American Slavery, American Freedom Argument Evaluation

7/23/2019 American Slavery, American Freedom Argument Evaluation

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Carl ChurchillHist 3700

Tuesday, October 27, 20151096 words

Kindle edition in use, citations reerence !location" as listed

American Slavery, American Freedomby #d$und %or&an is a wor' that co(ers

the broader )lantation o *ir&inia and then contrasts the de(elo)$ent o the social

(alues o the early colonies with the &rowth o sla(ery alon&side it+ %or&ans $ain )oint

bein& that -$erican sla(ery and -$erican reedo$ are unda$entally related to each

other, and occu)y the central )arado. in -$erican history+1- $a/ority o the boo' does

not relate directly to the thesis howe(er, and co$bined with a lac' o direct correlation

and e.)lanation the thesis is &reatly wea'ened+

%or&an (iews *ir&inia as bein& a uniue )osition in co$)arison to #n&land+

*ir&inia had a lar&e a$ount o o)en arable land, where cash cro) a&ricultural on a lar&e

scale was (ery )rotable+ n si$ilar situations with lar&e a$ounts o land, sla(ery oten is

chosen as the techniue to e.)loit the land best+

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*ir&inia landowners initially usedindentured ser(ants, but it beca$e increasin&ly clear that sla(es were both $ore

)rotable, and easier to control than ser(ants+3-ter 1660, where $ortality rates had

allen enou&h to $a'e the buyin& o sla(es $uch less nancially ris'y, sla(ery be&an to

rise uic'ly in )o)ularity+ la(es also had the ad(anta&e o bein& $uch less dan&erous to

the social order than rebellious ser(ants+ ndentured ser(ants could e.)ect headwri&hts

and )ay$ent ater ser(ice, and so oten &rew (iolent when those e.)ectations were not

$et+4la(es in contrast had (ery ew a(enues o i$)ro(e$ent, and so did not ha(e

e.)ectations to be bro'en, co$bined with bein& totally unar$ed and una$iliar with the

en(iron$ent or culture, sla(es could )er$anently e.ist at the botto$ o the social order

without le&iti$ate ear o rebellion+ nli'e ser(ants who were oten e.e$)ted ro$ the

harshest labor, and who could e.)ect to see their wo$en and children e.e$)ted ro$

the $a/ority o eld wor' sla(es could be wor'ed as hard as cattle, and )unished brutally,

without ear o re)risal, since they were not #n&lish and they were not truly )arts o

society, /ust a wor'in& ele$ent underneath it+ or all this e.)lanation, %or&an does not

relate it to liberty, as his thesis states+ He e.)lains the econo$ics well, but lea(es the

relationshi)s out+

1 #d$und + %or&an,American Slavery, American Freedom: The Ordeal of Colonial

Virginia+ ew 8or' orton, 1975+ 127+

2 bid+, 6237

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-s or the racial basis or sla(ery, %or&an does not state that it is related to sla(ery ro$

the start+ ;ather, in the rst se(eral decades o the *ir&inia colony a re$ar'ably

inte&rated society e.isted, with blac' landowners actin& u)on their own ree will in court

and endurin& the sa$e cri$inal sentences as whites+5The $a/ority o the rst colonial

sla(es were actually ndian )risoners o war, ro$ the deeated tribes in the area+ The

se)aration be&an reli&iously+ -s $ore sla(es entered *ir&inia ollowin& erences in the

&rou)s+6

nitially, the se)aration was ounded on an intersection o race, reli&ion and

culture+ There was a di(ide between the white, Christian, #n&lish and the orei&n, )a&an

ndians and ect, and he then

cites the 1691 act which clearly se&re&ates $arria&e based on race, with the )unish$ent

bein& banish$ent ro$ the colony+:nterracial $arria&es were (ery threatenin& to the

or$ation o a sla(e society, as a class o $i.ed race reed$en, by (irtue o their ree

)arents status, would blur the hierarchical di(isions between the classes and wea'en the

social order, but the s)ecic $ethods by which the social order is wea'ened are still let

out+ -s or the e.istin& class o $i.ed race reed$en, %or&an sees the$ as a !)ariah

5 bid+, 3239

6 bid+, 6:36

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&rou)" e.isted in an aw'ward social )osition that directly threatened colonial a$bitions

and the &rowin& sla(e=based econo$ic syste$ in *ir&inia+9

ollowin& the aore$entioned discussion o the roots o sla(ery in the early colonies,

%or&an be&ins to tal' about the direct relationshi) between sla(ery and liberty in the

colonies, o(er :0@ into the boo'+ He does $a'e (ery well ar&ued )oints on this

relationshi), )ointin& out the elite could better )reach re)ublican conce)ts in a sla(e

society than a ully ree one,10and that the harsh di(ide between sla(es and non=sla(es,

re&ardless o class &a(e e(en the lowest le(el o ser(ants a sense o &reater euality in

the syste$+11t does need to be addressed that these e.cellent )oints are raised

)ri$arily in one cha)ter, and the )enulti$ate one at that+ la(ery isnt rst $entioned at

all in the $ain narrati(e, that is?ater the introduction and )reace, until cha)ter ourand only discussed at len&th in cha)ter si.+ %or&an &i(es a antastic su$$ary o early

*ir&inia history, but the $a/ority o the boo' does not $ention the rst hal o the thesis,

and until the (ery last cha)ters eually does not s)ea' on the second hal o the thesis

either+ Ahen he s)ea's on sla(ery, the analysis is (ery stron&, relyin& on a wide breadth

o e(idence ro$ court cases to /ournals to law codes+ The conclusions are eually stron&,

but with the e.ce)tion o the )enulti$ate cha)ter sla(ery is not related to the rise o

reedo$ in the colonies+ Certainly i less ti$e had been s)ent writin& a co$)rehensi(e

history o the *ir&inia colony there would be $ore roo$ or detailed analysis o this

relationshi)+ The or&aniBational syste$ wor's a&ainst %or&ans ar&u$ent, and des)ite

how stron& the o(erall historical analysis is, the structure o the boo' lea(es the $ost

(ital ele$ents o the thesis wea' and briey touched u)on+ -s a sur(ey o early colonial

econo$icsAmerican Slavery, American Freedomis a antastic and co$)rehensi(e

source, but or anythin& besides a relati(ely brie analysis o the relationshi) o sla(ery

and reedo$ in early -$erica other sources are better suited+

9 bid+, 6994

10 bid+, 7921

11 bid+, 7930

Documents

American Slavery, American Freedom Argument Evaluation