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Slavery in America
History and Overview
Slavery and human bondage are probably as old as history itself. From the biblical times
to the times of Roman supremacy, man has often fallen prey of anothers bondage. Some for
money and riches, while for others, it was just a way of gaining supremacy of fellow man.
Individuals success was quantified by the number of servants one had amassed and the size of
plantation or cattle he owned (Schneider and Carl). Even today, people continue to enslave others
for money or worldly glories. Medieval enslavement can be traced to the ancient warfare where
the victorious side often grabbed the losers property, forcing their women and children in
servitude. This evil practice has even found its way into the present civilization despite a
widespread misconception of its abolition many years back (Schneider and Carl). Scholars and
pundits from across the world have also penned various reasons they believe slavery of the
ancient ages could have been beneficial or destructive.
The great transatlantic slave voyage was a period that saw approximately 12.6 million
slaves enter the present time United States of America (Schneider and Carl). The white settlers
had just shifted their demand to African slaves as they were cheaper and plentiful compared to
their indentured Europeans servants (Schneider and Carl). Human bondage became a widespread
practice in different regions of the New World, and the African-Americans assisted in developing
the economic foundations of the modern America. With the high labor demands of the cotton

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plantations and ginneries, the trade in serfs flourished. Though, this ill-practice did not last for
long, the Americas westward expansion and the increasing abolition campaigns in the North,
prompted a widespread debate on the sanctity of human life that would later result in the bloody
American civil war of 1861 (Schneider and Carl). Many were freed from the York of bondage,
and many others during the historical American Revolution and through the Emancipation, yet
the legacy of slavery continues to torment countries social development.
Pro-Slavery
Defenders of human enslavement still maintain that the practice is divine and was
endorsed in the Biblical times. The fact that prominent Bible personalities like Abraham and
David kept slaves, yet were considered most righteous in the sight of God justifies their
misdeeds. Charles Davidson, while running for Alabama State Congress seat, was quick to
suggest that slavery was good for the Blacks and that acquiring serfs from pagan lands was
Gods decree meant to spread Christianity to the heathens (Tise). He goes ahead to quote from
first Timothy 6:1, where servants are being urged to regard their masters as worthy of honor and
respect. Others observe that, at one point, Apostle Paul returned one runaway slave, Philemon,
back to his master and that, though, servitude was a common practice in Rome, and not even
Jesus spoke against it.
In the Southern territories, proponents of this iniquity maintained that slavery was a
natural phenomenon that exist from time immemorial. To them, servants in American plantation
led better lives than the live they could have led back in the Sub-Saharan Africa (Tise). Here,
they argue, slaves were entitled to decent shelter, food, clothing and occasional entertainment,
when in Africa all they knew was war, suffering, and diseases. Besides, Africans were specially
built and suited for hard labor, than their white counterparts. Their skin color and hair were better

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suited for the scorching heat in the plantations than their holders. In a debate with Abraham
Lincoln, Senator Stephen Douglas further states that there exist distinct physical differences
between blacks and whites that cannot allow both to live social and political equality (Tise).
Another economist and a defender of chattel slavery at the time of American Revolution,
Stanley Engelmann, believed that Africans were put to better economic use in the United States
than they would have ever been, were they to remain in Africa (Tise). He lamented that a sudden
end to this cheap source of labor would have had devastating impacts on the Southern economy
that heavily relied on such manpower. To him, this would have marked the beginning of collapse
in cotton, tobacco, and rice economics. Further, he argues that if all serfs were to be let loose,
unemployment would mount, and chaos intensify. This situation, he observes, would develop
into a widespread uprising, bloodsheds, and anarchy, and that blacks were safer contained, and
their movement restricted. For this argument, he pointed out to the mobs annihilation during the
French Revolution as a reference.
Anti-Slavery Sentiments
Chattel enslavement is probably the worst violation of the inalienable human rights.
According to article one 1 through to 4 of the Universal Declaration of Human rights, every
human being is said to have been born free, with dignity and equal rights (Locke). That men are
endowed with intellect and conscience and should as such act with the spirit of brotherhood. The
article further states that everyone is equal and deserves an equal right to liberty, life, and
security. These words of the Declaration are some of the most enchanted phrases over the year
concerning the issue of human bondage. Most abolitionists, in history, have expressed their
distaste for this vice terming it as demeaning and the worst degradation of human dignity
(Locke).

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One such abolitionist observes that serfdom only increases overall human unhappiness.
Families are torn apart and forced to work and live in deplorable conditions. Enslaved people
were not allowed to marry, at least not legally anywhere in America (Locke). Colonial laws
regarded them as commodities and not as legal entities who could enter into any legal contract or
binding. A servant who managed to marry and sire children led the one of the most miserable
lives imaginable, the situation was even critical if members of a family belonged to different
masters. Children such as Frederick Douglas lived their childhood without the company or love
of their parents, and parents too had to walk long distances just to meet their families on visits
that were highly restricted (Locke).
The torment and harsh realities that slaves endured have left a legacy of discrimination
and racism. In various interviews, ex-slaves narrate their first experience with this cruelty.
Douglas, a freed slave, recounts how men and women were tortured and made to work like
beasts in their masters plantations (Locke). The conditions of living were pathetic as slaves were
often underfed and walked around in rags. Women were sexually abused, and children molested.
Rebellious servants were brutally whipped and some shot in cold murder. The abolition
campaign and eventual emancipation, although helpful, only resulted in a society of mistrust,
hatred and discrimination. Blacks viewed the whites as former oppressors while the whites
perceived the blacks as potential savages who could turn on them for their previous misdeeds
(Locke).
Acculturation that was the aftermath of this monstrous evil led to the disappearance of
precious cultural heritages. The West Indies and the Africans who became the victims of
enslavement were forced to adopt their masters languages and ways of life (Locke). The
servants traditions were seen as primitive and backward. A culture of capitalism and greed was

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imposed on them instead. Today, the rich cultures governed by the spirit of communism have
been replaced with capitalism and development obsession that compromises even love for family
and humanity. Languages, identity, and respect for the sanctity of life have been lost, and instead
rebellion and aggression reinstituted in their places.
Constitutional Solutions, Views, and Discussions
Present civilization acknowledges that holding a fellow human in bondage is a monstrous
evil and have even enacted legislations to criminalize it. Several statutes exist branding
enslavement an international felony, crime against humanity and war crime, prosecutable at the
International Court of Criminal Offences, ICC. In one particular case, article 8 of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, protects all men from cruel, degrading
treatment and penalties, making unlawful some of the detestable practices of enslavement
(Schneider and Carl). The same document also gives every man an equal right to life, choice of
residence and recognition as persons before the law.
Additionally, many laws have also been formulated against slave-related practices such as
human trafficking, serfdom, enforced prostitution and debt bondage. According to the
Supplementary Abolition of Slavery of 1956, it was criminal to exercise any of the listed vices or
convey slaves from one state to another (Schneider and Carl). Moreover, anyone found to play
any part in the above or determined to be an accessory or a party to its accomplishment is a
criminal and liable for incarceration. Although, these legislations have played a significant role
in bringing enslavement in check, the institution of human bondage continues to thrive, and
millions are still entangled in its snares.
According to an article by Benjamin Skinner, A World Enslaved, the author maintains
that many people presently lives in bondage than at any other point in human history. Skinner

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notes that currently, slaves trades for as little as fifty dollars in some of the most impoverished
parts of the world (Skinner). To him, this price is even lower than what a servant used to fetch in
the infamous Transatlantic Human trade. This ill-practice have only become worse, as it now
targets young women and children, who are often enticed from their distressed homes into
servitude through false hopes of education and better lives. Others are still trying to settle their
debts through bondage in quarries, in some parts of India (Skinner). Skinner advice that unless
government redefines, slavery in concise terms and impose strict measures stop it, the world will
continue to suffer the consequences of contemporary enslavement.
Conclusion
The discussions on the historic and modern slavery continue to highlight the ill effects of
dehumanizing fellow men to the level of domestic beasts. The consequences are apparent, and
many keep on speculating how the world would have turned out had slavery never existed.
Scholars and economists of varied background have made antagonistic sentiments concerning
the whole institution of human bondage, but one thing that stands out is that this vice violates the
fundamental human right to life and freedom. Every man and woman, black or white should
come out in large numbers to fight this menace that continues to haunt humankind.

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Works Cited
Schneider, Dorothy, and Carl J. Schneider. Slavery in America. Infobase Publishing, 2007. Print
Tise, Larry E. Proslavery: A History of the Defense of Slavery in America, 1701-1840.
University of Georgia Press, 1990.
Locke, Mary Stoughton. Anti-slavery in North America: From the Introduction of African Slaves
to the Prohibition of the Slave Trade, 1619-1808. Vol. 11. Gloucester, Mass., Smith, 1965.
Skinner, E. B. (2008). A world Enslaved. Foreign Policy, (165), 62.