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Colonists Justification on Slavery
Colonists Justification on Slavery
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Colonists Justification on Slavery
Historical findings from chapters 5, 6, and 7 of the book reveal how colonists defended slavery. Most people justified slavery based on arguments that they found reasonable to them; however, the vast majority of the people agree beyond a reasonable doubt that is inhumane, degrading, and, more importantly, is wrong. None of the slavery justification would make sense in today’s world, but some of the arguments for holding slaves were entirely reasonable at various times in history. The colonist justified keeping slaves when they were fighting for the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. They viewed slaves as a different kind of people whose destiny was to become slaves, which can also be attributed to racism. In the views of slaves, it was an act of dishonesty that colonists were busy trying to build a great nation at the expense of other minority races. Every human being has the right to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness, but that seemed something far-fetched as “slaves” were suppressed to suffering in the hands of their masters. The colonists could not cease their enslavement acts and offered some justification for their continued slavery. Several arguments were put forward by the colonialists to try and justify slavery. This paper critically analyzes how colonists justified keeping slaves when they were fighting for the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
The 18th century witnessed the growth of slavery in the United States colonies from South Carolina to Boston. Revolts against slavery by white colonists caused gross overreaction and severely inflicted constraints on enslaved people’s activities. In the 18th century, slavery created a cornerstone of the colonist empire. Arguably, all the colonies had enslaved individuals who formed a large part of the colonist labor force. Slavery was not just a labor system but also integral in all aspects of colonial thought and culture. The engendered feeling that came from the uneven relationship between the white colonist and the “slaves” gave rise to an exaggerated sense of white superiority. White people tried to contrast their status with black slaves, and English liberty was somewhat meaningful. The existing racial bond and identity were defined by African slavery. Slavery acts helped the merchants to line their pockets, while the trafficked individuals (Africans) suffered a great deal of misery, deprivation, and dislocation. Colonists saw slavery as vitally important for “slaves” since they could not spearhead their lives. It was much better and happier for the “slaves” to be in a system where their lives were controlled by others (colonists).
Religion was an important aspect of the life of colonists. Christianity enabled them to embrace living a good life. However, their acts of slavery contradicted with their faith. Regardless of the sermons and spiritual teaching, colonialists still carried out slavery. Their consciousness allowed them to inflict harsh punishment on their slaves, yet they proclaimed to have a deep spiritual life. They believed that it was ethical to keep saves because they viewed the slaves as inferior beings. They justified their actions by blaming all evil on the devil. The justification of their colonial conquest held that the colonists had legal and religious duties to impose their authority over the land and culture of the “slaves.” Colonists defended their acts by stating their role as civilizing the barbaric or savage cultures and further emphasized that they acted in the best interests of the slaves they exploited.
The colonist ventured into activities that would, in turn, benefit the society as a whole. They invested in infrastructure, trade, disseminated medical, technology, and all those ventures required labor force. In the colonist view, slaves were well-equipped to execute such tasks. Perhaps, by nature, some individuals are slaves as part of God’s plan, and it was somewhat appalling to abolish slavery. The colonial government insisted that the slaves came to America to achieve the “American Dream” and escape things like poverty, diseases, war, among other horrible things and the colonial life was way far too better and perhaps offered great and new opportunities to “slaves.” Colonists saw “slaves” as inferior beings; thus, slavery is not cruel and degrading.
Slaves were not regarded as fully humans. Their pain was as morally essential as domestic animals; hence, ending slavery was not justifiable and had no right to abolish slavery. Some individuals further held that “slaves” are inferior to humans and ought to be enslaved. Such arguments orchestrated racism as the acts were subject to specific races, such as African descent people. Those who defended the Atlantic slave trade insisted that some ethnic cultures deserved enslavement and were the proper place for such races. That would be a completely misguided view in the current world, but the 18th-century colonist used such arguments to justify enslaving particular racial groups.
To conclude, colonists inflicted different kinds of punishment on slaves and still believed they were doing the right thing. They viewed slaves as dumb individuals. For the colonialists, slavery was a form of instilling character in the slaves. According to chapter 5, slaves were given fewer choices as compared to the colonists. The chapter focuses on the different choices that were made available to immigrants and slaves. The negroes, as defined in the chapter, are unknowledgeable and superstitious and were mostly traded from guinea. Slaves were forced to carry out responsibilities that made the life of colonists better. The slaves’ suffering was considered to be for the greater good as they were degraded for the pursuit of happiness for their owners.
Colonies of British North America
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How Slavery was entrenched in the Colonies of British North America.
Introduction
In the 18th century, Slavery was a cornerstone of the British Empire. Indirectly or directly, all the 13 British colonies relied on Slavery, from the southern rice plantations located in South Caroline, Charles Town, to the wharves in Boston. Slavery had become more of a labor system that affected all aspects of colonial culture and thought. The unequal relationship it engendered gave colonialists an exaggerated sense of status. Slavery gave English liberty greater coherence and meaning for white people after comparing themselves to the unfree enslaved Black people held captive in British America. More particularly, African Slavery gave white people a shared racial identity and bond. This essay explains how Slavery became entrenched in colonies of British North America.
How African Slavery in British Northern America All Began
In the 1620s, white indentured servants carried out the majority of the heavy labor. At the time, labor-intensive tobacco cultivation was introduced in Virginia for European markets. Indentured servant refers to a European immigrant, mostly British who worked for another person for a specified time without payment in exchange for free entry into a new country. The first case of African Slavery to be documented in British North America was approximately 20 women and men that arrived in Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619 (Horne, 34). The group were likely captives from the Ndongo kingdom in present-day Angola. Privateers seized them from a slave ship headed for Mexico before trading them in Virginia. Along with indentured servants, African slaves worked on tobacco fields, although it remains unclear if the former were treated and considered slaves. By 1675, African Slavery had become a well-established practice. By 1700, slaves had completely replaced indentured servants. With lots of lands and available slave trade, southern planters started to prosper and family-owned tobacco plantations became an economic and social norm.
Rising Demand for Slave Trade
In theory, Slavery was already a widely accepted practice before the discovery and exploration of the New World. So, when Portuguese slave traders began exploring the African coast, the practice of indigenous tribes enslaving each other was already being practiced. They started buying slaves and exporting them for sale to the colonies of the New World. Proponents of Slavery argued that the Portuguese had a mission to convert as many heathens (African non-Christians) to Christianity. African Slavery gave them an opportunity to do that more effectively. Although the practice of indentured servitude was rife, British colonies favored enslaved Africans. In addition to their husbandry knowledge and special skills, Africans were appropriate for British use. Slavery quickly became a significant part of the colonial economy. It was integral in the development of the expansion of the British commercial empire across the Atlantic world.
Golden Triangle Trade
The triangle trade is a system of exchange of cash crops, slaves, and manufactured goods between the Caribbean, West Africa, and Europe between the late 16rh and early 19th centuries. The trading system specialized in three main commodity types, including crops, manufactured goods, and labor that were traded across three key Atlantic geographic regions. Ships left Europe with manufactured goods that were exchanged for kidnapped or purchased African slaves (Gordon-Reed, 2). The Africans were carried across the Atlantic Ocean before being traded or sold in America for raw materials. Subsequently, raw materials were carried back to Europe to complete the voyage. A classic example of the triangle trade is the sugar trade. Sugar was often in liquid form, molasses. It used to be carried across the Caribbean to Europe, where it would be distilled into rum. The profits made from selling sugar were used to buy manufactured goods that were supplied to West Africa where they were exchanged for slaves. The slaves would then be taken to the Caribbean and sold to sugar farmers. The profits from selling African slaves were used to purchase more sugar across Europe and other continents. This specific triangular trip lasted anywhere from 5-12 weeks and ended in numerous fatalities for African slaves while the voyage was midway. An estimated 2 million enslaved passengers died from abuse, violence, disease, suicide, or even lack of food and water.
Slave Resistance
It reached a point where slaves everywhere resisted exploitation and tried taking their freedom back using rebellions and uprisings. Some examples are the New York Slave Rebellion of 1741 and the Stono Rebellion. They also employed other less violent resistance means such as running away, slow labor in the plantations, sabotage. Unlike their Caribbean counterparts, American slaves did not successfully overthrow the practice in their colonies. As such, they did not get freedom until a legislative decree was effected after the end of the civil war.
Conclusion
In closing, Slavery was a common practice in the 13 colonies in British North America. African Slavery became widespread after the decline of the indentured servitude labor system, where people exchanged labor for free passage into America. The rising demand for African slaves led the first group of African slaves in British North America to work alongside indentured servants in tobacco farms in Virginia. The British people preferred African slaves to indentured servants because of their skills and husbandry knowledge.
Works Cited
Gordon-Reed, Annette. “America’s original sin: Slavery and the legacy of white supremacy.” Foreign Aff. 97 (2018): 2.
Horne, Gerald. The apocalypse of settler colonialism: The roots of Slavery, white supremacy, and capitalism in 17th century North America and the Caribbean. NYU Press, 2018.
Colonialism, liberty, and imperialism are among the essential components
IMPERIALISM, COLONIALISM, AND LIBERTY
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Imperialism, Colonialism, and Liberty
Colonialism, liberty, and imperialism are among the essential components of the world’s history as it influenced many nations during the late 19th century and early 20th century. At this period they were the forces at work where the American Imperialism was significantly felt as well as many African nations experiencing direct colonization from the European superpowers. At this era, slavery has been abolished in Great Britain and its powers following the influence of the Anglican Low Church around the mid19th century. Therefore, the superpowers were in a rush to acquire many colonies as a measure of getting market to their industrial products, exploitation of raw materials for the advancing industries as well as maintaining their national superiority. Regarding their advantage, the Europeans superpowers were faced by some opposition from the inferior nations which lead to the emergence of the resistance movements. The imperialism and colonization also met China by the British which significantly led to the beginning of the Opium wars as the local rulers opposed the colonial rule and domination. In this discussion, the critical analysis of imperialism, colonialism, and liberty is elaborated in a profound extend in comparison of their effects in South and Central America, Africa, and China.
In understanding the meaning of imperialism, it is state of the superpowers having an economic, cultural and military influence on the other nations in the world. The late nineteenth century is significantly referred as the Age of Imperialism as it is the time that many word’s superpowers expanded their territorial possessions the United States of America is among them. The primary motivating notions towards imperialism were obtaining natural resources, wealth accumulation, subduing their enemies as well as winning power and glory. The motives were similar among all the European controls, and it is during this time they spread their territories across the borders. The combination of centralized governments, industrialized economies and sea powers made the European nations capable of setting empires all across the world. Their production determined the primary drive of was getting raw materials for their industries as the good they exchanged. In comparing our nations of interest in this discussion, the South and Central America were different from Africa and China as they acquired liberty at this period and they were part of the nations the enhanced imperialism to other countries.
In Africa and China in the early twentieth century were subjected towards imperialism as the European superpowers exploited large industrial products from the natural resources available. They were made market spheres where the European nations could take their finished industrial products in exchange for other goods adverse in their motherland. The different types of imperialism evident during this period include economic, colonial, social-cultural and political hegemony. Colonial imperialism involves the colonial powers having complete control of the region with domination of the social-cultural, economic and political sectors. Africa is an excellent example of the nations that experience this kind of imperialism where the conquered area had no independence and lived for the beneficiary of the imperialists. Economic hegemony is the kind of rule where the subjugated had the freedom to run their government, but the imperialist had complete control of the businesses and other trading activities. The imperialist had significantly prohibited the rights of their subjects to trade with other nations, and the imperialist companies have the power of exploiting the natural resources. China is an excellent example of the country that experienced this kind of imperialism especially when it came to Opium trading.
Furthermore, political imperialism involved the conquered nation having a government with the local leaders on the top positions, but they ruled according to the imperialist country’s ways. The local government was at sometimes wholly overpowered as it was the case with the Qing China at the late ruling and at some nations temporal as it was evident in the Dominican Republic that was under United States imperialism. Finally, social-cultural hegemony involved the dominant countries intentionally trying to change the religious beliefs, traditional customs, and languages in the conquered lands. For instance, in Africa, the British ensured that English was taught in school and the western cultures were put place. The imperialist nations significantly assumed that their perceptions were superior and they at instance bring developments in the society. The imperialism in Africa and China significantly lead to the development even though the Imperialists were the ones who much benefited.
In the nineteenth century, the America imperialism significantly developed as a result of the American exceptionalism that suggested that the United States imperialism was unique from other superpowers in that it had the mission of spreading liberty and democracy to the inferior nations all over the world. The American imperialism significantly refers to the cultural, economic and military effect of the United States to other countries in the World. During this period, industrialization had adequately developed in America, and the people involved in business sector had a diversification aim of establishing a market in other nations across the borders. Furthermore, the social Darwinism spreading in land that led to the belief that America had the inherent responsibility of bringing impressions regarding Christianity, democracy, and industrialization to the developing societies in the world. This concepts among other notions towards getting the market to sell their product and acquire sources of raw materials for their industries made American nations get motivated towards imperialism.
Among the nations that America exerted the social, political and economic control during the age imperialism include Cuba, Philippines, Korea, Japan, and Austria. Among the most separate instances of American imperialism during this era was the seizure of Hawaii during the year 1898. It effectively allowed the United States to own and be in power of all ports, military equipment, buildings, public property and harbors that was legally owned by the Hawaiian Islands government. The imperialism of America was significantly faced by the opposition in 1898 by the American Anti-Imperialist League that was established in the United States. The debate was against the Americans imperialism as they believed that it was the primary factor that led to the start of the Spanish-American war as well as violating the doctrine of republicanism. They were not against the expansion of the American territories to other nations, the spread of Christianity, commercial development as well as other actions on the humanitarian ground. Therefore it is distinct that during the late nineteenth century the South and Central America were a step ahead of Africa and China as they had the liberty and struggled to diversify their territories to other nations through imperialism.
Looking China into an in-depth extent as a nation during the turn towards the twentieth century, it was among the countries that struggle to curb imperialism and colonialism among its territories. The Europeans have weakened the Qing dynasty to the extent that economic and political hegemony was apparently evident in the region. The British had been fighting for the legalization of the Opium trade in the nation with considerable opposition from the government. However, the Chinese government was forced into agreements during the Opium wars that significantly granted the British power to conducted business into other local parts of the country apart from Canton port where their empire was based (Hevia, 2003), 174-179. The first Opium War was held between China, Britain, and France. The Chines government had taken action against Britain Opium commerce where they captured their ship, lowered the Britain flag and restrained the Chinese squad members who were later released. The act stimulated Britain’s acted of bombarding the Canton port and other territories in China as a way of avenging. The French supported Britain into the claim that their missionary had been intentionally killed in China.
The second Opium War started after the act of Chinese government demanding to prosecute the Britain people who had killed a Chinese at the Canton Port. The British government protected its citizens from being punished by the Chinese government and significantly sent its military to deal with the allies. To curb the wars China was forced to sign treaties that significantly offered the Britain rights towards commerce in the country, allowed Christianity missionaries and the Europeans were added other territories in Hong Kong as well as give the right to trade into the local regions. From there, Britain freely sells Opium among other products with Chinese, and the local people were adequately addicted to the drug leading to cultural and economic degradation. Also, the Qing dynasty was significantly weakened by the Taiping rebellion led by Hong Xiuquan, which was based on fighting for women equal rights and was made of the peasant farmers among other people who were against the charismatic rule. The European took advantage of the china’s sphere separation hence their capacity to dominate the region economically. Comparing the imperialism in China and Africa was to some extent different as in Africa the European portrayed colonial imperialism while in China they majored in economic hegemony.
In consideration of the above discussion, during the late nineteenth century, these nations had different impacts regarding colonization, liberty, and imperialism where the American countries gained freedom while most of the African nations were significantly colonized and faced by European nations’ imperialism. China was subjected to imperialism by the British government as well as the marginalization of its government ruling. Apart from the America getting liberation it significantly spread its unique imperialism to other nations in the world which were a democracy and industrial base. The United States emerged as the new superpower in the world during the late nineteenth century and significantly gained territorial expansion. On the other hand, even after the end of slavery the Africa nation and China continued to undergo through the superpowers’ suppression through colonization and imperialism. The scramble and partition of Africa led to their loss of independence through colonialization as well as overexploitation the natural resources, but it significantly led to industrialization and technology advancement in the nation. The turn towards the twentieth century is essential to the history of the word and will be vital in the education sector to the present and future generation. Additionally, it plays a vital role in understanding the nations’ diversity during this period as well as the civilization of America, China, and Africa.
References
Hevia, J. L. (2003). English Lessons. The Pedagogy of Imperialism in Nineteenth Century China, 174-79.