Michaela Joines 1

Principled Persons or Cunning Creatures:

The Debate Over Slavery in the United States

Since the foundation of civilization, the institution of slavery, which forced

individuals deemed inferior to the prevailing race into permanent labor, provided
aristocratic societies with a workforce that required only basic physiological necessities
to fulfill their work. As part of a hierarchical society, slaves were considered the property
of a master: undeserving of equality and unfit for liberty. Despite being an accepted

Comment [db1]: comma or a dash, but not

a:

practice in these aristocratic cultures, slavery became an issue for the United States of
America because of the universal ideals Humanity, Liberty, and Equality that were

Comment [db2]: are those the American

ideals, or the French ones!

elevated into political society. The tradition of slavery, based on the animalistic struggle
for survival, was fundamentally illogical in the revolutionary new society formed from
the Christian principle that rights are inherent and universal. Since the issue of slavery
was a clash of principles, as opposed to policies, there was no political solution to the
dispute.
The practice of slavery derived its basis on the principle that humans had no sense
of virtue, and that life was simply a struggle for survival. Theorist George Fitzhugh,
metaphorically linking humans with plants and animals, states that, From the earliest
date of recorded history, one race of plants has been eating out and taking the place of
another, the stronger or more cunning animals have been destroying the feebler, and man
exterminating and supplanting his fellow (Fitzhugh, 625). In this struggle for survival,
Fitzhugh points out that a free society allows stronger citizens to use their skills to
oppress the weak, which destroys any form of virtue in society because of the selfish
aims of men: The very astute and avaricious man, when left free to exercise his

Comment [db3]: Good thesis and

introductory paragraph.
Comment [db4]: Derived from rather
than derived on reads a little clearer. [that
is a small point, but slight corrections are
still necessary.]

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faculties, is injured by no one in the field of competition, but levies a tax on all with
whom he deals (Fitzhugh, 627). Consequently, any attempt to liberate or equalize
society causes turmoil. According to John C. Calhoun, Liberty leaves each free to
pursue the course he may deem best to promote his interest and happinesswhen forced
on a people unfit for it, would, instead of a blessing lead to anarchy the greatest of all
curses (Calhoun, 619-620). Calhoun contends that liberty should be reserved for the
intelligent, the patriotic, the virtuous and deserving as opposed to what he considers
people too ignorant, degraded and vicious, to be capable either of appreciating or of
enjoying it (Calhoun, 620). Thus, Calhouns theory also denounces equality as contrary
to universal observation (Calhoun, 622). This observation accounts for the physical
differences among individuals and subsequently leads to the assumption that universal
equality in society is an unnatural and detestable aim.
The absence of virtue in a natural society, and the resulting disbelief in inherent

Comment [db5]: Good summary of the

pro-slavery position, and great use of
quotations.

Rights, forms the foundation of the pro-slavery position. Following Calhouns theory,
African American slaves were considered uncivilized savages, and therefore unfit for
liberty. Having an obvious physical difference in skin color, along with a degraded
character due to the effects of forced servitude, slaves were also considered inferior to the
Caucasian race, and undeserving of equality. When humanity is removed from the
argument, this basis of slavery is essentially logical.
However, the political system of the United States elevated humanity to a
sociological aim. In the Declaration of Independence, the Founding Fathers of the United
States set forth a political framework that, instead of espousing a traditional hierarchical
philosophy, would hold these truths to self-evident, that all men are created equal, that

Comment [db6]: What does sociological

aim mean? Is that the best term for the
point I think you are trying to make?

Michaela Joines 3
they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these, are
Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness (Jefferson, 152). Instead of being a privilege
of civilized aristocrats, the revolutionary political system declared that universal rights
stem from an essential human morality, or the inner knowledge of right and wrong.
According to William Ellery Channing, Thought, Reason, Conscience, the capacity of
Virtue, the capacity of Christian Love - here are attributes of our common humanity
which reduce to insignificance all outward distinctions, and make every human being
unspeakably dear to his Maker (Channing, 568). The argument for inherent Rights
originates from the Christian philosophy that humans are created in the image of God
with an immortal soul. Unlike the animal and plant kingdoms and their sole struggle for
survival humans also have a duty to improve themselves morally, while exhibiting the
respect owed to fellow creations of God.
By asserting that one person can claim ownership of another, slavery violates the
rights of Equality and Liberty, and is therefore an illogical institution opposed to the
principle of inherent rights. In regard to equality, Channing does not contradict the fact
that there are physical disparities among men. He instead declares that these
innumerable diversities are equally responsible for the improvement of society, and are
equally distributed among individuals (Channing, 565). Furthermore, All men have the
same rational nature and the same power of conscience (Channing, 566). In appealing
to the abstract form of Equality, Channing affirms that all men have an equal claim to the
most rudimentary form of property: their own self. The consequence of enslavement, he
declares, is that the individual can have no right to himself His will, intellect, and

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muscles, all the powers of body and mind which are exercised in labor, he is bound to
regard as anothers (Channing, 566).
In his explanation of Equality, Channing also declares that all men are equally
made for indefinite improvement of [his] divine faculties, and for the happiness to be
found in their virtuous use (Channing, 566). This appeal to Liberty is based on the
conviction that all individuals equally seek to accomplish a purpose in life, even the sole
ambition of surviving in nature, and that they deserve the freedom to realize these goals.
At the same time, Channing declares that, Every human being has in him the germ of the
greatest idea in the universe, the idea of God; and to unfold this is the end of his
existence (Channing, 568). Since the innumerable diversities between humans are
equally responsible for the improvement of society, each individual deserves the liberty
to, as John Calhoun previous mentioned, pursue the course he may deem best to
promote his interest and happiness.
As the issue of slavery was a contradiction to the principles of the United States,
no political solution could satisfy both ideologies. Frederick Douglass, in his speech on
the slaves view of the Fourth of July, describes the institution of slavery as being a
glaring contradiction to the objectives of the American Revolution: What have I, or
those I represent, to do with your national independenceThe rich inheritance of justice,
liberty, prosperity, and independence, bequeathed by your fathers is shared by you, not
by me (Douglass, 595). Slaves, being considered property, did not share in the right to
property, even to their own selves. They were not guaranteed legal justice (as evidenced
by the Dred Scott decision) or social justice. Thus, the enslaved inhabitants of the United
States did not share in any universal rights imparted to them in the Declaration of

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Independence. In his conclusion, Douglass proclaims, Your prayers and hymns, your
sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade, and solemnity, are, to [the
slave], mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy (Douglass, 598).
Supporters of slavery could not genuinely celebrate the American Revolution, since their
beliefs were fundamentally opposed to the aims of American independence.
As Abraham Lincoln concluded, and Frederick Douglass would concur, A house
divided against itself cannot stand. No political solution could hope to bridge the gap
between the institution of slavery and the political ideology of the United States.
Although a law could either legalize or prohibit slavery in the United States, it alone
could not change the underlying sentiments that caused the issue. Instead, Lincoln
proposed that the citizens of the United States repurify their republican spirit and readopt the Declaration of Independence, and with it, the practices, and policy, which
harmonize with it (Lincoln, 654). This action would solidify the Union, while also
securing the ideals set forth at the foundation of the United States.
The institution of slavery bases its accuracy on the assumption that humans are
merely calculating creatures, with no sense of virtue or desire for personal improvement.
However, evidence supports the fact that humans do possess an inner moral faculty. In
William Channings argument against slavery, he first proposes a question to his
audience: Could I, can I, be rightfully seized, and made an article of property; be made a
passive instrument of anothers will and pleasure be denied the control and use of my
own limbs and faculties for my own good? (Channing, 564). The definitive no to this
question is given without thought. Even during times of duress, an individual still feels
the need to accept an offer of subservience for the benefit of the majority, implying that

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he possesses an inborn sense of worth and dignity. Therefore, the philosophy of slavery is
illogical and opposes the inherent characteristics of man.
Despite being an accepted practice in hierarchical societies, the institution of
slavery was exposed as a fundamentally illogical custom that opposed the ideals elevated
into the political society of the United States. Based on the theory that humans strive only
to survive, the philosophy that encompassed slavery failed to recognize the inherent
moral characteristics found in all individuals. Despite being expressed as sociological
aims by the United States, the rights that originated from this inner humanity, such as
abstract Equality and Liberty, were being denied to the enslaved inhabitants of the
country. This glaring contradiction in society could not be satisfied by a political
solution; as a question of principles, as opposed to policies, the issue necessitated a return
to the philosophy upon which the framework of the United States rested. It was the
obligation of American society to secure the pursuit of Life, Liberty, and Happiness to all
inhabitants before the United States could truly become a more perfect Union.

Comment [db7]: Excellent essay. I do not

give out perfect scores readily, and still I
cannot find a reason to deduct a point from
this effort .
Grade 20/20