Lincoln and Zinn's Point of View about Slavery - Essay Example

History research paper – Lincoln and Zinn’s point of view about slavery Abraham Lincoln was a famous politician in the United States who later became the 16th president of U.S. On the other hand, Howard Zinn was a historian and a great writer. This paper will compare their view points on slavery that took a centre stage in the 17th and 18th century in U.S. Abraham Lincoln was born in the year 1809 in Kentucky. At seven years old, his family migrated to southwestern Indiana. It is here that Lincoln stayed with his family until they again moved to central Illinois while at the age of 21 years. Lincoln lived at central Illinois until he became the United States president in the year 1861. At the time of his birth, more than one fifth of the population of Kentucky consisted of slaves. Most of these slaves worked on the Ohio River or on small farms. At this time, Kentucky was a significant crossroads of the slave trade. Lincolns’ farm was located along the road connecting Nashville and Louisville, along which peddlers, slaves and settlers regularly passed. Therefore, he grew up in an environment where slavery existed and where racism and all forms of antislavery sentiments thrived. It is since this time that Lincoln developed a negative attitude towards slaves. He pointed out that he is naturally anti-slavery. He argued that if slavery is not wrong as proclaimed by other people, then there was nothing wrong in the entire world. When he grew up and became a famous politician in Illinois, the collective experiences of his life contributed to his occasional critic of slavery. Lincoln’s real encounter with slavery was in the year 1828 and 1831 when he assisted in transporting farm products for sale in the area of New Orleans. Their trip clearly showed the division that existed between slaves and those societies which are free. There were various economic activities taking place in the entire region. The slave system of trade was on the rise since people needed them to work in plantations. The clash between the societies due to slave and free labor dominated the American life and this extremely shaped Abraham Lincoln’s political career. Lincoln was not happy when the Congress passed the Kansas Nebraska Act in the year 1854. By passing this legislation, there was a possibility of increasing slavery in the lands where it had been discouraged. Lincoln considered the legislation immoral. He held the view that America’s founders through their efforts to stop slavery had prevented its spread to other regions. Stephen Douglas who was a Democratic Senator had sponsored this act which did not go on well with Lincoln (Holzer 57). In his speech in acceptance of the senatorial nomination on 16th June 1858, he pointed out that Douglas, Franklin Pierce (a former president), and Chief Justice Taney Roger among others had agreed to nationalize slavery. In his speech, he also pointed out that their country would become all slaves if they are not careful with the decisions of a few individuals. He urged his listeners to fight it since if they are divided then they could not win the war against slavery. In 1830s, Joshua Speed and Lincoln met in Springfield, Illinois. Even though, they separated when Speed returned to Kentucky which was his native land, they remained close friends throughout life. Lincoln differed with Speed concerning slavery even though Speed had been brought up on a plantation with slaves. They communicated on several occasions and in his letter to Speed in the year 1855, Lincoln pointed out several reasons to why he disliked slavery. He was responding to Speed’s letter of 22nd May 1855. He reminds Speed of their trip from Louisville to Ohio in the year 1841, when there were a dozen of slaves on board. He points out that that sight was a torment to him, and he always sees something of the same kind when he goes to Ohio and any other slave border. Slavery makes Lincoln miserable, and he can not afford to avoid rebuking it in the strongest terms possible. In his letter, he continues to say that he opposes slavery since his feelings and judgment prompt him to do so. He advocates for the reinstatement of the Missouri compromise, on condition that the Kansas remains a territory. He promises to oppose if it attempts to get into the Union as a state for slaves. According to Lincoln, slaves should not be given any freedom in the U.S. They should not be in charge of anything since they are foreigners in the land. Slavery should be stopped, but Lincoln does not know how to go about it. He does not see the black people as part of the American community. They are an unknown group who have moved away from their community and unjustly brought to America. He wants them to be sent back to Africa where they came from. He supported the abolishing of slavery slowly and wants slave owners compensated for their losses. On the other hand, Howard Zinn in his book of “A People’s History of the United States” takes a different stand on slavery. He concentrates on the struggles and personal experiences of those people who lived in U.S from the year 1492. It is an analysis of history from his perception, rather than that of the upper class and leaders of the country. The book revolves about historical ideas from an oppressed point of view. In his discussion, he describes slavery from the slave’s point of view. He argues that slaves should not be mistreated. Their importance should be acknowledged in the society, and they thus require respect as human beings. He points out that slaves played a significant role in the United States economy. He gives an example of the year 1770 when the farms produced thousand tons of cotton yearly in the South. The amount produced had grown to million tons by 1860. During the same period, the number of slaves had grown from 500,000 to 4 million. This clearly indicates that the growth in the number of slaves contributed to the increase of cotton production and other farm produce in the United States of America. The ending of slavery contributed to the reconstruction of economics and national politics (Zinn 107). The tobacco plantations in Kentucky, North Carolina, and Virginia expanded into fertile cotton lands in Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and this needed more slaves. Unfortunately, slave importation was illegalized in the year 1808. The certain markets, prospects of huge profits, and the unprotected coast encouraged the American merchants to import slaves illegally. Zinn held the view that slavery was against humanity. It broke many families for the desire of money since a daughter, a son, wife or husband could be sold. Many families lost the sense of love. In the year 1858, Abream Scriven who was a slave was sold by his master. He asked his wife to show love to his parents and pointed out that if they will not get any other chance to meet then the only meeting point will be in heaven (Zinn 125). This is a clear indicator of how painful slavery was both to the slave and the relatives. It forced an individual to persevere with the pain of leaving the loved ones. Zinn argues that slaves should be treated like human beings. He gives an example of Barrow who was a plantation owner. Barrow gave his slaves holiday gifts and celebrations, bought them clothing, and also put up a dance hall for them. These were brilliant ideas, but he also went a head to build a jail for those who did not obey his rules and regulations. He punished those who went against the law. Zinn explains that slaves were mistreated, punished and jailed for misconduct. He goes ahead to explain different scenarios on how the slaves reacted towards this mistreatment. The largest slave revolt took place in the U.S in the year 1811 near New Orleans. Approximately four hundred slaves assembled with axes, clubs and cane knives, they injured Andry (the plantation owner), killed his son, and started moving from one plantation to another. They were finally attacked by a U.S army, and sixty six of them were killed while sixteen were tried. These kinds of scenarios were common in U.S. The resistance by slaves was exhibited through killing of masters and overseers, stealing property, slowness and sabotage, burning plantations and even running away. According to Zinn, slaves required recognition as human beings. Harriet Tubman was born into slavery and his head was injured by an overseer at the age of fifteen years. She freed herself from slavery as a young woman and became an outstanding conductor on the Railroad. This made her get educated on her rights as she lived in U.S. She escorted about three hundred slaves out of the plantations to freedom carrying a pistol for any eventuality. In the year 1841, slaves were transported using a ship into the British West Indies. This is a place where slavery had been discouraged since the year 1833. The U.S was not happy with England since they refused to return the slaves to America. The antislavery forces increased and by the year 1864, more than 400,000 signatures had been gathered asking for legislation to end slavery. They were later send to the Congress. In April the same year, the Senate adopted the 13th amendment putting an end to slavery. The same act was also adopted by the House of Representatives in January 1865. The blacks started joining the Union army and the more they joined the more they worked hard to liberate themselves. Thomas Fortune who was a black editor testified before a committee of the senate in the year 1883 about the Negros in the United States. He talked of widespread poverty among the blacks. The concern of denied education also came out in his discussion. The average wage of a black laborer in the farm was fifty cents per day. Fortune explains that he was paid in orders and not money. He could only use this at a store that was managed by the planter. This money was too little to sustain the blacks. Their basic needs such as food, shelter and clothing could not be met. This clearly showed how slavery was so discriminative not on in U.S but also in other regions such as South America. There was a need for the blacks to strive for equality. This is the only way they could liberate themselves from these kinds of problems. The struggle for their liberation was not easy, since the Americans were not willing to give them the freedom to access everything like them. Howard Zinn in his book outlines the problems that the slaves went through and their struggle for liberation. In his discussion he emphasized the need for all people irrespective of color to be treated in equal measure. It is explicitly clear that he was unhappy with the way the slaves were mistreated. As compared to Lincoln who naturally hated slaves, Zinn shows some love for them. Works Cited: Holzer, Harold. Lincoln at Cooper Union: The Speech That Made Abraham Lincoln President. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2004. Print. Zinn, Howard. A People’s History of the United States. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1980. Print. Read More