not black people. It generated a furor in the South, where authorities banned its possession and distribution and burned copies that could be seized. Between 1857 and 1861, nearly 150,000 copies of the book were circulated, and in 1860, the Republican party distributed it as a campaign document. In December 1859, Democrats returning to Congress reacted with indignation because 68 Republicans had endorsed the book and planned to use it as campaign literature in the presidential election of 1860. Opponents blocked the election of Republican John Sherman as speaker because he had endorsed the book. Tributes The Hinton Rowan Helper House was Helper's residence, 1829–49, and is a designated National Historic Landmark. Liberty ship SS Hinton R. Helper. See List of Liberty ships (G–Je) Primary sources Helper's Works Various editions of The Impending Crisis 1857 text of The Impending Crisis at the University of North Carolina Compendium of the Impending Crisis of the South: How to Meet It (1859 version online) The Impending Crisis of the South: How to Meet It (1860 edition) online version The Impending Crisis of the South: How to Meet It (1968). Fredrickson, George M., ed. and author of a 55-page introduction. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. Nojoque: A Question of a Continent (1867) Noonday Exigencies in America (1871) online Oddments of Andean Diplomacy, and other oddment (1879) online The Three Americas Railway (1881) Works by other authors War of races. By whom it is sought to be brought