Question 1: Slavery not morally wrong until late 18th century
The slavery era was a dark period for the minority groups and especially the African American who were held as slaves. Prior to the 18th Century, slavery was considered normal as the laws by then protected the salve owners and legitimized the actions. Prior to the 18th century, the only groups that were eager and willing to talk against slavery were the Quakers, slaves, and free blacks. The people who advocated for the freedom of the slaves coupled the calls for freedom with colonization, deportation to Africa, Caribbean or to Central America. This school of thoughts was information by the notion of white supremacy that adopted by the white settlers and was generally accepted by the rest of the people. There was a belief that the African Americans posed great danger to the whites and advocated for them to remain slaves as a way of maintaining control over them (Wood). There were no strong movements that could unite and demand for the freedom. The government had laws and reinforcement strategies that prohibited calls for ending slavery.
In addition to the logistic challenges, American population was low. There were no mechanized agriculture and hand labor was widely used as a means for the agricultural production. The slaves were the backbone of the then economy as the low population meant that the labor would have been very costly and outmatch the proceeds. The simple explanation was that the whites needed cheap labor and they had laws that legitimized the act by assuming a superior role over the others.
Question 2: Why the abolitionists considered slavery wrong
The Abolitionists demand for the freedom was driven by the American declaration of freedom. After the intense battle with the British, America was declared an independent state and in the statue of liberty, all men were declared equal “"that all men are created equal, and endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights" (Foner, 479). This was an eye opening moment and people started to see the hypocrisy in the selective application of the law and statues on freedom. Men and women being equal was a pronunciation that was deeply enrooted in the American constitution. Questions started to emerge on the fact that in spite of the independence declaration, some people were still being held captive and forced to work for free.
In addition to the statue of liberty, the abolitionists based their arguments on the Christian teachings and termed slavery as sins. They rejected the gradual withdrawal of the slaves and demanded for immediate actions. They viewed the African Americans as equal immigrants and thus demanded that they be integrated with the rest of the societies as equals. They called for the African Americans to take pride and revolt against oppression by the whites (Foner, 470).
Question 3: Agitation and Denunciation
Agitation and denunciation were some of the tools that were used in calling for the abolition of slaves. The supporters of the call denounced with strong terms the slave owners and called the slaves to revolt and fight for their freedom. An editorial column called them “an adulterous and perverse generation, a brood of vipers” (Foner, 467). As noted in the book, the emergence of garrison and the spread of the abolition message were catalysts that triggered resistance and fight for the freedom. The agitation and denunciation yielded results as the whites and the administration amidst fierce opposition agreed the slavery endangered the lives of the whites as well (Foner, 475).
Works Cited
Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty!: An American History. W.W. Norton & Co, 2014.
Wood, Peter H. "Why America Adopted Race-based Slavery." Slate Magazine, 2003, www.slate.com/articles/life/the_history_of_american_slavery/2015/05/why_america_ado pted_race_based_slavery.html.
