A Conservative View of Slavery

For an alternative (liberal/radical) viewpoint, see Afro-America.


It is presently politically fashionable to depict slavery as a cruel, punishing existence. This possible historical inaccuracy was begun in the 1700's by abolitionist politicians who were against the ownership of human beings on a purely philosophical level. Some of these abolitionists objected to European indentured servitude more than to slavery, but focused on the slavery concept to increase public awareness of the plight of white indentured servants, who, though they worked longer hours than slaves, were worth less to their owners because their length of servitude was shorter (7-21 years). Many of these abolitionists were fearful that slavery and indentured servitude as an economic means of survival were the antithesis of the democratic society they espoused. Furthermore, they felt that if society wouldn't support the idea of individual freedom for Africans, they would also not support the idea of individual freedom for European indentured servants. Thus, they supported the abolition of slavery as a means for advancing their agenda of freedom for European indentured servants.

Many of the Founding Fathers argued against slavery during the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. James Madison's documentary notes on the convention illustrate the depth and passion of the argument. A compromise was reached which prohibited  further importation of slaves after 1820. In addition, each slave was counted as  3/5ths of a person  for census purposes in order to determine the number of representatives each state elected to the House of Representatives.

The Currier & Ives picture above and below, depicts the typical American ideal of slavery. Here, the plantation is portrayed as a sanitary, happy, and humane place where the slaves and slave owners are seen together, indicating a relationship of trust and democratic idealism between them. This relationship is not unlike what is perceived as an idyllic relationship between workers and managers today -- one which is totally conducive to productive work, promotes high self-esteem, and assumes the likelihood that each slave/employee would/will be treated humanely and respectfully.

Idyllic Views of American Slavery

Who Would Not Want To Work in Such A Beautiful Setting?

Notice how the artist has painted the slaves in relaxed positions. They are barely bent over in the fields, a convention by the artist to indicate that the labor itself was not difficult. The bales of cotton in the foreground indicate that the labor was benefitting all people, even the slaves, since their mostly white garments are themselves the final product of their own labor.

Were the slaves mistreated? Sometimes, but most probably no more so than were other workers, including whites. Europeans sometimes were given the hardest jobs because slaves were "owned for a lifetime" unless their slavery was manumitted or withdrawn by legal contract by the owner for loyalty of service. Because a slave represented a lifetime of labor and hired persons represented only a few months of work, or in the matter of white indentured servitude about 21 years of labor to pay for their expensive, dangerous trips on often old, dangerous wooden ships from England to America, the whites often worked much harder and at more dangerous tasks such as mining.

Were slaves whipped? Everyone in America during the years of 1500-1900 were whipped for crimes, bad behavior, military desertion, vandalism, or other socially dysfunctional behaviors. African Americans today do not understand that whipping was the preferred method of punishment, in most part, because the colonies were not wealthy enough to incarcerate criminals. The whip and the stock were prime methods for all wayward colonists, and whipping was therefore an equal opportunity punishment not really associated only with slavery as it is today.

Many of our conceptual ideas of slavery are perhaps more negative than is necessary and may be representative of various political focuses at different moments of American history,  including the present moment. As such, these negative concepts are helpful to modern liberals and leftist social engineers who wish to perpetuate "the myth of demonization of slaveowners" in the same way that some of them tend to also demonize all authority figures, including modern corporate executives who employ people on a regular basis.
Source: American Civil Rights Review. For an alternative (liberal/radical) viewpoint, see Afro-America.