I. Slavery in History
A. Slavery as old as human civilization

Jews enslaved by the Egyptians, 3/4 pop of Athens in Ancient Greece were slaves Aristotle called slaves "property with a soul"

Thought they were necessary for democracy - in order to provide the upper class with enough leisure time to contemplate, govern

B. In both Ancient Greece and Egypt - slavery had no relation to skin color - both light and dark were enslaved and ruled

C. Whole concept of race, product of last 400-450 yrs; Europeans referred to themselves by religion and language

D. In North America:
Black crew members served under Columbus, Balboa, Cortez, Pizarro and de Soto
First black settlers - English attempted colony - Jamestown, 1619 (one year before Pilgrims)
came voluntarily as indentured servants - passage paid in exchange for period of service in New World (5-7 yrs); have legal rights/status
First slaves brought to England by Dutch slave traders didn't speak English, no knowledge of Eng. common law
Yet thru 1620s - became property owners, married whites

E. 1630s - gradually begin to see a change in the legal definition of Africans
1650s-60s - a distinct pattern of repression begins
By early 1700s - distinguished by law
PA - no intermarriage, curfews for Africans, no prop. ownership, or gun ownership
SC - no meetings among Africans
By 1739/40 - first slave uprisings

II. Slavery in 18th and 19th Century America
A. Labor power of slave owned by owner
B. Social and cultural factor
life of slave under constant surveillance
coercion - psychological: eating worms, selling spouse, children physical: rape, whip, sexual abuse
any resistance swiftly and brutally punished
e.g. Frederick Douglas’s cousin is brutally whipped for refusing the sexual advances of her master

C.  Forms of resistance
Slaves – foot-dragging, "forgetting", working slowly "playing dumb",

sabotage, occasional revolt, fighting back - rare - Douglass writes about "being sold down to GA" heavy price for physical resistance separated from families
Most famous uprising 1831 by Nat Turner in SC- 60-65 whites killed
To make an example of him:  "tried him" killed him and skinned him - made purses from his skin - to terrorize others
 

Some slaves bought their freedom                                                    by 1850 1/2 million freed slaves living in South - had to prove free with papers - or resold into slavery

Escape - Underground Railroad - Harriet Tubman - had bought her freedom, went back and forth hundreds of times to lead other slaves to freedom in North - system of houses, hideaways

D.  What is the psychology of a slave owner?
how he can justify his actions morally?
myth of the Black savage/white man's burden helping to civilize the savage, Christianize
Christianity used as justification - Bible curse of Ham
Ethnological "studies"- attempting to prove the inferiority of Blacks sub human

E. The Economics of Slavery
cotton, tobacco industries in the South - labor intensive to support the opulent lifestyle of rich plantation owners

 
III. Slavery and American Government policies
A. in the Founding period - Constitutional convention
debate over the counting of slaves for purposes of rep. in House South wanted to count them - North didn't

In Constitution: 3/5 Compromise "3/5 of all other persons"

B. Importation of slaves - written in Constitution that slave imports must end in 1808, many believed slavery would die out as country developed.

C. problem as new state arose to enter the union - slave or free?
Congress trying to keep a balance - Southerners paranoid - if became minority of states - Congress would outlaw slavery altogether
OH, IN, IL, NH, ME, VT admitted as free states
KY, TN, FL, AL, MS as slave states

It was illegal - even in Northern states - to help fugitive slaves - legally had to return them to their masters as property Missouri Compromise- half free, half slave

Congress wrote into law that slaves residing in free part of MO free

 
1857 - the Dred Scott case - Scott taken into MO by master, declares himself to be free under act of Congress

Supreme Court rules the act to be unconstitutional because in so doing, Congress had deprived Scott's owner of the right to property –

only 2nd time in our history Court declared act of Congress unconstitutional Leads up to Civil War 1860 - 1865
 

D.  Invention of the Cotton Gin to remove seeds from cotton
- before slave could only clean 1 pound of cotton per day
- 150 with machine
- 1,000 pounds with steam and machine

as result between 1780-1810 as many slaves brought to America as in previous 160 years

 
V. Solutions to the race problem: Separatism
In all things social and political as separate as the five fingers, in things of mutual progress one as the hand
Booker T. Washington

A. Pan-Nego Movement: as early as 1714 - the idea of sending Africans
back to Africa surfaced - became more prominent in the early 1800s
some important white Americans supported the idea - Francis
Scott Key, descendents of Washington, Henry Clay,John Randolph

Black Leaders:
Edward Blyden (AM and LIB) Bishop Henry M. Turner (later)
 

Paul Cuffee - free black settled 30 Afr. Ams in Sierra Leone in 1815 at his own expense

B. 1816 - white sponsored American Colonization Society formed - goal to " find home in Africa for freed slaves (others considered other parts
By 1890 - over 15,000
where? Liberia colonized in 1822 - indep. by 1848
Chief Sam Movement - later 1897-1914
in now Ghana - Chief Sam of Gold Coast invited - failed –
1914 1 ship went - most of the 60 emigrants died - not prepared

 
C. Reasons for colonization/repatriation given by Black leaders of movement:

1. Blyden said "faith against reason" to expect Blacks to be fully
equal in the U.S. with or without slavery - always will be a minority, have minority status

2. Christian call - many leaders and preachers believed their job as members of African Diaspora was to bring Christianity to Africa

3. Responsibility to bring "civilization" to Africa - upside of slavery was that Africans exposed to industrialism - need to bring these techniques to help Afr. develop

4. Africa as land of riches: like the Jews and Canaan - Africa the
promised land; endless resources to exploit, develop. Possible to build a great African civilization there
 
5. Africa only place the black race can be regenerated psychologically spiritually, Messianic terms

6. Econ. recessions - hardships of sharecropping, econ.
discrimination worsened for blacks in times of recession - interest in repatriation generally rose as econ. conditions worsened
 
VI. The Other Solution: Integration

A. Origins in the Abolition Movement
1645 - 1807 - Quakers in Phil, Germantown
Dr. Benjamin Rush - surgeon - 1773 published address in Philadelphia
Founders Alexander Hamilton, Ben Franklin

1. Most famous white abolitionist - William Lloyd Garrison paper in MA, Boston, The Liberator
ran lecture circuit - traveled around giving talks on abolition B. Most famous abolitionist speaker - Frederick Douglas

 
 am not included with the pale of this glorious anniversary?  Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us.  The blessings in which you this day rejoice are not enjoyed in common.

Could this be said today?  Who is excluded from “high independence” in the US today?

…For revolting barbarity and shameless hypocrisy, America reigns without rival.

How does Douglas develop his argument that the US is the most hypocritical nation on Earth?
 

How does Douglas answer those who claim slaves were not human?