Home » South South 1 The slavery of Negroes in the South was not usually a deliberately cruel and oppressive system. It did not mean systematic starvation or murder. W. E. B. Du Bois Slavery, Mean, South Add to Collection 2 In the South, there was absence of any leadership corresponding in breadth and courage to that of Abraham Lincoln. W. E. B. Du Bois Leadership, Courage, South Add to Collection