Pro-Slavery Speech, the Hireling and the Slave - Essay Example

One can argue that it is through enslaving others that man has been able to survive and be able to further the human race. It is a widely known fact that man is considered superior to the other animals on the planet and this has been achieved through subjugation of the other species, evidenced by the domestication of animals such as dogs and cats. This instinct of subjugating others is primal and it then follows that man cannot be blamed for what comes so naturally to him, it is not forced, it is just the way he is. Being against slavery can be equated to being against the human race.

As Americans, Christianity is the major religion and this means that the Bible is one of the most important books for any American to possess. Therefore, the teachings and scriptures contained in the Bible are a kind of life schematic, guiding a person on the way of life. With that said, I would like to point out that the Bible has discussed the matter of slavery in the Ten Commandments, instructions that are supposed to guide a person on the appropriate way of life. One of the commandments states that a person should not covet a neighbor’s property, maidservant, or manservant. As a majority Christian nation, shouldn’t this be proof of the legitimacy of slavery in the eyes of God and man? For those who argue that the teachings of the First Testament are outdated and that Jesus’s teachings of love and forgiveness are supreme, I pose this question, Why didn’t Jesus speak against slavery?

My next point deals with the issue of love. I concur that love is the most important human law and I believe that it is love that is responsible for slavery in the first place, otherwise, I fail to understand how a person can feed, clothe, and house a person without loving them. Historical accounts of past slave owners in the 18th-19th century US highlight how slaves were housed in suitable sleeping conditions, were guaranteed three meals a day and were provided with adequate healthcare if they became sick. This was a far cry from the free men in Britain during the Industrial Revolution, whose conditions were atrocious, coupled with a lack of adequate meals and deplorable working and living conditions. Slaves were better off than free men.

Apart from Christianity, the only other religion that Americans value is the American dream. One only needed to visit a mall to see how we value consumerism and our way of life. We have even commercialized Christmas to the extent that children view the holiday in terms of presents rather than as a celebration of the birth of Christ. What many fail to understand, is that their ability to enjoy these privileges was through slavery. It was only through slavery that American plantation owners were able to reap profits from their farms and it is only through slavery that Americans enjoy purchasing cheap clothes made in Asia. Therefore, knowingly or unknowingly we all support slavery.

I would like to finish my argument by posing the question, aren’t we all slaves in a way? We are slaves to our jobs, debts, marriages, families, mortgages, minds, addictions, and death. Some of us are even worse off because we do not know that we are slaves. Read More