Slavery2 Essay Research Paper Slavery

Slavery-2 Essay, Research Paper

Slavery

Essay submitted by Unknown

For purposes of this discussion, it is the intent of this author to assess the plight of

African Americans at a time when they were merely slaves, captives taken forcibly by

rich white American merchants to a new and strange land called America. Right from

the very beginning, slavery was a controversial issue. It was fraught with the constant

reminder of man’s inhumanity to man. This was evidenced in the literature as well as

movements such as the abolitionists, and one most notably John Brown, who has been

portrayed as a kind of maniacal character, who would stop at nothing to see this God

given mandate carried out. Similarly, books such as “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” by Harriet

Beecher Stowe did much to fuel the controversy that was slavery in the United States.

Of course we now know that slavery as it was understood in the 19th century lasted

up until the officiation of the Emancipation Proclamation, or slaves, or now newly

pronounced African Americans were given their freedom, and their struggle assumes a

new direction in attempting to gain equality for themselves. This is a struggle which

continues today, and is not much less controversial. Nevertheless, for historical

purposes, I should like to further attempt to dissect events as they existed at that

time. Slavery was a practice which was much favored by the South. In the North,

Americans were more industrial oriented, and had little use for slaves. They could afford

to be more moralistic about the issue. However, when it came to the plight of land

owners and Americans who lived in the Southern part of a very young country, that

was America, they were highly preoccupied with their agrarian lifestyle. It is a fact that

even George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson had slaves as did many of the

forefathers of the new country. It is also true that many of these individuals had

children with their Black slaves, and although it is similarly a matter of historical record

that they did free their slaves, if not while they were alive, in their Last Will and

Testament. What this means is that slavery was an issue of economics to the South,

and a moral dilemma for those Americans who lived in the North. By the mid-1850’s the

spirit of accommodation had all but vanished. Northern interest in Emancipation pushed

by abolitionists, eroded relations between families North and South. William Lloyd

Garrison’s liberator was the extremist voice of abolitionism, calling for immediate

emancipation of the slaves by extralegal means if necessary. Although are not

representative of majority abolitionists opinion, this voice roused the deep seated fear

of slave insurrection among Southerners, who pointed to the actions of Denmark Vesey,

Mat Turner, and finally John Brown, as examples of what could become a horror as

great as Haigi’s blood bath. As the Northern anti-slave movement changed its tactics

from direct political action – for example, a tax on slavery in the state legislature – to

general moral condemnation of all Southerners, Southern attitudes began to set. In the

early 1830’s the South had claimed the largest number of anti-slavery societies; by the

mid-1850’s all such societies were north of Mason Dixon Line. From an uneasey mood

over slavery, Southerners evolved a “positive good” philosophy and argued that slave

owners provided shelter, food, care, and regulation for a race unable to compete in the

modern world without proper training. (Boatner, p. 92) As previously indicated H.B.

Stowe’s “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” was a novel which incited and struck a cord with the

moral fabric of Americans certainly throughout the North, and indeed many throughout

the South as well. To a large extent, this is what the Civil War which culminated was all

about.

What was Abraham Lincoln’s role in this? Mr. Lincoln is sometimes claimed as an

example of a ready made ruler. But no case would be less in point, for, besides that he

was a man of such fair mindedness as is always the raw material of wisdom, he had in

his possession a training precisely the opposite of that to which a partisan is subjected.

His experience as a lawyer compelled him not only to see that there is a principle

underlying every phenomenon in human affairs, but that there are always two side to

every question, both of which must be fully understood in order to understand either

and that is of greater advantage to an advocate to appreciate the strength than the

weakness of his antagonist’s position. Lincoln is more remarkable than the unerring tact

with which, in his debate with Mr. Douglas, he went to the straight to the reason of

the question; nor have we had a more striking lesson in political tactics that the fact,

that, opposed to a man exceptionally adroit when using political prejudice and bigotry

to his purpose. No doubt slavery was the most delicate

Внимание, отключите Adblock

Вы посетили наш сайт со включенным блокировщиком рекламы!
Ссылка для скачивания станет доступной сразу после отключения Adblock!

Скачать