Slavery Caused Freedom - Essay Example

Slavery Caused Freedom Question 1 In the history of America, slavery played a big part in the evolution and influenced greatly the public's view on equality and slavery (Auerbach 42). Had slavery not been a part of the history of the American people, the principle of equality and freedom would not be what it is nowadays. Even if the concept of slavery and freedom are in conflict with each other, both of them are interrelated and bring about the rise of the other. The parallelism between slavery and freedom is such that they seem to “need” each other to exist. If slavery did not occur in the America, people would not be inspired to fight for the principles of equality and freedom. A bright example of this is Virginia, where slavery is widespread. Tobacco plantation owners think of gaining liberty through earning money, and with this, slaves were used for labor (Auerbach 44). The idea of earning a living cannot work well during that time if people would not resort to slavery. It has been probably an unspoken consensus then that riches, liberty, and power are largely dependent of the number of people working for them. The more slaves are used for labor, the greater the income is for the plantation owners. The ironic thing here, however, is that the concept of freedom seems to be associated only to a certain group of people (Morgan 27). The earning of money, thus, freedom of one group of people deprives another group of theirs. Despite the “Declaration of Independence” stating that “all men are created equal,” the very person who wrote this, Jefferson, owned around 200 slaves (Morgan 27-8). This therefore proves that along with the intention to gain liberty and develop better economy is the deprivation of many other people of their freedom. Slavery and freedom shaped America's history. These two served as the determinants and foundations in the creation of new ideas. British settlers wanted the freedom that the lands of America offered --- something they do not have in Britain. The very idea of gaining more freedom for themselves through better economy through the use of slaves started the colorful evolution of America's history. In America's history, the events surrounding the story of Jamestown and Plymouth are among the most important. They involve the story of the English settlers who went on a voyage and landed the shores of America. These stories became the points of reference of the culture of America. Also, in the century-long gap between the stories of these two civilizations and the Declaration of Independence from England, that means that the original settlers already passed away, and there was no original settler to tell the story --- leaving everything to the latter generations of people who never actually witnessed the events themselves. Plymouth is actually considered as the origin of American democracy because the Pilgrims allowed objections in the midst of struggles between democracy and theocracy (Morgan 35). Jamestown, on the other hand, was founded on purely economic agenda, and it encouraged further colonization, because it showed the Englishmen that one can sustain a colony away from one's original lands. The impact here is long decades of slavery for the African people (Voices of Freedom 13-5). Also, for the Indian natives, it seemed to be the end of their culture. However, one also cannot deny that is during the Jamestown civilization that a more open social order started. The political, social and military history of colonial America affected the evolution in several ways. One way to analyze the political struggle towards independence is to look at the colonial settlement and political history of the USA. This way, one can see what brought about the changes in the government that led things to where they are now. Foner even states: “eventually, they would be accorded the right to self-government, although no one could be sure how long this would take. In the meantime, 'empire' was another word for 'exploitation'” (Give Me Liberty! 656). For one, varying reasons were behind the formation of the British colonies. Lord Baltimore, William Penn, and a group of proprietors were given full reign to establish their governments in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and North and South Carolina (Morgan 41). Virginia was taken over by some merchants from London. Plymouth, however, was formed by men who were after the concept of religious freedom. It is important to note that these colonies were composed of equals, has full freedom in its decisions and actions, and not under royal governance, and democracy is only natural to come out from such freedom. However, this primitive form of democracy evolved. For example in Massachusetts, from 1630s onwards, government control was transferred from England to the local government, and the people chose Winthrop as governor. In that same year, the first legislative assembly was held at Boston. From then on, the people were governed by leaders chosen through elections. Slowly, representative democracy took over the primitive form. This same idea was adopted in the other colonies. They do not consider anymore being under England. Legislature, government, and elections were for the commonwealth and not for the mother country, and the legislative assembly were the sol decision-makers in creating and vetoing laws. Over a decade after, in 1643, further step towards the evolution happened. Some colonies had themselves under a unifying umbrella called the United Colonies of New England. These occurrences, if analyzed thoroughly, can be seen as steps toward a federal republic, which in now in continuous existence in the country. While it may seem that England just quietly allowed such things to happen, it is just because they viewed colonies as too little an act to deserve much attention. There were times when the English monarchy tried to interfere with the governance of the colonies, but the people held on to their new-found liberty. The events happening in England, their own fight for liberty, overthrow of government, and the formation of a democratic military were all events that went in favor to the rise of the American republic. Race, economics, and the English social background played great roles in too in the evolution. Class tension heightened at the successful entry of Virginia in the tobacco market. The colony had a small population of white women, so rich widows played a big part in the formation of class in the colony. Passing on of wealth from a plantation owner husband to another plantation owner husband occurred largely. For free male servants, chances of marrying up the social ladder almost never happened. They even chose to settle near the displaced Indians, creating more discontent among these poor whites (Voices of Freedom 31-2). Blacks, on the other hand, were prohibited from acquiring education and accessing public facilities (Give Me Liberty! 336). In 1676, class hostility increased, yet this class conflict were turned to be directed at the native Indians (Morgan 38). The wealthy relative, Bacon, of the then Gov. Berkeley used the Indians as the scapegoat, and it was only after the rebellion did the people learn that this racism and class conflict was utilized for political agenda. Furthermore, prior to the 1660s, black slaves and white servants mingle with each other - they engaged in sexual relations, ate together, plotted escape together, slept together, and even shared the same mark of poverty. It can even be said that class and racial prejudice are both present and sometimes hard to differentiate during that era in Virginia. With slavery, the long-time problem of shortage of workers would be solved, as well as help them limit the number of the white men who were then just freed. However, slavery still did not solve the then existing threat from the discontented population, particularly the white servants who were just recently freed (Kiracofe 35). This looms over the structure of the colonial society. The answer to this problem is racism, in order to increase the separation between white servants and black slaves, for them not to share common causes and sentiments. By the early part of the 1700s, the concept of political solidarity among whites, slavery, and liberty were all in place (Kiracofe 35). The only thing that was lacking is a political orientation that would bring all these together. This is where the English social background of republicanism came in. Because of this popular system existing in England, people in Virginia began to appreciate the liberty they were having because they became daily witnesses to a life without this liberty. Also, due to slavery, the wealthy population in Virginia was able to experience improved economy and liberty more, that they were able to feel safer with the concept of equality compared to the northern states. One has to understand that in England, class prejudice was so widespread and English aristocrats then feel scorn and fear towards the lower classes. These sentiments were eradicated in Virginia because slavery solved several social issues including poverty (Auerbach 46). Previous concepts of freedom evolved through mergers with newer ideas until a new type of freedom surfaced (Give Me Liberty! 330). Therefore, racism and slavery were crucial ingredients of the political ideology that lead America to its evolution. Works Cited Auerbach, Barbara. "Freedom Road: Colonial Life." School Library Journal. 56.11 (2010): 42- 47. Print. Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty!: An American History. New York: W.W. Norton & Co, 2008. Print. Foner, Eric. Voices of Freedom: A Documentary History. New York: W.W. Norton & Co, 2008. Print. Kiracofe, David J. "The Jamestown Jubilees: "State Patriotism" and Virginia Identity in the Early Nineteenth Century." The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography. 110.1 (2002): 35- 68. Print. Morgan, Edmund S. American Slavery, American Freedom: The Ordeal of Colonial Virginia. New York: W.W. Norton & Co, 2003. Print. Read More