The individuals who defended slavery were against the abolitionists of the slave trade in America. They included religion, politics, economy as well as social position in placing their arguments. According to their economic case, the end of slavery would kill the economy in the southern part of America, where they depended on the slave for their financial stability and growth. The cotton economy and plantation, tobacco crop and rice will collapse and cease to be profitable.
They argued that if all the slaves were freed, they would spread all over clueless, unemployed and chaotic. According to their political argument, when all the slaves were freed, it may lead to anarchy and bloodshed. Besides, they believed that slavery existed for a long time in history and, therefore, it was natural for the existence of slave and slavery. According to them, the Roman Empire had slaves, Greek as well as English; therefore, they were not the first ones to practice slavery (Dumas, 2016).
They noted that even in the Bible, there existed slavery, and slaves were working on their master’s plantations. According to their argument is that Abraham, who was our forefather, had slaves as well. There was a widespread of slavery throughout the Roman Empire. According to them, all blacks were their properties, and there was no way a feature should move to court, they trusted that the constitution protected them. According To them compared to Europe slaves in America were treated humanely compared to those in Europe. They argued that slave masters would take care of them whenever they were sick as well as aged, unlike those in Europe who were fired and left helpless. Additionally, they argued that slavery led to civilization and improved the black countries not just physically but morally as well (Genovese, 2014).
According to me, I believe that they were arguing as a way of justifying their deeds. They knew that slavery was against humankind, but they tried to explain the act, and they prioritized their superiority and believed that when the slave trade was abolished, it would be the beginning of the Southern part’s downfall. What I fail to address in their argument is that slavery is legal and should be justified since, even in the Bible, there was slavery. Hence, slavery is against the individual right.
References
Dumas, P. E. (2016). The Proslavery Politics after Abolition. In Proslavery Britain (pp. 143-162). Palgrave Macmillan, New York.
Genovese, E. D. (2014). The political economy of slavery: Studies in the economy and society of the slave South. Wesleyan University Press.
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