Monday, September 22, 2008
Q7 – Hypocrisy
How could such deeply committed and well-educated men, schooled in John Locke and British Common Law, defend slavery? Create a logical, clear, concise, well thought-out argument DEFENDING the removal of reference to the American slaves from the Declaration of Independence. DO NOT CHALLENGE OTHERS!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
24 comments:
Slavery was a huge asset to the economy of our country during the time period in which these great men lived. Without slavery they would have to pay for labor and goods would be more expensive. Slaves were also a huges trading item of the time. Regardless of how well educated those men were, they were obligated to preserve things that aided the people they represented. Many of the men themselves had plantations and thus both needed and sympathized with those who also wanted slavery to be kept.
Slavery was a huge advanege to these men. With their plantations and farm, they needed to get the work done. And what better way then to use other humans. Who were forced to do it in bad conditions and basically no slary just board. And seeing as these very educated men also needed theere slaves, they had to vote for it.
I think they could defend slavery because, One, they grew up with it. So its kinda been enforced in their heads that its okay. Two, It helped the economy, Three, because people are selfish, and scared of making a stand on their own two feet for something this taboo. Plus, as John Adams mentioned in the musical, you can always consent now for the overall good, even if it means being a hypocrite for some amount of time, and then change the laws later when at least there is a country to change it in.
Since slavery was a huge part of the economic system, (along with molasses and rum)it would be a huge upset in the countries funding. It would also be a huge disruption of what went on before the time of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. People just lived with them, as property, not as other people. The people did not think of the rights of the people, but of the economic standpoint.
The founding fathers were creating a government for the citizens of the new country. Hardly any of the colonists considered the slaves legal citizens. They were brought over on ships because they were a product to be sold. They could not be seen as ordinary humans at first because they looked different, acted different, and spoke another language. How could these non-christian people, who are so different from us be considered equal to us. Slaves were property at the time, and property does not deserve the rights of the new country's citizens.
Slavery was a large part of the economy of the country during that time in history. Plantation owners needed a lot of workers and the slaves provided the cheap labor. Even though John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin were well educated and wanted independence for all people, they knew that America could never get her independence from Britian if the southern states didn't support it. Since the southern states relied on the slaves a lot they would have never agreed to the declaration if it was never removed.
How did America rise up so quickly in such a sort period of time? How did so many poor, white immigrants from Europe suddenly become rich? Through the use of slaves. Of course these men wanted to keep slavery! That's the only thing they had going for them at the time.Slaves were the strong foundations that the American economy was built on. If slavery had been abolished at this point in time, many people would have starved or froze to death because there would have been no one willing to chop wood, pick fruits and vegetables, etc for FREE. These well educated men depended on slavery. They knew it was wrong, but could not afford to give them freedom during a revolution. The country would have been in complete chaos.
the reason why these men are so committed and well-educated is because they recognized the need for sacrifice in order to gain independence and thrive once we achieved that goal. Survival would have been impossible if not for the slaves.
This is really a hard topic for me to defend as it goes against all I beleieve in. How can I go about defending slavery? Well, these white colonists had grown up all their lives with the notion that they were superior beings; slavery was a customary thing for white Englishmen. It aided our economy as families "owned property" that not only did the chores, but plowed the fields and cooked the food - slavery gave the colonies spare time to develop and grow without laboring. Yet, unless these deeply committed and well-educated men were high, (which I wouldn't doubt completely) they must've felt deep down inside what they were doing was terribly wrong and inhumane. Obviously John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and some of the other delegates felt the cruelty of slavery, but it was too soon for a new nation to make such a decision. As Ben Franklin said, the issue of greatest importance was Independence and they must not forget how far they'd come. Slavery was still a part of these men's lives and to abolish American slavery was impossible at that time. However, it was bound to happen in the future United States of America, when freedom for all was of greatest importance.
The reason why these men could defend slavery is because they had witnessed it troughout their lives. They were so used to it, that some of them did not even think twice on the matter. It was considered the African American way of life to them. Slavery also played a huge role in the American society and economy as well. If they did not have slaves to do all the 'dirty work' on the plantations and farms, then the Americans would have to do it, and get paid for it. This would have drastically effected our economy in a negative way. By owning slaves, Americans were getting labor for free practically, which caused a great start for our economy. This is what started us off on the right track as American citizens.
These rich white men with large farms and plantations needed people to work their land. And damnded if they are going to pay them, they grew up brainwashed into believing that they where just property. I agree with John Adams decition to get rid of the slavery claus in the declaration, at least if we had a country we could change that law later.
During that time period, slavery was a huge part of their lives. Not only had most grown up with it, but slavery contributed to a major part of the economy. Since most owned huge plantations and farms, slavery was the cheapest way to keep them going. As educated as these men were and as much as they were against it, they knew that they couldn't survive without it. In order to keep everyone happy in the fight for independence, they could not give it up.
Slavery was a huge advantage in the entire country not just the South. People love to forget how Rhode Island supported slavery. How back then they imported slaves especially in south county. But that fact is over looked. The southerners were representing the people of the south. The south needed the slaves to have the farms in which without the north couldn't have done well at all. The north was the industry the south was agriculture. Together they work,so no matter how educated and how smart they were. They didn't care at all. Thomas Jefferson had slaves and had mulatto children(children with his slaves for those who don't know that term). So really they aren't that great of men.
During the revolutionary war period of time during America, slavery was a large part of life. They didnt have time to both work and clean and make a living. The men may have been well educated but this doesnt mean that they have time to cook and clean. Many had more than just simple homes. Farms and plantaions needed time and care which these 'well educated' men did not have.
the argument for slavery isn't one against freedom, it is one for the economy. W/o slavery the south would not have drawn in sutch wealth, and without that money the economy of the fledgeling nation would have crumbled under the force of sustaining itself, if it had even won the war. The country was in an increadible debt after the war to it's allies, and without the slavery it may not have been paid off.
It was very easy in the "days of yore" to defend slavery. The subject itself I believe was almost taboo to speak of, as though the slaver holders knew what they were doing was wrong thus making it a very uncomfortable subject.the bloody princess is right I think in that slavery was a fact of life back then and people would questionj it no more than anything else.
I believe that the well educated men involved with American Independence could still defend slavery because there really was only one mindset at the time and that was slaves were property, not people. Slaves were put into a category of something to be owned. People who were so used to this idea that they couldn't relate to the idea of slaves having the same rights as any other human being, because they didn't belong in the same category. Those men who could understand the idea of slaves being in the people category were very few. And there were fewer still who wanted to fight to keep the reference to slaves in the Declaration of Independence because they were two seperate issues to be delt with. Some thought it better to focus on the independence issue first because without it, the issue of slaves couldn't be delt with. It was probably wise to decide to deal with one issue at a time, because if the removal of slave reference was fought among the colonies, England would have had an easy time beating a divided oposition.
Even thought they were smart men, they were not brilliant, nor knew all the answers and how to do everything right. Part of them was all for independance and open to the idea of that particular change, but when it came to slavery, they just hadn't considered it. There were only so many things they could work on changing, and independance came first. I think they would have eventually brought up the issue that "owning" people is wrong and done something about it.
Back when America was first formed by these colonists slvery was a very racial thing. People like John Adams and others in the north had never used slaves and were never exposed to such cruel demands that the slaves recieved. They wanted to abolish slavery because they did not no much about it except that it was a terrible, cruel intention that the people in the south did not think was bad. This is why John Adams fought to keep the removal of slavery in the decloration of the independance.
Slavery, in deep Southern economy, was sucess; financially as well as physically and socially. The number of slaves owned was a symbol of wealth, because the larger the number of slaves, the larger the need for slaves. The larger the need for slaves, the more money there is to be made. To think practically, this all makes sense, if thought about from a mid 1700's, white and wealthy man's point of view. In addition to the economical side of slavery, slaves were vital to smoothly run homes, as well as many other establishments. Without slaves, life could not continue on as it had, and such a sudden, dramatic change could bankrupt and ruin many lives.
Slavery was defended during colonial times even by some of those who felt it is wrong, even well-educated and daring men, for a few key reasons. It was a huge money-saver for the colonists, for one; free labor for mundane farm/housework meant money could be used for other things, which was certainly helpful for fledgling colonies with an uncertain and fragile economy (which was, essentially, under the "control" of parent Britain, right?). also, slavery itself was part of the colonies' economy; the slaves were sold as things, and a lot were brought over at a time. If the colonists suddenly stopped that, it would have disturbed cash flow from one area of the colonies and probably caused a great disturbance in the weak-ish economy and a great split between the colonies with opposing opinions. If the slavery reference had been left in at the time, the colonies definitely would not have been able to unite against the oppressive Britain. Weak and divided, then, the colonies would have been. One decision can make or break something like unity between different groups.
The biggest reason i could see these men defending slavery would be because they all buy products that are cheap because of slaves, own slave, founded their wealth on slaves, or know that slavery was a huge part of the colonies economy. without slaves, the original thirteen colonies probably wouldn't have been as wealthy since they lacked the labor forces of europe.
As many people have pointed out, there are a few reasons that people defended slavery. One is, thats how they were raised. People back then, or most people at least, were taught they were better than people with different color skin. To them, there was nothing wrong with treating slaves like animals, because THATS exactly what slaves were thought of by most people. Also slavery was critical to our economy, as, once again, many people have said. Education had nothing to do with it.
The concept of slavery was not questioned too, too often in the time of the Founders of our country. The idea of all free, individual, and equal men was looked up upon, however, it was different because it was common for people to believe slaves were not viewed as people. Slaves were indeed a giant aspect to wealth and respect. The idea of giving up slaves almost frightened many people. Dependence on slaves was so high that people could not picture life without them. And since the common person had slaves, the common person thought this way. This is why it took so long for slavery to be abolished.
Post a Comment