The Slave Trade in the United States - Essay Example

Slave trade remains one of the most dehumanizing experiences in the history of humankind. In United s, slave trade and slavery flourished for many centuries and its abolition resulted after a long and bloody war. Prior to the Civil War, many conflicts between slaves and slave owners had occurred resulting to loss of lives and heightened calls for the abolition of the practice. There were other reasons besides the eruption of the Civil War, but abolition of slavery played a major role in the battle that occurred during Abraham Lincoln’s reign (Allport, 1954, p20). Slavery in United States dates back to 1619 in Virginia and it later spread into states both in the south and in the north of America (Oakes, 2010, p560). However, by the end of the American Revolution, most states in northern America had already done away with the practice, but in southern states, the institution of slavery was flourishing especially in the large plantations that formed the major economic mainstay of the regions (Allport, 1954, p41). In this respect, Southern states supported slavery while the northern states opposed the practice, resulting to the civil war that was eventually won by the Northern side. For long periods, historians and social researchers have delved on how the slaves related with their masters to ensure that they coexisted peacefully without undue conflicts in such a harsh and dehumanizing working environment. This paper discusses similarities between paternalism and patriarchy in context with slavery practice in the United States. Before discussing the similarities and differences between paternalism and patriarchy, it is important to consider the demographic composition of slaves in both the southern and northern parts of the country and then establish their working conditions. According to Allport (1954, p 47) a slave was a property of a master purchased to provide free and forced labor to the master in the plantations and at homes. Southern states in America and the Caribbean relied heavily on agriculture and large plantations of crops such as sugarcane and tobacco required intensive human labor. To ensure that slaves remained productive at their place of work, the white masters first applied patriarchy during the early periods of slavery and later adopted paternalism in 18th century (Oakes, 2010, 567) Patriarchy was a strict code that emphasized on obedience, discipline, control and severe punishment of the slaves towards their masters (Oakes, 2010, p573). However, patriarchy provided the slaves with protection, guardianship and reciprocal obligation. According to Altemeyer (1988, p 26), patriarchy defined the image of the slave owner and it set the standards of judging slaveholding among the white farmers. The transformation from patriarchy to paternalism in the 18th century was enhanced by the benevolent inclination of the slave-owners towards their black slaves. Consequently, the masters began expecting similar treatment from the slaves and their outlook towards the slaves became more sentimental (Oakes, 2010, p 575). In this regard, the masters tried to create the image of happy and contended slaves, who worked to get protection from their masters. In response to patriarchy, many slaves rebelled against their masters in attempts to resist the work and the harsh treatment. The slaves resisted by feigning sickness, sabotaging, stealing from the masters, arson, destroying tools, mistreating animals among other behaviors. Their resistance was mainly collective, structured to undermine the system in order to facilitate change or validate escape from slavery (Altemeyer, 1988, p 39). This occasionally resulted to revolts that were driven by a common sense of victimization. However, the revolts were not intended to change the structure or the balance of power but provided avenue for expression or execution of retribution directed at an individual but not on the larger system of power (Oakes, 2010, p 583). In this regard, the slaves’ revolts were not revolutionary since they lacked collective consciousness and consequently they subsided shortly after their eruption, perpetuating the exploitative authority in the process. The rebellions by the black slaves were therefore an opposition to the European capitalism that exploited and condemned them to slavery. In the beginning of the 18th century, the rebellion by the black slaves took different turn developing into a revolution that sought to change slavery as a social system (Allport, 1954, p 83). Some of the major slave rebellions in United States were recorded in New York and South Carolina where rebelling black slaves killed their white masters (Allport, 1954, p87). To counter the emerging rebellion, the slave masters embraced paternalism that entailed provision of material conditions to undermine revolutionary pursuits by the slaves (Oakes, 2010, p 587). Oakes (2010, p56) described paternalism as a state whereby “both the slave and the master faced each other with reciprocal demands and expectations”. This implied that the slaves were not extensions of their masters’ wishes, but had their own minds and wills. In order for paternalism to work, both the slaves and their masters made concessions that they would live with in the plantations. This arrangement minimized hostility and secured some sort of peace and stability in the community. Though the slave owners still possessed overwhelming powers over the slaves, their authority was not absolute (Altemeyer, 1988, p 91). The slaves utilized every available chance to win and make concession that enhanced their own and collective good. This arrangement resulted to the reinforcement of racial subordination and enhanced the working conditions of the slaves. In this case, paternalism implied that slaves and their owners had mutual obligations to one another just like the relationship between parents and children (Oakes, 2010, p432) Therefore, the slave owners had the obligation to provide security to their subjects and get their loyalty and obedience in return. According to Altemeyer (1988, p109), paternalism was a means to morally justify the exploitation of slaves and enforce discipline in the community. In this case, the slave owners justified the involuntary labor from the slaves by arguing that they were providing the slaves with protection in return. Therefore, paternalism recognized humanity aspect of the slaves by insisting on mutual obligations such as responsibilities, duties and rights. The slaves negotiated from patriarchy to paternalism by waging rebellion, which entailed resisting the orders of the white masters using violence and non-violence means. From these two ideologies, several similarities and differences emerge between them. In both ideologies, the white masters offered protection to the black slaves working in the plantations by providing them with food, security and other necessities. In addition, the slaves were compelled to work against their will. Under patriarchalism, the slaves were treated harshly, and with a lot of cruelty. The white masters held absolute control of their slaves and they their humanity was not considered. Paternalism provided the slaves with more bargaining power and it recognized the humanity of black slaves. Moreover, the whites were sentimental to their slaves resulting to stable and peaceful coexistence between the two under paternalism system. References Allport, G.W. The Nature of Prejudice. Reading, MA: Addison Wesley, 1954. Altemeyer, B. Enemies of Freedom: Understanding Right Wing Authoritarianism. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1988. Oakes, J. “I Own My Slaves But They Also Own Me: Property and Paternalism in the Slave South”. Reviews in the American History. 38. 4(2010): pp 560-598. Read More