How Abolition of Slavery Contributed to Racial Thinking - Essay Example

?Running head: HOW ABOLITION OF SLAVERY CONTRIBUTED TO RACIAL THINKING How Abolition of Slavery Contributed to Racial Thinking Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 1.0Introduction 3 2.0The Slave Trade 3 2.1Argument for and against slavery 4 2.1.1Advantages of Slavery 4 2.1.2Disadvantages of Slavery 5 2.2How the slave trade contributed to racial thinking 5 2.3Race’s role in the abolition of slavery 6 2.4Religion’s use in the abolition of slavery 7 2.5How racial scientists think about race and the abolition of slavery 8 3.0Conclusion 9 1.0 Introduction Different debates have been advanced in an effort to explain racial thinking and racialism in general. Among these is the impact that the slave trade had on the commencement and advancement of racial thinking. Racialism is seen as the division of colour among the people of the world. It is also viewed as an identifier of cultural and social differences. Others view race as a creation of the human mind that developed in the post slavery era in an attempt to explain the social differences that arose in the society at this time. Race may not be real but racial thinking is, and it affects the way people relate towards each other, how some are perceived by others, and even government policies in some cases. People who are seen as members of certain races are accorded more privileges than others. Until only recently, in countries like South Africa, there were schools for blacks and schools for whites, different residential places for whites and blacks and jobs for black people and white people. Slavery abolition is seen as the starting point and a major contributor to racial thinking. 2.0 The Slave Trade Slave trade is defined as acts that involve capturing, buying, using and disposal of a person with the intention of reducing them to a slave. It also entails acts intended at capturing an individual with the aim of selling them or exchanging them, trading in them and transporting them. Article four of ‘The Universal Declaration of Human Rights’ says that no person should be held as a slave and that slavery should be discouraged in all its forms (Bales, 1999). This and many other regulations outlaw slavery in today’s world. However, overall, slavery is practiced today, just as it was practiced in the past. The only difference is that today, it is less evident and it is practiced secretly. Examples of slavery today include forced household labour and other forms of labour, forced prostitution and so on (Bales, 1999). Slave trade has been around since the 15th century. Portuguese started the transatlantic slave trade in 1519 and it ended in 1867. Many Africans are estimated to have been transported from Africa to the Caribbean and America to work for European settlers’ plantations, mines and estates. Britain’s involvement in the transatlantic slave trade was between the years of 1660 and 1807. In Britain, the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act of 1807 marked the beginning of the process to end slave trade. Ships that had already left shore for more slaves by this time were allowed a further year to complete trading in slaves. In North America and the Caribbean, slave trade was abolished in 1834. Former slaves were however required to work for their masters for a further 6 years as apprentices. The Bahamas and Antigua later passed laws abolishing this apprentice clause. Other colonies, owing to public pressure also abolished this clause in 1838. Slave trade in other parts of the world did not last much longer after these dates (Ray, 1989). It ended paving way for a much greater evil, racial divisions. 2.1 Argument for and against slavery 2.1.1 Advantages of Slavery Slavery fuelled the slave trade that in turn led to further development of international trade. When the slave trade came to an end in the mid of the 18th century, it was replaced by trade in other wares and in Agricultural products. Africans had become accustomed to goods from the western world. As such, they yearned for such goods that they were used to buying through the slave trade. This encouraged international trade. Slave trade had increased demand for industrialized goods (Obadina, 2000). The triangular trade, as the slave trade is referred to involve a circle of trade between Europe, Africa and the Americas. In this trade, England, France and America were the providers of ships and exports, whereas, the Africa provided labour that was so important in the entire trade. Africans were bought using manufactured goods from Britain; they were taken and sold to America where they tilled large farms for products such as sugar and cotton. These products were transported back to England for processing. This trade resulted in the accumulation of capital by England and this formed the basis of capital accumulation. This capital resulted in the industrial revolution and laid the foundation for the prosperity of England and of the western world (Williams, 1994). 2.1.2 Disadvantages of Slavery Slavery depleted African manpower. Strong young men were taken from Africa to till plantations in America, depriving Africa off the much needed manpower. The result of this was slower growth of this continent as compared to the rest of the world. This slowed economic development in Africa and increased dependence on western goods. Africans, in exchange for slaves only received guns and ornaments. No capital goods were traded with the Africans thus hindering their growth and industrialization. The eventuality of slavery was an unequal society, with parts of the world being very wealthy while other parts were extremely poor. It led to social inequality, where some parts of the world were disproportionately wealthy in comparison to other parts. 2.2 How the slave trade contributed to racial thinking Racial thinking was advanced by the abolition of slave trade. For instance, North America despite ending the slave still relied a lot on materials such as cotton from South America to be used in its industries. Furthermore, the trade left ingrained in the minds of men the differences that abound in society. In America, even those who felt it was morally and socially wrong felt that the slaves could not be integrated in the country’s national policy. Actually, by the early 19th century, a racial ideology developed in the revolutionary era. The racial ideology was articulated by the political beliefs and the social and economic stake in slavery (Blum & Blum, 2002). The transatlantic slavery was indeed as racial project. In the 19th century, slave holders began to view blackness to stand for irrational, emotional and incapable which effectively translated to the racial thinking that Africans were inferior. This also formed the basis for justification of slavery and the later economic and social marginalization of the black people. This laid the foundation for institutional racism that followed the freedom of the black and other coloured people. This formed the basis of explaining the white supremacist, non democratic and repressive social order that would follow (Taylor, 2004). The debate on ending the slave trade not only created to reflect the situation presented by the slave trade, but also intended to reinforce and deepen prejudices against those with black skin. Leading theorists of race such as Kant and Blumenbach relied on information provided to them by the slave traders among others who came into contact with the black people as a result of the trade, to form their opinions on race. As such, slave trade helped form the concept of racial prejudice that shaped the opinion of leading theorists at the time towards racial thinking, an opinion that was spread and further reinforced by their works (Bernasconi, 2000). 2.3 Race’s role in the abolition of slavery Slavery was abolished in the 18th century. The abolition of slavery was as a result of various factors. For instance, the British’s changed economic interest led them to value slavery less than they had previously done. They as a result abolished slavery in 1833 (Rodriguez, 1997). Another aspect was that those who were slaves had started revolting and such revolts were becoming increasingly popular. An example of this is Saint Dominique’s, known as Haiti today, revolution led by Toussaint Louverture. This revolution showed that slaves were capable of defeating their masters and establishing their own governments (Aristide & Louverture, 2008). Finally, parliamentary reform and abolition campaigns from different pressure groups resulted in the end of slavery. In the America’s the defeat of the southern states by the northern states marked the end of slavery. The end of slavery marked the beginning of racial thinking. Scientific theories were advanced to justify the social inequalities between people in developed worlds who were predominantly the slave owners and the African people. The slave owners were a minority as compared to the slaves. Thus to maintain there rule, they developed all manner of pseudo scientific and racist theories, violence and abuse. Prejudice was necessary to maintain these order, prejudice that eventually evolved to black and white, bringing forth the issue of race. When it was evident that the ruling elite could no longer benefit from slavery, they resorted to racism, to justify the subsequent oppression and exploitation through colonialism of Africa, Asia and Latin America. The notion that race put some forms of humanity higher than others was advanced to create social divisions and provide social advantage to some communities over others. Racial thinking exists to this day, in the form of neo-colonialism and social inequities. Racial science that sought to prove that the white people were more superior to those with other skin colours developed after the end of slavery. It sought to explain the increased social differences between people of colour and others. It enhanced other forms of slavery in the modern world. Such included colonization and segregation of the society where some people were hindered from participating fully in the economic development of countries such as the United States. Other social evils were manifested in barbaric acts like lynching and execution through ritual racial killings of African Americans in various states in America in the early 1900’s (Without Sanctuary, n.d). 2.4 Religion’s use in the abolition of slavery Religion gave a voice to those who were enslaved. Religious teachings were shared among the slave population and their white masters. The slave owners were reluctant initially to allow the slaves be preached to, but later they accepted. The slaves on the other hand did not want to leave their traditional religion for the white man’s religion, but as more children were born, they became more willing. Religion provided a voice for the enslaved people. It gave them a platform from which to campaign for their equal treatment. This is because they were made ministers and preachers. One such advocate, Fredrick Douglass, addressed a London gathering of the Free Church of Scotland about the slave situation in America’s southern states (Blassingame, 1979). 2.5 How racial scientists think about race and the abolition of slavery Racial scientists advanced racial theories in the post slave trade period. Such theories were meant to provide an explanation for the inequalities in society and to justify racial actions by the governments of the time. An example of the impact of the scientific racial theories is the German Nazi administration. Racial scientific theories influenced the thinking of the Germans in coming up with selective breeding theories and political and cultural views regarding the Jews and their assimilation into the Germany society. In a bid to maintain purity, the Germans resorted to mass executions of the Jews and those whop were perceived to be of other inferior races, to maintain purity of the German race (Eigen & Larrimore, 2006). Bernasconi argues that race became more pronounced when scientific concepts were developed for it. He argues that the Jews, Native Americans and Africans were exploited as just that, Jews, Native Americans and Africans before the concept of race was developed. Legitimacy was lent to slavery and the slave trade after the introduction of the concept of race. Bernasconi further argues that the first recognizable author of race was a German Philosopher, Immanuel Kant, who among other things claimed that a person who was black from head to toe could only be expected to be stupid. Kant defined race as the class distinction among animals that come from a similar lineage and is passed through inheritance. This according to Bernasconi is the first explicit racial classification by scientists. This was way back in 1775, when Kant published works that explicitly used the term ‘race’ giving the practice some form of legitimacy (Bernasconi, 2001). Racial thinking in the 19th century was driven by the fact that sections of the society appeared unable to progress like others. This was attributed to certain people being inferior by nature to others. The argument that shaped scientists racial thinking at this time was that different peoples’ destiny was as a result of their very nature. The human race was seen as not common and history was seen as a major determinant of human destiny. These gave credit to the notion that some people were born to be poor and servants and thus could not be accorded similar privileges as the rest of the society. These sentiments encouraged social divisions and policies that sought to directly oppress some sections of society. 3.0 Conclusion The slave trade is blamed for the successes and failures evidenced in today’s world. It is seen as the key factor that enabled capital accumulation by western states. This capital accumulation is largely credited for the industrial revolution that was to later take place and the economic dominance of western capitals. The slave trade is also credited for pioneering capitalism. It is in part blamed for the problems experienced by Africans today, most of which are seen as having their roots in slave trade. More profoundly, slave trade resulted in racial thinking and in the term ‘race’ as it is known today. It was during the slave trade era that this term, previously inexistent, was coined and first used to describe the social differences brought about by the slave trade. References Aristide, J.-B., & Louverture, T. (2008). The Haitian revolution. Brooklyn: Verso Books. Bales, K. (1999). Disposable people: new slavery in the global economy. London: University of California Press. Bernasconi, R. (2000). The idea of race. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. Bernasconi, R. (2001). Race. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Limited. Blassingame, J. (1979). American Slavery: Report of a Public Meeting Held at Finsbury Chapel, Moorfields, to Receive Frederick Douglass, the American Slave, on Friday, May 22, 1846. The Frederick Douglass Papers: Series One--Speeches, Debates, and Interviews. , 1, 269. Blum, L., & Blum, L. A. (2002). I'm not a racist, but--: the moral quandary of race. New York: Cornell University Press. Eigen, S., & Larrimore, M. (2006). The German Invention of Race. Albany: State University of New York Press. Obadina, T. (2000). Slave trade: a root of contemporary African Crisis. Retrieved October 8, 2011, from http://www.afbis.com/analysis/slave.htm Ray, J. L. (1989). The Abolition of Slavery and the End of International War. International Organization , 43 (3), 405-439. Rodriguez, J. P. (1997). The Historical encyclopedia of world slavery, Volume 1; Volume 7. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, Inc. Taylor, P. C. (2004). Race: a philosophical introduction. Oxford: Blackwell publishing Limited. Williams, E. (1994). Capitalism & Slavery. Chapel Hill: North Carolina Press. Without Sanctuary. (n.d). Retrieved October 9, 2011, from http://withoutsanctuary.org/ Read More