Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Slavery: Old News or Relevant History?

I hope that you all found today's activity on slavery informative and eye-opening. But does it really matter that we study stuff like this? Some would question whether or not it is wise to dig up this awful part on our nation's history. Why not put it out of our minds and just move forward? I suppose we can ask that question about all of history. That would not be good news for a history teacher!

We've discussed how Southern plantation owners may have justified their involvement in the institution of slavery. A good case can be made that without slavery the economy of the Southern colonies - and later the Southern United States - would have crumbled. Howard Dodson, writing about the importance of slavery to the cotton trade in 1800s America, says "the slavery system in the United States was a national system that touched the very core of its economic and political life." He goes on to describe how the institution of slavery was interwoven into virtually every part of the U.S. economy at the time:

Each plantation economy was part of a larger national and international political economy. The cotton plantation economy, for instance, is generally seen as part of the regional economy of the American South. By the 1830s, "cotton was king" indeed in the South. It was also king in the United States, which was competing for economic leadership in the global political economy. Plantation-grown cotton was the foundation of the antebellum southern economy.

But the American financial and shipping industries were also dependent on slave-produced cotton. So was the British textile industry. Cotton was not shipped directly to Europe from the South. Rather, it was shipped to New York and then transshipped to England and other centers of cotton manufacturing in the United States and Europe.

As the cotton plantation economy expanded throughout the southern region, banks and financial houses in New York supplied the loan capital and/or investment capital to purchase land and slaves.

Recruited as an inexpensive source of labor, enslaved Africans in the United States also became important economic and political capital in the American political economy. Enslaved Africans were legally a form of property—a commodity. Individually and collectively, they were frequently used as collateral in all kinds of business transactions. They were also traded for other kinds of goods and services.

The value of the investments slaveholders held in their slaves was often used to secure loans to purchase additional land or slaves. Slaves were also used to pay off outstanding debts. When calculating the value of estates, the estimated value of each slave was included. This became the source of tax revenue for local and state governments. Taxes were also levied on slave transactions.

Politically, the U.S. Constitution incorporated a feature that made enslaved Africans political capital—to the benefit of southern states. The so-called three-fifths compromise allowed the southern states to count their slaves as three-fifths of a person for purposes of calculating states' representation in the U.S. Congress. Thus the balance of power between slaveholding and non-slaveholding states turned, in part, on the three-fifths presence of enslaved Africans in the census.

(from National Geographic News)

So were Southern plantation owners right? Was the future of the United States - and the survival of the colonies before that - critical enough to justify slavery? Obviously, we have decided as a nation - as late as it was - that slavery was an evil institution and a regrettable part of our past. So should slavery be remembered as a necessary evil? If so, then how can it we get past the fact that African slaves were forced against their will to be at the center of this horrible history.

Today you heard the horrors that Africans had to endure from the moment they were captured. Hopefully, for a few minutes you tried to put yourself inKunte's shoes - as impossible as that is.

So after reading above about how important slavery was to the economy of our country's early years and after considering what we heard and felt in class, how do you think the United States would be different today if the slavery in North America never existed? Would there have ever been a United States? Would the United States have been better off without slavery? If we decide that slavery was important enough to forgive early Americans for, then we should consider what Lincoln said:
Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.
That probably a good test to apply to ourselves whenever we argue for anything!!

Remember, keep your comments and debate respectful. Be thoughtful!!

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

I guess i am the first to comment!!
I do not belive that without slavery the economy then and now would have crumbled. I think that the united states could also possibly be better off if slavery never existed. I think that maybe without slavery there might be less conflict in america. I think that a way to forget such a horrible thing would be just to try to prevent it from ever happening again and

Anonymous said...

I do think that the United States would have been better off without slavery. I can't even imagine what those poor African Americans went through. Its just mind blowing how could someone even think that way. That by taking away someone's will that they should work for them becuase that they are of a diffrent ethnicity. This is just another example how people can be cruel like with the holocaust in europe, it should never have happended. I do ponder what the United States would be like today if we didn't have slavery. Although slavery in a way showed how strong, and together African Americans were through those rough times. If it was me though, I have no idea if i would have made it.

Anonymous said...

I think slavery was really bad but without it the colonies and the country would not have had that boost to the economy to how it was two months ago. I think that instead of rounding up blacks that were just living was wrong, people that had been captured in a war or criminals should have been slaves. the hunting of other people and then putting them on the ship was not cool. i think the huge horrifc thing was the transport, the working on the fields would be bad but you would have a shelter, food, and clothes.

Anonymous said...

i think that without slavery this country would never have made it without the contributions made by the southern plantations worked by slaves. now we know that slavery is bad and i hope we never have to use slaves again but everything is a learning experience and if we don't learn we never move forward.at the time slaves were the only thing keeping the colonies supplied with food and clothing along with strengthening the economy. now we think slavery is unjust and cruel but in the long run it was the best thing for the economy and the colonies. although the slaves could have been treated better there would be no America as we know it. we might all still be living in Europe because the economy failed and it was over thrown by the french or the Spanish. although i think hunting people in their own home is wrong and packing them into a dirty, rat and lice infected ship to sit in their own barf and pee is also wrong but slaves were a critical part of the economy and the colonies would have gone down the drain with the economy if the slaves were not forced to work in the fields. the united states depended on the use of slaves most people just didn't know that and just said it was wrong but there are always two sides to every story.

Unknown said...

The things they did to the enslaved African Americans were terrible and the way they beat them up and put them on a ship that they could do nothing on and had to sit in their barf and everyones urine was nasty and sick. I dont think that the United States would be any different because without slaves the people could have gotten the whole family to help on the plantation and others so they could sell their product and get to where we are today. I think there would still be United States because slavery was just so people could get more money but before slavery the colonists were trying to form what is now the United States. I think that we were better off without slavery because it was such a cruel thing and it could have saved the torture for all.

Anonymous said...

I totally agree with Amanda by taking someone's life just because they don't have the same skin color as you or follow different customs. Takeing someone from their family, almost killing them on a boat,making them work in severe conditions, and being beaten I think is just plain WRONG. I think that the economy would not have crumbled if we didn't have slavery. The United States would be different today if we didn't have slavery. I think we would not be able to go to school, or not even talk to people with a different ethnicity if slavery didn't happen. I also think that it is a good thing that we are learning about it in school today. It is an important part of our past which was wrong, and everyone should regret it.

Anonymous said...

Even as a fellow BaCainite I have to dissagree with Amandas veiws. Although treatment towards African American slaves was harsh it totally transformed life as we know it. Without the positive economic change it posed on America we may be in the same economic state as Somalia! Now I do agree that there had to be some pretty fat white people sippin' tea in a huge house while slaves broke backs. But that hard labor made money, money made a nation, and a nation gave freedom to over a billion people in the 200 years its been around. The only thing I have to say is that slavery was heartless, cruel, and fatal. But that built the backbone of the USA. And no, those fat dummy's should not be forgiven for the pain inflicted on thousands of people. They should be lightly appreciated only for driving the slaves to work. And for those reading this, I am not racist.

Anonymous said...

I think that the United States would have been better off without slavery. I feel bad for African Americans that were hung or whipped to death for running away or breaking one of the rules. I think that kidnapping people and forcing them to work (just because they weren't the same skin color) was wrong!!! what they could have done was hired people that wanted a job. Like a servant or a maid not like a slave.

Anonymous said...

I agree with pretty much everyone except Emma, sorry Emma, haha. Well, slavery is just sick and wrong to begin with. Forcing someone to do your dirty work just because of the color of their skin. What if it would of been the other way around, whites being slaves? How would the world be today? People don't think about it, and many innocent people were murdered because of it. Yes, it did help shape our country today and if it wasn't for the colonies we wouldn't be near where we are today. Like Darin said, they should've had prisoners or criminals be the slaves. Slavery is one of the reasons we have racism in our country and, to help forget it, we should just work towards the future and prevent it from ever happening again.

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

I disagree with emma k because slavery was not a good thing for the United States. Even though slavery is wrong, if we really had to do it i think that we should have used criminals like what Darin said.

by the way amanda is
AMAZING AMANDA!!!! and I am glad that she is here today and not in Africa. Just because you live in Africa doesn't mean you have aids.

Unknown said...

Like Morgan, I do not think the economy would have crumbled because there were no slaves. Although slavery was important, I think it didn’t affect the colonies in terms of survival. Slavery may have made the economy faster, but I think that the United States would be the same (except for the history) today without the period of slavery. I think it is wrong to enslave someone, just because of their skin color and cultural differences. No, I do not think the plantation owners were right. The survival of the colonies I don’t think really was enough to justify it. It shouldn’t be remembered as necessary evil. I think that we should think of it as a time of sacrifices for the lazy and learning. Africans and Americans probably would be getting along a lot better and not turn to be racist. There probably would have been a United States without slavery.

Anonymous said...

I believe that slavery was a terrible thing. I think that slavery would not have crumpled our country, and that the United States would still be the United States. That being said, it could have weakened our economy because slaves were considered very valuable. Lilcoln makes a good point too. Just imagining the treatment that these people went through was pretty gross. It's hard to believe that people thought other people could be treated, it was worse than being treated like animals, It Was Horror...

Anonymous said...

Emma S does make a good point though.

Unknown said...

Great comments and discussion.

Whatever side you come down on as to whether slavery was a necessary evil in building this nation (or whether it made this country what it is today), it is interesting to see how someone like Jefferson handled the issue. Jefferson was probably the most eloquent voice for freedom and liberty, yet he owned slaves until his death. You could certainly find other examples like this among our early leaders.

In his first draft of the Declaration of Independence he condemned the English crown saying that the crown "has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating & carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere." Jefferson is charging the English crown with promoting slavery in the colonies.

Sounds like the words of an abolitionist (someone that felt slavery should be ended), but is in conflict with how he handled his own role in slavery as a slave holder. I sure some of these early leaders viewed slavery as the necessary evil, or at least something that could not be ended while trying to establish a new country.

Anonymous said...

Hoxiej said that she agreed with me and i agree with her, because o slavery, ther is racism between blacks and whites. but there have always been racists between two different groups of people.

Anonymous said...

i think that slavery was a horible time where many were murdered, and its a very hard subject to learn about in history. But then again if it never happened then it could of always happened now, even though many suffered durning that time period doesn't mean we shouldn't learn about it. i no i rather find out how slavery came to be then have to question what really happened.

Unknown said...
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Unknown said...
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Unknown said...

Jentry, i m sorry to say that although your socialist comment makes sense, in the real world it wont work. It has happened. All we can do is learn from our butt ugly mistakes. I know now that rounding up millions of African Americans is deathly and unholy. unfortunately they haven't invented the time machine. So all we can do is what i said earlier. WE NEED TO LEARN FROM OUR MISTAKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Ok.This is late and this space bar is not working.but beside that, i think that slavery was a arong choice because now there is a huge conflict between whites and blacks now. But also all my close black friends wouldnt live in america if there hadnt been slavery back in the day. But I do believe that the economy and the country wouldnt be the same if there wasnt slavery back in the day.