It Turns Out Slavery Wasn't Such a Big Deal After All

Michael the Honeyeater at Townhall points out that slavery wasn’t so bad. He gives us six reasons:

“SLAVERY WAS AN ANCIENT AND UNIVERSAL INSTITUTION, NOT A DISTINCTIVELY AMERICAN INNOVATION.” In other words, everybody was doing it. Of course, other nations weren’t making noises about being the land of the free where all men are created equal and such like. The Founders were either hypocrites or utterly devoid of self awareness.

“SLAVERY EXISTED ONLY BRIEFLY, AND IN LIMITED LOCALES, IN THE HISTORY OF THE REPUBLIC – INVOLVING ONLY A TINY PERCENTAGE OF THE ANCESTORS OF TODAY’S AMERICANS.” Sure, if you count just from 1776, it lasted just under ninety years. Tell that to the millions of enslaved folks who lived during those ninety years. I’m sure they were consoled by the idea that their descendants might not have to be slaves. (The Medveds were probably getting ravaged by Cossacks back in slavery days or were not much better than slaves themselves if they were serfs.) How does this make slavery less heinous? It may be used as an argument against reparations being paid by the innocent.

“THOUGH BRUTAL, SLAVERY WASN’T GENOCIDAL: LIVE SLAVES WERE VALUABLE BUT DEAD CAPTIVES BROUGHT NO PROFIT.” In other words, it could have been worse. The slaves could have been killed. Whine, whine, whine. Seriously, I almost choked when I read Michael’s statement that slave traders were averse to their cargo’s suffering, thanks to the profit motive. Imagine if slave trading had been carried on by a non-profit or government. None of them would have made it.

“IT’S NOT TRUE THAT THE U.S. BECAME A WEALTHY NATION THROUGH THE ABUSE OF SLAVE LABOR: THE MOST PROSPEROUS STATES IN THE COUNTRY WERE THOSE THAT FIRST FREED THEIR SLAVES.” Damn those slaves for holding us back! If anything, the slaves owe the slave states an apology for dragging down the economy. Seriously, what makes Michael think that businessmen in the North didn’t benefit from Southern slavery? The impact of slavery on commerce did not stop at the Mason Dixon line.

“WHILE AMERICA DESERVES NO UNIQUE BLAME FOR THE EXISTENCE OF SLAVERY, THE UNITED STATES MERITS SPECIAL CREDIT FOR ITS RAPID ABOLITION.” We weren’t the very last country to abolish slavery. Britain did it peaceably. The US had to have a bloody war and destroy its Constitutional structure.

“THERE IS NO REASON TO BELIEVE THAT TODAY’S AFRICAN-AMERICANS WOULD BE BETTER OFF IF THEIR ANCESTORS HAD REMAINED BEHIND IN AFRICA.” They wouldn’t have been born at all. Any change in history would mean that the particular pairings of eggs and sperm and the matings of particular individuals would not have occurred. I suppose Michael thinks that African Americans should be thankful that their ancestors were enslaved.