LogFAQs > #942715431

Clench281 posted...

I've heard plenty of historians and economists make the argument that slavery was in fact worse for the economy. That productivity would have been higher without it.

Wouldn't surprise me. At the very least, being reliant on slavery and then having it abruptly abolished was a significant economic blow, and the stability offered by either not relying on slavery in the first place or phasing it out more slowly would have been much better if we're considering abolition to be an inevitability (which I like to think it is in any civilized society). That said, being able to say that in hindsight and being able to predict that at the time are two very different things. I wouldn't be at all surprised if those in charge genuinely felt slavery was necessary to prosper, and the argument can be made that they shouldn't necessarily be faulted for that belief.

Now, those who resisted abolition even after it became apparent that slavery wasn't necessary (i.e. British North America/Canada doing a fine job of establishing itself without relying on slaves)? That's significantly less excusable. Yes, it required a substantial philosophical shift to consider slaves to be people instead of subhuman property, but basic decency like that really isn't a lot to ask for anyone that isn't utter trash. That an entire war had to be fought to force that shift on such a large portion of the country is more than a little despicable.

Zeus posted...

Senator - Slavery is a necessary evil
Adjl - He's not entirely wrong

>_>

You're the LAST person who should be calling anyone out for playing devil's advocate for questionable positions.

Lokarin posted...

Was the quality of life of American slaves above/below/about average compared to other slave nations at the time?

I can't necessarily speak for all of their contemporaries, but the American slave code was one of the most brutal of any major slave-owning nation throughout history, given how thoroughly slaves were stripped of their humanity and personal identity. I'm sure there were still worse countries that could have bought them, but America was not very nice to its slaves, by comparison.

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