Slavery and Race in the USA - Essay Example

Running Head: Slavery & Race in the USA Slavery & Race in the USA [Institute’s Slavery & Race in the USA ‘In the actual regime [of slavery] severity was clearly the exception and kindliness the rule’ (U. B. Phillips) Since centuries, slavery has remained one of the major issues of countries and civilizations around the globe. Even in an educated and developed country such as the United States, slavery continued to affect millions of people legally for more than a century. Initially, the slavery began in Virginia when it was an English colony and then it spread to almost all the southern states of America. In particular, historians have indicated that Black people were mostly the victims of this social issue, whereas, White people enjoyed the dominance as masters during this period slavery. Besides, Europeans also enjoyed the significance that used to keep Native Americans as their white slaves. In this way, slavery then became a very common practice in the areas of United States where there was good-quality soil for large plantations of high-value cash crops. In the different parts of United States, slaves used to raise and harvest tobacco, cotton, and coffee and sugar crops. Furthermore, historians have indicated that during early decades of the 19th century, a structured work-gang system was under practice that included a huge number of slaves that were responsible for production of cotton and sugar crops in southern region of the country. According to U. B. Phillips, “In the actual regime [of slavery], severity was clearly the exception and kindliness the rule” (2004, pp. 260). From this statement, one can assume that the relationship between a slave and the master was not of cruelty that is usually perceived in masses. On the other hand, American slavery seems something charming and pleasant according to the statement of Phillips. After analyzing the statement, the researcher understands that it is very imperative to interpret this historical statement in a holistic manner as considering it in isolation causes confusion and misunderstanding. In this regard, after going through other statements of Phillips, it seems that qualities that Phillips indicated in his statement were not limited or used for slave masters only but it represented the racial nature and personalities of people living in southern regions of the country. In addition, one can conclude that this statement was not simply a definition of American slavery but Phillips’ understanding of cultural and moral aspects of Southern existence during that period. However, to understand Phillips’ statement further, it will be appropriate to look at indications of other historians and scholars. For instance, the English man Welby stated, “I did not witness any instance of cruel treatment after traveling though three slave states, and the slaves seemed to be independent in their matters of daily routine life” (Philips, 2004, pp. 216). On the other hand, in early 1800s, Basil Hall indicated that the masters who had slaves in southern regions of the America were less interested in dealing their slaves with severity and brutality. This somehow supports and complements Phillips’ statement that has shown the same picture of American slavery (Philips, 2004, pp. 216). Hence, the views of Welby and Basil Hall are in line with the view of U. B. Phillips (2004, pp. 1-472). Along with Welby and Basil Hall, a large number of intellectuals agree on the opinion that mostly, slaves were not receiving ill treatment from their masters and they enjoyed a limited freedom in terms of their daily routine life. In order to understand the irony that existed in the American slavery, it will be evident to look at other statements of Phillips that will be helpful in interpreting statement under consideration. For instance, while comparing Roman and American slavery, Phillips explained, “heartlessness of the Roman system was the consequence of owner absenteeism…and the lack of difference between the masters and slaves in racial traits. In South, all these conditions were reversed, the slaves were submissive racially, rather than defiant that invited paternalism rather than repression” (Lang, 2000, 116). This truly indicates the cultural and moral lens that Phillips used while defining and explaining the American slavery. In the words of Fogel and Engerman, “the slave system was not economically moribund on the eve of the Civil War, there is no evidence that economic forces alone would have brought slavery to an end” (Crowe, 1975, pp. 50-99). Buying slaves was a highly profitable investment. The wealthy people were keenly interested in buying slaves and engaging them into groups to perform duties. Hence, slavery was a system that suited rich so they supported it due to personal interests. During the decade that preceded the Civil War, slave owners were very optimistic about the prosperous future. Most experts are of the opinion that the salve agriculture was very efficient. Since the slaves used to be engaged in larger groups who raised and harvest crops, the slave agriculture system could enjoy economies of large-scale operation, effective management, and intensive utilization of labor and capital. There existed two types of agriculture systems; slave agriculture in the southern parts of United States and family farming system in the northern parts of United States. By comparing both the systems, “slave agriculture system was reported to be 35 percent more efficient than family farming” (Crowe, 1975, pp. 50-99). Therefore, the slave workers were very productive individuals on the field in comparison with the free workers. From the times of Colonial era and Slave era, racism has remained as one of the noteworthy issues in the America. Because of the legally sanctioned racism, Native Americans, African Americans, and Asian Americans were severely under adverse impact. Thanks to legally sanctioned racism, Latin, European, and Anglo Americans got the right to have said in important matters such as “citizenship, immigration, literacy, and voting” (Tibbles, 2005, pp. 95-101). During the period between 17th century and the 1960s, American Jews, Irish, and Italian Americans were the victims of racism issues in United States. After the slavery era was over, 14th amendment was made a part of the constitution of America. According to this Amendment, all people born in USA have “equal rights of citizenship regardless of race” (Green & Green, 2006, 123). This is one of the highly significant amendments in the US constitution as it put an end to slave system and gave rights to all the people living in America. Even after this amendment became a part of the constitution, African Americans were still subject to a number of racism issues, resultantly lacking in most basic forms of self-determination. As one of the captivating aspects of the history of the United States, racism underpinned “the enslavement of Africans” (Tibbles, 2005, 100-110). If one looks at the historical background of America, one can observe that different notions regarding enslavement prevailed at different stages. In the words of Eric Williams, “Slavery was not born of racism: rather, racism was a consequence of slavery” (Tibbles, 2005, pp. 112). Williams was of the opinion that racism does not cause slavery but the slavery that leads to racism. Hence, it would be very appropriate to say that racism is a by-product of slavery. By looking at American landscape in the early colonial period, you will not notice or find out any signs of racism. Before discussing about the different notions, it is important to throw some light on the notion race. In the words of “Barbara Jeanne Fields, race as a coherent ideology did not spring into being simultaneously with slavery” (Rubio, 2001, pp. 4). Fields further argues that the heydays of the cotton empires in the nineteenth century created a high demand for slaves. As a result, the need for white citizens or free people was diminished significantly. This situation led to identifying class exploitation with racial exploitation. Hence, it will not be wrong to say, “White people had to develop their own characteristics out of that prevailing form of racial ideology” (Brown, 1976, pp. 101-119). At the same time, Higginbotham argues that the financial strength of the southern states of America primarily depended upon their slave power. As mentioned earlier, there existed two different systems of agriculture in the northern and southern states of the United States. Due to the efficient slave labor, the southern part used to have great crops and earned a lot of money out of their agriculture sector. Therefore, the states with high slave power were able to earn high profits by raising and harvesting the crops. Finally, Jordon states, “Negroes became slaves, partly because there were social and economic necessities in America which called for some sort of bound, controlled labor” (Brown, 1976, pp. 101-119). References Brown, Richard D. 1976. Slavery in American Society. D. C. Heath. Crowe, Charles Robert. 1975. The Age of Civil War and Reconstruction, 1830-1900. Dorsey Press. Fields, Barbara J. 1990. “Slavery, Race, and Ideology in the United States of America.” New Left Review. Volume 181, pp. 95-118. Green, Claude and Green, Claude Jr. 2006. Ourstory. Buy Books on the Web. Higginbotham, A. Leon. 1998. Shades of Freedom: Racial Politics and Presumptions of the American Legal Process. Oxford University Press. Horton, J. O. & Horton, L. E. 1995. A History of the African American People. Salamander. Lang, Berel. 2000. Race and Racism in Theory and Practice. Rowman & Littlefield. Philips, U. B. 2004. American Negro Slavery. Kessinger Publishing. Rubio, Philip F. 2001. A History of Affirmative Action. University of Mississippi Press. Smith, Linda Tuhiwai. 2005. Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples. Zed Books. Tibbles, Anthony. 2005. Transatlantic Slavery. Liverpool University Press. Read More