Point of View of David Brion Davis, C.L.R. James, and Orlando Patterson Regarding the Abolishment of Slavery

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The abolishment of slavery, no matter what country it took place in, was a significant turning point in world history. Due to this it has become the discussion of much scholarly debate. There are three historians to highlight that provide key points to why slavery needed to be abolished and the significance of it. David Brion Davis, C.L.R. James, and Orlando Patterson all share similar and differing viewpoints for why slavery needed to be discontinued. This is important to discuss so we as humans who are building a society do not make the same mistakes again as we continue to learn from our past. Whether they are social, economic, or moral wrongdoings we can take a step in the right direction towards avoiding them by observing and contemplating what has occurred before us. This is why reading these historians’ accounts are so important. The three historians David Brion Davis, C.L.R. James, and Orlando Patterson show why slavery could not be sustained and why it was necessary to rid ourselves of it. David Brion Davis is well known for his studies into the history and philosophy of slavery. Davis may be most well-known for his trilogy of books PSWC which he wrote in 1966, The Problem of Slavery in the Age of the revolution written in 1975, and his most recent release written this year The Problem of Slavery in the Age of the Emancipation. This has given him plenty of recognition and influence among other historians in his field. If you want to study the abolition of slavery his work is some of the first to indulge yourself in. Davis in his latest book spoke a lot about “dehumanization and its implications”, in relations to slavery. His focus had a lot to do with the psychological aspects of why slavery took place. He... ... middle of paper ... ... in America. Their views are similar on a couple of key issues, but they differ greatly on the details. While Davis enjoys focusing more on the psychological aspect, such as the subconscious mind and ego, and why slavery was occurring and needed to be abolished that way. Patterson enjoys a more direct view of economic and social aspects. James is similar to Patterson in this way with a focus on social class. All three enjoy looking at many different viewpoints and thoroughly examining them, even if their conclusions may be different. They clearly inspire each other. They read each other’s work and that allows them to contemplate their own work and modify it so it’s better. This is why it is so important to have a multitude of historians. Due to this, we can read their work and learn in the many different ways why slavery was and needed to be abolished.

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