Slavery has been depicted as the major form of human exploitation. However, the historical meaning of the concept is less clear. Since the early nineteenth century the British abolitionist discourse has had the quasi-monopoly in the comprehension of slavery as institution, its characteristics and its wickedness. The main goal of this paper is to analyze the process of abolition of slavery in India within the framework of the colonial discourse. In the first part, it will be discussed different forms of historical slavery, besides the slavery implanted by Europe in America. In the second part, it will be analyzed the abolition discourse and its relationship with the construction of the slavery as antithesis of freedom. In the last part, I will try to explain the process of abolition or 'delegalization'1 of slavery in India and its aftermaths, as part of the colonialist representation of the Indian society.
According to Miers “Non definition of slavery can be separated from the definition of its antithesis -freedom. This is as difficult to define as slavery, since freedom has meant different things to different peoples and even to the same people at different times in their history.”2 The dichotomy slavery-freedom had blurry borders in other slavery systems different than the Caribbean or North American models, in which the common view is a society where the master had all the power and the enslaved no power to decide its own destiny or the future of his offspring. The slave was chattel, he could be sold and bought, and his rights belonged entirely to other person.3 And even this image of the slavery in the Americas is quite simplistic. The division between slaves and free people obscures the diversity of complex arrangements ...
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...he most inhumanity institution, and the anti-thesis of the freedom. In 1869 Ahmed Midhat, quoted by Toledano argued: “Europeans who do not know the manners and customs of the East think that slaves in Istambul are like American slaves.”20 The Ottoman intellectuals could argue than their slavery was benign, even when those same intellectuals spoken the language of the political freedom, the democratic reform and the human rights. The dichotomy between the Ottoman slave and the slavery elsewhere was the frame to depict the humanity of the slave condition under the Ottoman rule, and to denounce the Western attempts of 'cultural interference.' Despite the insistence on the human character of the slavery, many of the slaves suffered the grueling conditions of the menial and agricultural labor, the cultural resistance against the foreign intervention was a process where:
In conclusion, “Slaves No More” helps examine the destruction of slavery and the redefinition of freedom in the midst of the nation 's chaos. The book addresses an important aspect in the study of the Civil War; it also helps to analyze how slaves gain their freedom and what freedom meant to them.it also helps emphasize the effective role of slaves in the country. The book demonstrates how the emancipation changed the lives of all Americans, including both white and black.
The controversies surrounding slavery have been established in many societies worldwide for centuries. In past generations, although slavery did exists and was tolerated, it was certainly very questionable,” ethically“. Today, the morality of such an act would not only be unimaginable, but would also be morally wrong. As things change over the course of history we seek to not only explain why things happen, but as well to understand why they do. For this reason, we will look further into how slavery has evolved throughout History in American society, as well as the impacts that it has had.
Slaves are not inherently dangerous until they have come to understand and acknowledge the evils of slavery. It is only when they are educated and made aware of the situation that they were forced into, that they loathe the concept of being enslaved. Further, this enlightenment threatens the entire foundation of slavery as the enslaved have the mental capability to rebel against their master, although a majorit...
Post, D. G. (2001, 07 02). Temple Universtiy. Retrieved 07 07, 2010, from Words Fitly Spoken: http://www.temple.edu/lawschool/dpost/slavery.PDF
When one thinks of slavery, they may consider chains holding captives, beaten into submission, and forced to work indefinitely for no money. The other thing that often comes to mind? Stereotypical African slaves, shipped to America in the seventeenth century. The kind of slavery that was outlawed by the 18th amendment, nearly a century and a half ago. As author of Modern Slavery: The Secret World of 27 Million People, Kevin Bales, states, the stereotypes surrounding slavery often confuse and blur the reality of slavery. Although slavery surely consists of physical chains, beatings, and forced labor, there is much more depth to the issue, making slavery much more complex today than ever before.
Slavery was the core of the North and South’s conflict. Slavery has existed in the New World since the seventeenth century prior to it being exclusive to race. During those times there were few social and political concerns about slavery. Initially, slaves were considered indentured servants who will eventually be set free after paying their debt(s) to the owner. In some cases, the owners were African with white servants. However, over time the slavery became exclusive to Africans and was no limited to a specific timeframe, but life. In addition, the treatment of slaves worsens from the Atlantic Slave trade to th...
What do you think of; when you hear the word slave? According to Merriam-Webster a slave is someone who “is completely subservient to a dominating influence”. Two of the most known African Americans, who were born slaves and helped others of their race become free, were Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman. Using different tactics they helped many people become free from slavery. This paper will demonstrate Fredrick Douglass’s narrative ‘An American Slave’, which will expose his crucial role in the abolition of slavery, how Douglass overcame slavery, and took control of his own life. Douglass’s tactics for helping slaves will then be compared to Harriet Tubman, one of the most famous Underground Railroad conductors.
What is freedom? This question is easy enough to answer today. To many, the concept of freedom we have now is a quality of life free from the constraints of a person or a government. In America today, the thought of living a life in which one was “owned” by another person, seems incomprehensible. Until 1865 however, freedom was a concept that many African Americans only dreamed of. Throughout early American Literature freedom and the desire to be free has been written and spoken about by many. Insight into how an African-American slave views freedom and what sparks their desire to receive it can be found in any of the “Slave Narratives” of early American literature, from Olaudah Equiano’s The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustav Vassa, the African published in 1789, to Frederick Douglass’s Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself which was published in 1845. Phillis Wheatley’s poetry and letters and Martin R. Delany’s speech Political Destiny of the Colored Race in the American Continent also contain examples of the African-American slaves’ concepts of freedom; all the similarities and differences among them.
The dichotomy between those that are enslaved and those that are free is a very narrow one indeed. Arguably, the distance between the two is spanned only by an individual’s capacity to realize his innate humanity. For example, a slave that has only known the taste of the whip and the bite of shackles may be more in touch with his humanity than a poor, free man who has reached the pit of human degradation. Likewise an enterprising individual never encumbered by woes of abolition could possibly have a greater understanding of the value of life than a lowly slave. In 1859, Harriet E. Wilson attempts to explore this concept in her work entitled, Our Nig, or the Sketches from the Life of a Free Black. As the title proclaims, Our Nig is an account of the life of Frado, a free-born mulatto girl, who is abandoned by her mother and left to a life of servitude. The irony that is Frado’s life lies in the reality that while she is a free black living in the North, her lifestyle seems to closely resemble that of her enslaved counterparts in the South. In retrospect, however, many Southern slaves were able to appreciate elements of freedom, both mental and physical, that Frado, a free black, was never allotted.
Slavery today is a large concern to many people, just as it always has been. Any type of slavery is considered immoral and unjust in today’s society and standards. However, before the Civil War, slavery was as common as owning a dog today. Many in the United States, particularly in the South, viewed slavery as a “positive good” and owned slaves that were crucial to their business and income. However, the Civil War then changed the lifestyle of many southerners in a negative way. After the Civil War, slavery was abolished and any man owning a slave was required to let them free and view them as an equal. This was a difficult thing to do and eventually led to a downfall and destroyed economy in the southern United States. Abolishing slavery hurt the country economically and socially at the time and slavery was socially acceptable.
Anytime we hear the word “slavery”, we tend to think of the Southern United States during the Pre-Civil War era. What many people don’t know, is that this horrible act has occurred worldwide! The term “slavery” has many different definitions, and has occurred all throughout our world history. It wasn’t until the early 18th century that the thought of anti-slavery came about. Many economic, social, and technological forces have played a part in the decline of slavery around the globe.
To understand the desperation of wanting to obtain freedom at any cost, it is necessary to take a look into what the conditions and lives were like of slaves. It is no secret that African-American slaves received cruel and inhumane treatment. Although she wrote of the horrific afflictions experienced by slaves, Linda Brent said, “No pen can give adequate description of the all-pervading corruption produced by slavery." The life of a slave was never a satisfactory one, but it all depended on the plantation that one lived on and the mast...
Traveling into the aspect of slavery, slavery seems distant from the discussions over concerns that split white and black people in the world currently. Slavery was not just a unique aspect of American culture for three centuries; it has been a critical fragment of our nation’s life. African-American history has played an essential role in the shaping of politics, economics, and culture in the United States. As slavery developed in colonial America and the United States, so do slave codes laws that defined the low position of slaves in the United States. The instructions different on or after state to state and from time to time and were not always enforced. “Slaves could not marry or even meet with a free Black.” “A slave could not leave a plantation without a pass nothing his or her destination and time of return.” “And no one, including Whites, was to teach a slave (in some areas, even a free Black) to read or write or to give a slave a book, including the Bible.” “Violations of these rules were dealt with in a variety of ways.” Even though the slave was defenseless to his or her owner’s desires, slavery as a body was defenseless to outer view. The future of what will not change is the Issue of
The term slave is defined as a person held in servitude as the chattel of another, or one that is completely passive to a dominating influence. The most well known cases of slavery occurred during the settling of the United States of America. From 1619 until July 1st 1928 slavery was allowed within our country. Slavery abolitionists attempted to end slavery, which at some point; they were successful at doing so. This paper will take the reader a lot of different directions, it will look at slavery in a legal aspect along the lines of the constitution and the thirteenth amendment, and it will also discuss how abolitionists tried to end slavery. This paper will also discuss how slaves were being taken away from their families and how their lives were affected after.
Slavery has been a part of human practices for centuries and dates back to the world’s ancient civilizations. In order for us to recognize modern day slavery we must take a look and understand slavery in the American south before the 1860’s, also known as antebellum slavery. Bouvier’s Law Dictionary defines a slave as, “a man who is by law deprived of his liberty for life, and becomes the property of another” (B.J.R, pg. 479). In the period of antebellum slavery, African Americans were enslaved on small farms, large plantations, in cities and towns, homes, out on fields, industries and transportation. By law, slaves were the perso...