Slavery As An Evil Institution

The “Public Sale of Negroes, by Richard Clagett, depicts a typical auction in 1883. Although, it is important to note that “typical” in the 1800’s is very far from the typical of today. What is interesting or peculiar about this auction and many others in this time is that they were auctioning and selling people. The “Institution of Slavery” or chattel slavery, or even simply slavery, was the mistreatment of people as personal property and objects, where they were bought and sold and forced to perform work and labor. This “institution” was entirely legal, recognized at the writing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and ended by legal abolishment December 1865,

When the first nineteen slaves arrived in Virginia in 1619, an institution that would last more than two hundred years was created. These first slaves were treated more like how the indentured servants that came to the New World from England were. However, as time passed and the colonies grew larger, so did the institution of slavery. Even after the importing slaves internationally was banned in 1807 by Congress, the internal slave trade expanded exponentially. The growth and durability of slavery persisted until the end of the Civil War, a time period greater than the entire existence of the United States. The institution of slavery was not only able to endure through two hundred fifty of turbulent change in America, but it was able to advance. This is due to the mindsets of slavery as a “necessary evil” and a “positive good” coupled with the dependence on them for such a large portion of the economy. These factors can be observed in the narratives written by Olaudah Equiano, Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs.

Slavery as a Cruel Institution Cruelty can be defined as an inhumane action done to an individual or group of people that causes either physical or mental harm. Slavery, at its very core, was a cruel and inhumane institution. From the idea behind it to the way that it was enforced, it degraded the lives of human beings and forbade the basic liberties that every man deserves under the Constitution of the United States. Three major areas where cruelty was especially prevalent were in the slaves working conditions, living conditions, and loss of fundamental freedoms. Working conditions for slaves were about as bad as can possibly be imagined. Slaves worked from dawn till dusk and sometimes even longer. Solomon Northrup describes his

In the early ages of the United States, slavery was a key component in its success in regards to manufacturing for the south. However slavery was a form of horrible labor that blacks had to deal with. They worked long hours in the field, had no freedoms, were not considered citizens, and mistreated by their masters. As time went on slaves began break free from slavery after the civil war and during the reconstruction period where the 13th,14th,and 15th amendments were added to the constitution. During the period of 1775 to 1830, though it was a short time, was a high point for slavery in that change was starting to happen before the civil war.

There was a growing demand for workers in the cultivation of these profitable crops such as tobacco, rice, sugar cane and cotton specifically, which was in large demand especially after the invention of the cotton gin. However, “ The lust for profits led southerners to ignore concerns over the morality of slavery” ( Tindall & Shi 361). The severe savagery and racism that followed with the quest for profit was just another conflict over the expansion that led to the Civil War. The horrendous treatment of slaves in the Old South was exposed in a variety of articles and readings, one being the famous novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, that supported abolition, “ Exposé’s of the dark side of southern culture portrayed the planters as arrogant aristocrats who raped enslaved women, brutalized slaves, and lorded over their communities with haughty disdain” (Tindall and Shi 361 ). Slavery became a large source of this mass economic development, so it is no surprise that “ the twelve richest countries in the U.S. by 1860 were all in the South” (Tindall & Shi 365). While history was created by changes in the economy and the political realm, it is the social problems expansion created that are most remembered regarding

Slavery was practiced throughout the American colonies in the 17th and 18th centuries, as African-American slaves helped build the economic foundations of the new nation. However, as the new nation began to become demographically and economically divided, the debate over slavery was provoked. Need for cheap labor for the demand of cotton solidified the central importance of slavery to the South’s economy, whereas slavery was not as economically viable in the industrialized northern states as it was in southern states. The South called slavery a ‘necessary evil’ whereas the North referred to it as ‘the peculiar institution’ highlighting their sectional divisions. The North questioned the morality of slavery resulting in a growing abolition

Slavery, often called the “Peculiar Institution”, was an integral part of the United States economy. Prior to the civil war, the economy of the south was based on the use of slave labor for cotton. Even though the North did not have as many slaves, it relied on cotton from the South, which was the biggest import from the United States. Slavery became an important part of the culture of the south. Plantation life became an idealized way of life. Many whites came to view blacks as inferior and uncivilized. The United States was one of the last countries to abolish slavery and many of the ideas of white supremacy still exist today. For example, in The Growth of The American Republic by Samuel Eliot Morrison and Henry Steele Commager, a textbook used from the 1930’s until the 1960’s, the authors wrote about slavery having been beneficial for everyone, even the slaves. They wrote about how slaves were happy to be slaves and treated well. They claimed that slaves became devoted to their masters and were faithfully obedient. They wrote that slaves worked less than free workers of the North. Contrary to what Samuel Eliot Morrison and Henry Steele Commager thought, slaves were not treated well, content, or devoted to their owners, and suffered from overworking and terrible conditions.

During the period of 1830-1860 slavery existed throughout the United States. The topic of slavery has a long history in the United States, beginning with the slaves used to cultivate tobacco in the southern colonies. When writing the Declaration of Independence, the Founding Fathers realized they could not include any articles against slavery, for it would lead to the South not agreeing upon it. In the 1830’s to 1860’s, attitudes towards the institution of slavery varied throughout social classes and regions, ultimately settling with the North coming out against the expansion of slavery and the South for it.

Slavery was a central institution in American society during the late eighteenth century, and was accepted as normal and applauded as a positive thing by many white Americans. In the 1770’s, there were approximately 400,000 blacks in the Southern colonies and 50,000 in the Northern colonies. Slaves were central to the operation of the colonies, especially in the South where they were a crucial element of the labour force. They were treated as inferiors, but living alongside whites, and essential as an exploited labouring class. On one hand, people were advocating liberty from slavery, while at the same time relying on slaves to drive the economy.

During the nineteenth century in America the issue of slavery became a huge ordeal between many groups of people. In the South this issue was more prominent than in the North due to many factors, which included the economy, way of life, and beliefs of southern whites. The need for slaves increased after the invention of the cotton gin so slaves were high in demand for processing cotton. In the South, the economical system revolved around the use of slaves due to the strong agricultural economy that had been formed. Justifications such as the use of the Gospel, and examining how slavery helped to boost the economy gave the whites all the reason more to keep slavery around. Slavery was a way of life for many generations and it had no signs of changing no matter how bad the North pushed the issue that slavery was wrong.

Most people understand that slavery was a terrible thing, but most might not fully understand the struggles that free colored men and women endured as well. While slavery was legal, free men would often be kidnapped and forced into slavery, and sometimes slaves actually escape to freedom. If an African American was considered a free man, he or she had to get official documentations stating so. Even after the documents were given to them, some of them still found themselves as slaves. There are many different stories about slavery, but just because a slave escapes from slavery, does not mean he or she is free from a slave’s mindset. Although they were in different positions in life, slaves and free African Americans experienced the same hardships, fears, and daily struggles.

When referring to the days of slavery, it is often assumed that the south was the sole force behind its continuance. However there were many factors which lead southerners as well as some in the north to quietly accept slavery as a good thing. John Calhoun declared in 1837 “Many in the South once believed that [slavery] was a moral and political evil…That folly and delusion are gone; we see it now in its true light, and regard it as the most safe and stable basis for free institutions in the world” (p. 345). This statement was justified by various reasons. There was the fundamental belief that Africans were inferior to their white counterparts. Many saw the slave population as a labor force that

Slavery, there are an estimated 20-30 million people enslaved today (dosomething.org). There are different kinds of slavery including but not limited to sex slavery, chattel slavery, child slavery, forced labor, bonded labor, and debt labor. Though the types of slavery can vary, the people have agreed that the definition of slavery is solid and simple; slavery is the act of holding a person in servitude to a dominating influence thereby restricting one’s freedoms and self-ownership. Slavery is one of the most controversial topics internationally. The biggest question that the nation is faced with is whether or not slavery is an evil institution or if the effects of slavery aren’t harmful enough therefore making it a benign institution. Slavery IS, by all means, an evil institution. Before one can jump into the tidbits of what makes slavery an evil institution, one must first discuss how one should define evil and benign in this situation.

This paper will focus on the idea of slavery between 1800 thru 1860. This will entail detailing the creation of the cotton gin and its impact on the economy of the North and the South, anti and pro slavery arguments, and familial bonds between enslaved persons and their paternalistic masters. The exploration of slavery has been key in preventing an atrocity of mankind to ever occur again in the United States of America.

“The fact is, that civilization requires slaves. The Greeks were quite right there. Unless there are slaves to do the ugly, horrible, uninteresting work, culture and contemplation become almost impossible.” - OSCAR WILDE, The Soul of Man Under Socialism