Title: What is SLAVERY?
1 What is SLAVERY?
How do you define slavery?
2Methods
- Historiography- Pigmies placed on the shoulders
of giants see more than the giants themselves.
(Didacus Stella). - Contextualization- Working with what you know.
- Role-shifting- What would it take to make you a
slave?
3Which is a Slave?
Marriage Slave?
Minor Slave?
African Slave?
Wage Slave?
Penal Slaves?
4How do you Define Slavery?
- A system for extracting free labor?
- Loss of personal freedom?
- Arbitrary power held by one person over another?
- A system for enforcing the superiority of one
race over another?
5Defining Slavery
- You know the worst thing about being a slave?
They make you work but they don't pay you or let
you go. Futurama, A Pharaoh to Remember. - An obligation to serve another for life, in
consideration of diet, and other common
necessaries. (Hugo Grotius, 1583-1645, para.). - Perfect slavery is an obligation to be directed
by another in all one's actions. (Dr. Thomas
Rutherforth, 1712-1771, para.). - The establishment of a right, which gives one man
such a power over another, as renders him
absolute master over his life and fortune.
(Baron Charles de Montesquieu, 1689-1755, para.).
- Slavery was instituted not merely to provide
control of labor but also as a system of racial
adjustment and social order. (Ulrich Phillips,
The Central Theme of Southern History).
6How do you Define Freedom?
- Mobility? Freedom of movement.
- Association? Freedom to attend religious
services of your choice, to meet with friends, to
date/marry a person of your choice. - Ownership? Freedom to inherit, possess, and
dispose of property - Voting Rights?
- General Choice? Freedom to choose your vocation,
to labor (or not labor), to live where you
choose.
7Perspective by Contrast
- all men are created equal, that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable
Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and
the pursuit of Happiness. Declaration of
Independence, July 1776.
8General Characteristics of Slavery
- Obligation of perpetual service at the will of
the Master alone. - Such obligation is reached in an arbitrary
manner. - The slaves degraded condition descends from
parent to child. - Master has near limitless power to restrict and
correct the slave. - No acquisition of property without owners
assent, and even then no recognized right. - Furthermore, the slave is alienable similar to
other forms of property.
9Control of Movement
Numerous entities and systems worked together to
limit the mobility of slaves
- Private
- Search dogs
- Neighbors
- Private slave hunters
- Plantation informants
- Public
- Constables
- Patrols
- Night Watch
10Control of Movement
- RUN away from the subscriber, a Virginia born
Negro Fellow named WALTON, 23 Years of AgeAs the
said Fellow ran away without receiving any Abuse,
the Taker up is desired to give him ten Lashes
every ten Miles. (Virginia Gazette, Dec. 1,
1774). - Runaway, a negro named Hambleton, limps on his
left foot where he was shot a few weeks ago,
while runaway. (Miss. Vicksburg Register, Sept.
5, 1838). - Runaway, a negro boy named Mose, he has a wound
in the right shoulder near the backbone, which
was occasioned by a rifle shot. (Columbus Ga.
Southern Sun, Aug. 7, 1838). - Run away from the subscriber in Charles City
county, the 14th of April last, a VIRGINIA born
Negro fellow named PETER, about 44 years of
agethe said Negro is outlawed and I will give
10 to any person or persons that will kill him
and bring me his head, separate from his body, or
40s. if delivered to the subscriber near the Long
Bridge. (Virginia Gazette, May 11, 1769).
11The Ability of one man to Arbitrarily Punish
Another.
The end of slavery is the profit of the master,
his security and the public safety... therefore
the power of the master must be absolute, to
render the submission of the slave perfect.
State v. Mann, 13 N.C. 263 (1829).
12Slave as Property
A slave is alienable in a manner similar to other
forms of property.
13Slaves for Sale
- "TO BE SOLD, On Saturday the 27th Instant, at the
London Coffee House, TWELVE or Fourteen valuable
NEGROES, consisting of young Men, Women, Boys and
Girls they have all had the Small Pox, can talk
English, and are seasoned to the Country. The
sale to begin at Twelve oClock. (The
Pennsylvania Gazette, July 18, 1765). - "TO be sold by public Venue, at the London Coffee
House, on Saturday the 30th Instant, a likely
negroe Wench, fit for Town or Country Business.
She has had the Smallpox and Measles. N.B. She is
not sold for any Fault, but on Account of the
Decease of her Master." (The Pennsylvania
Gazette, January 28, 1762). - The subscriber has just received and offers for
sale at his old standin New Orleansthe
largest lot of NEGROES in the city, consisting of
house servants, field hands, and mechanics. They
will be sold on reasonable terms for cash or good
paper. (New Orleans Daily Picayune, March 20,
1852).
14What Makes a Slave, a Slave?
- Black Skin?
- Physical weakness/strength?
- Mental inferiority?
15Constitution of the Carolinas
- Every freeman of Carolina shall have absolute
power and authority over his negro slaves, of
what opinion or religion whatsoever. John
Locke, The Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina,
110, 1669.
16Sommersetts Case
- The state of slavery is of such a nature, that
it is incapable of being introduced on any
reasons, moral or political, but only by positive
law, which preserves its force long after the
reasons, occasion, and time itself from whence it
was created, is erased from memory. It is so
odious, that nothing can be suffered to support
it, but positive law.
17No Slave Shall
2 kinds of statutes
- Those which forbid certain actions.
- Possess weapons (firearm, sword, etc.)
- Meet together
- Travel without a pass
- Learn to read and write
- Trade or barter
- Those which excuse
- certain actions.
- Capturing a slave
- Punishing a slave
- Keeping a slave
- Selling a slave
- Killing a slave
18Equivalents of the Slave Code
- Capturing a slave Kidnapping
- Punishing a slave Assault
- Keeping a slave False Imprisonment
- Selling a slave Human Trafficking
- Killing a slave Homicide
19The Testimony of Fountain Hughes
- Enslaved in Charlottesville, Virginia.
- Interviewed June 11, 1949.
- Grandfather belonged to Thomas Jefferson.
20Slavery Defined?
- How has your original definition changed?
- Surprise, I wont give you a definition of
slavery! (Hint it may be on the final).
21Which is a Slave?
Marriage Slave?
Minor Slave?
African Slave?
Wage Slave?
Penal Slaves?