The abolition of slavery in the 1865 became one of the most significant events of the whole US’ history. Right after the Civil War, government adopted the Thirteen Amendment of the Constitution that abolished the slavery in every state of America forever. And although the corresponding law was an inevitable and obvious step towards the formation of the developed democratic nation, the debate over the slavery has been lasting during the first half of the 19th century. The confrontation between the South and the North in the issues of slavery and liberty became rather serious and involved the political elite as well as all segments of the population. Those who supported slave labor (mostly the planters from the South) were afraid to lose free workforce and tried to act exclusively in their interests. On the other hand, people who opposed the slavery expressed well-thought and constructive ideas that pointed to the deficiencies of the slavery. They mentioned not only the Christian values and the Declaration of Independence, which have forbade exalting one person over other and stated that all people are equal. They also gave logical reasons, why using of the Negroes has become irrational and unprofitable in terms of the development of the economy. Considering all the arguments of the both sides, I agree with the anti-slavery side since it stated that exploitation of the slaves had been already the remnants of the past and had hindered the progressive development of the country.
Historical background of the conflict. Disputes about the slavery began in the course of discussions on the rights of States and tariff policy during the 1820s. Rapidly developing economy of the Northeast and the Midwestern United States based on the free farming, industrialization, the development of transport systems and commerce. The laws of the states forbade the slavery. Industrialization and the inflow of immigrants from Europe (mainly Irish, British and German origin) led to accelerated growth of the population in these states. At the same time, the planters-slaveholders dominated on the South. The population growth here was less that in the North; the industry remained undeveloped. The inconsistency in the way of controlling the politics and economy worsened in the 1820s. In that period the USA pursued a policy of the high custom Tariffs, which were unprofitable for the southern states. Moreover, the new prices and the political crisis of 1820s in general raised concerns about serious threat for the slaveholders from the federal government. In particular, South Carolina annulled the tariffs and declared them as unconstitutional, and then demanded the secession from the United States. Although compromise solved the problem, South Carolina and a number of southern states were strongly against the abolition of the slavery and the domination of the North capitalism. Southerners believed that slaves and slaveholders were more civilized than farmers.
In the same time, the North could not accept the slaveholding form of production management on the South and openly agitated prohibition of exploitation of the Negroes. However, in 1836 the United States House of Representatives passed the resolutions, according to which Congress could not interfere in the states’ policy in the issues of permission or prohibition of the slavery on their territory. Every state could decide itself whether to legalize or forbid the slavery, and this freedom of choice aggravated the controversies and tense situation between the South and the North. And this situation has been lasting for another 20 years until the Republican Party has not appeared on the political scene. The anti-slavery activists founded it in 1854; Abraham Lincoln was its representative – the man who was destined to put an end to the era of slavery in the United States.
The debate over slavery. Each side, pro-slavery and anti-slavery, gave a number of arguments to prove its point of view and win the debate. For instance, those who support slaveholders, referred to the work of Samuel George Morton “Crania Americana”, where the author classified the level of people’s intelligence according to their appearance. He stated that the bigger the skull and cranial capacity, the smarter the person was. As a result, he ranked the races in such a way that Negroes can “accommodate themselves with amazing facility to every change of circumstance” (Morton). Apparently, pro-slave activists considered this characteristic as Negro’s inability and unwilling to take control of their life and destiny, and willingness to obey the master. Morton said: “The Negroes have little invention, but strong powers of imitation, so that they readily acquire mechanic arts” (Morton), what possibly meant that blacks were executants rather than inventors. It allowed slaveholders to use cheap labor force of slaves since their cranial capacity and skulls were not big enough to do intelligence job.
On the other hand, Theodore Weld appealed to the people’s humanity. He did not consider the Negroes as people with small skull or cranial capacity; he considered them as human beings. In his paper “American Slavery as It Is” the author asked the society: “What have you to say of such treatment?.. Suppose I should seize you, rob you of your liberty, drive you into the field, and make you work without pay as long as you live, would that be justice and kindness, or monstrous injustice and cruelty?” (Weld) Weld stated that it is awfully that almost three millions of people had to live in bondage, and forced to endure insults and punishments. Furthermore, he resented slaveholders’ absurd justifications for the crime: “When they have seized their victims, and annihilated all their rights, still claim to be the special guardians of their happiness! ” (Weld)And Weld was right since the slaveholders believed that they had made the slaves’ life easier by taking their freedom and humiliating. The sense of Weld’s paper is that no one human being has a right to see another human being as his own property.
In its turn, a work of George Fithugh claimed that there is no clear boundary between liberty and slavery; moreover, the concept of the liberty is so relative, that even the master of the slaves becomes slave himself, because the slaveholder has obligations to the slave since the first has to provide the work for the second. Speaking about the free labor, Fithugh states that “because of the multitude of laborers, and their competition as free men to get employment, free labor becomes cheaper than slave labor” (Fithugh). In addition, the employees “were less free after emancipation than before. Their obligation to labor was increased; for they were compelled to labor more than before to obtain a livelihood” (Fithugh). The sense of Fithugh’s paper is rather philosophical: “There is no such thing as natural human liberty, because it is unnatural for man to live alone and without the pale and government of society” (Fithugh).
However, it is quite difficult to reason philosophically, when you are a slave. Frederick Douglass, the runaway slave, stood in front of a crowd of people on the October, 14, 1845 to “spread the light on American slavery” (Douglass). He explained that “the master is allowed by law to hold his slave as his possession and property”, which meant that the slaveholder made all the decisions for the slave, even in the matter of marriage and family. Besides the questions about the master’s ill-treatment to his slave, Frederick Douglass has also ridiculed the Church’s attitude to the slavery: “the Church and the slave prison stand together, and while you hear the chanting of psalms in one, you hear the clanking of chains in the other” (Douglass). In his speech Douglass wanted to open people’s eyes to the unfair phenomenon of slavery and as witness he wanted to prove that no one human being deserves the life of slave.
For those pro-slavery activists who did not take into account the statement of the Declaration of Independence (all people are equal and have equal rights) or the values of the Christian Church, there was another actual and reasonable proof of the slavery uselessness. In his book “The Impending Crisis” Hinton Rowan Helper demonstrated the unprofitability of the slavery in terms of production efficiency. “We behold our dear native South stripped of every laurel, and sinking deeper and deeper in the depths of poverty and shame” (Helper) said Helper since the North in the same time “extracts and absorbs the few elements of wealth yet remaining among us [the southerners], and rises higher and higher in the scale of fame, fortune, and invulnerable power” (Helper). The author noted that the northern states prosper and get richer as soon as they has abounded slavery. Hired labor increased the productivity and allowed every man to do that job, which what he wanted to do. The northerners realized that people would work better if they liked the job and received money for his job, in its turn an employer got qualitative labor. The opinionated southerners did not want to admit the hired labor. Seeing how wrong the South was, Helper made a conclusion: “The difference between freedom and slavery is simply the difference between sense and nonsense, wisdom and folly, good and evil, right and wrong” (Helper).
Analysis of the conflict. The debate over slavery turned into a wide polemic, during which both sides gave several arguments on the different subjects. Pro-slavery activists primarily relied on the anthropological research, which stated that Negroes do not predisposed to the elite labor; and the philosophical thinking, which claimed that the concepts of slavery and liberty are rather relative. On the other hand, anti-slavery arguments appealed to the people’s humanity, values and morals, and what is more importantly, proved that using of the slave force slowed the development of the economy of the South. I agree with anti-slavery position since I consider that slavery is the phenomenon of the colonial era and should not exist in the developing country. At that time the United States as a young nation had to choose the right way to become the strong country with powerful economy and manufacture. For these purposes the US needed to optimize and accelerate production rates. Therefore, every state should have abandoned the slavery in favor of hired labor and the development of the capitalism.
Also it should be noted that sooner or later slavery would be abolished in the United States. As any kind of discrimination, the racial discrimination was an obstacle in the way of forming of advanced democratic society. By that time people have started to be aware of the rights that they had; they started to realize that everyone is equal to each other. And even if the Republican Party had not initialized the Thirteen Amendment of the Constitution, sooner or later the revolution in the slavers’ consciousness would have contributed to the revolution in the country. The progressive society would not live in the bondage and the northerners understood it, while the pro-slavery activists did not want to accept this idea. The opposition to farming was the main purpose of the planters, and the slaveholding was the profitable way to keep the business. And in order to persuade the society in the importance of slavery, southerners stated that Negroes cannot do any work except complete subordination to the masters.
The debate over the slavery became an important part of the US history, during which the country had divided into two parts that were totally opposite to each other. The significant argument of the slaveholders in support of the slavery was the reference to the anthropological research, which stated that Negroes as a race are unable to engage in intellectual job, but only can perform mechanic work. The essential argument of the abolitionists was the example of inhibition in the development of the region. Although this fact did not bother the southerners, it was a vital problem of the country as a whole. In the second half of the 19th century an elimination of the slavery became the main aim of the government. The society started to fight the race discrimination. And as a result, anti-slave activists won the debate over slavery and in 1865 the words were put into actions.
Works cited
Douglass, Frederick. “I Am Here to Spread Light on American Slavery: An address Delivered in Cork, Ireland, on 14 October 1845.” Exploring US History. Michael O’ Malley, N. p. Web. 18 Oct. 2014.
Fithugh, George. “Cannibals All!” Exploring US History. Michael O’ Malley, N. p. Web. 18 Oct. 2014.
Helper, Hinton Rowan. “The Impending Crisis”. Exploring US History. Michael O’ Malley, N. p. Web. 18 Oct. 2014.
History. Lincoln-Douglas Debates. Web. 18 Oct. 2014.
Morton, Samuel George. “Crania Americana”. Exploring US History. Michael O’ Malley, N. p.Web. 18 Oct. 2014.
Potter, David. The Impending Crisis, 1848–1861. New York: Harper & Row, 1977. Print.
Weld, Theodore . “American Slavery as It Is”. Exploring US History. Michael O’ Malley, N. p. Web. 18 Oct. 2014.
