Mr. Jennings and Mrs. Seabaugh

Shayne Spiros

Mr. Jennings and Mrs. Seabaugh

Honors English III

5th hour

10/24/13

Why Slavery Should Be Reinstated

Slavery was a good thing for America, and would be a good thing for any nation, and there for the institution should be reinstated in full. Before you start to compose your argument as to why slavery is wrong and should stay abolished, as the typical person would think, think of all of the practical uses that slavery serves, and then think of the logical reasoning behind the argument against slavery. To be honest, there is a small amount of any reasoning against slavery that is practical. I believe that some form of slavery should be reinstated. This new kind of slavery would not be based on race and would solve all arguments against slavery. Slavery would provide a way for a multitude of jobs to be filled, give benefits to those who otherwise may not have them, all while still being justified by all people.

For those people who think that slavery is morally wrong, against religious beliefs, and unnatural, it is quite the contrary. Slavery is a natural thought. People are different, and you must expect that those who are superior in a certain way, such asintelligence, knowledge, technological prowess, or other shows of superiority, will make themselves the masters of those who are inferior in this regard. For those who may believe it goes against Christian or other religious beliefs, it isin the Bible that Abraham had slaves. The Ten Commandments say“You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor's." In the New Testament, Paul returned a runaway slave, Philemon, to his master.Although slavery was widespread throughout the Roman world, Jesus never spoke out against it. As much as people use religious beliefs to say slavery is wrong, the bible says quite otherwise. Abraham Lincoln is usually seen as a moral icon who freed the slaves, but upon further investigation your opinion may change. In Lincoln’s debates with Steven Douglas, he often said quite the opposite of what most would believe that he would. In a debate in Charleston, Illinois, Lincoln can be quoted saying "I will say then that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races--that I am not nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of Negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality. And inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I as much as any other man in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race.”, and in another debate in Ottawa he can be quoted saying something quite similar “I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so. I have no purpose to introduce political and social equality between the white and black races. There is a physical difference between the two, which, in my judgment, will probably forever forbid their living together upon the footing of perfect equality, and inasmuch as it becomes a necessity that there must be a difference, I, as well as Judge Douglas, am in favor of the race to which I belong having the superior position”. Even the great emancipator, the moral icon, Abraham Lincoln saw that slavery was useful, didn’t want to get rid of slavery, saw the white race as superior, and wanted slavery to continue. While I believe slavery does not need to be based on race to work, the often thought of advocate of slavery Abraham Lincoln was not truly against slavery.

While many are confused about the morality of slavery, it is not as difficult of a topic as it would appear, and this is even if you think that morality should be considered. Many think that if something works and benefits the majority, that morality should be set aside, which I agree with. In some situations, morals must be put aside to benefit the many. Whether slavery is one of these situations that morals should be put aside is a question for the people in charge of the nation pondering slavery, but regardless of that decision, it should first be argues whether slavery can be morally right, which I believe it can be.In many slave societies, the slaves were provided with shelter, food, clothing, and sometimes medical treatment, none of which were guaranteed for all free people. In early Roman history, citizens used to sell themselves into slavery in order to receive these necessities, and so much so that a law was later passed by the Senate that made this act illegal. Not all slaves did the same kinds of laboring field hand jobs that you would usually think of due to American Slavery. Some were even provided professional training and served as managers, accountants, craftsmen, and teachers. If you think about the current way a lot of jobs are filled, people have no motivation to excel in scholastics because they can always default onto simpler jobs, or jobs that most people don’t want to do, and still make a decent living. If slavery was reinstated, they would take a lot of these jobs and there for there would be a lack of these jobs. If these jobs were lacking, people would then realize that they would not be able to make a decent living unless they succeeded scholastically to secure a job that requires more education. This would then benefit the nation as a whole increasing the national intelligence.

Not all slaves were treated badly as many people believed. In Rome, Slaves were able to keep any money they earned and could use it to purchase their freedom. Many people also viewed them as extremely loyal and viewed slavery was not merely an economic relationship, but a personal relationship also. In many ways, the relationships between slaves and other members of the family were very similar. Slaves commonly played a large part in raising children and in educating them from a very young age. It was also common for slaves to be given gifts, and there are many accounts of monuments that were set up for slaves. Slaves were not guaranteed to stay slaves for their entire lives either. Not all slaves were treated badly either. Many people had the view that better treated slaves would work better, and it would solve the moral dilemma for some. Slavery as a whole is only as wrong as those using it. I think that if everyone is as moralistic as they make it appear, they would treat their slaves correctly and there would be nothing wrong with it. To solve the racism issue, not all slave nations based slavery on race. In many nations slaves were prisoners of war or poor people who were better off as slaves than staying poor due to the benefits received as a slave, such as free food, drink, and shelter.

If slavery was reinstituted, we could take some of the most favorable aspects from previous slave nations and get rid of some of the looked down upon aspects. People often think that slavery would lead to a decrease in equality and civil rights, and that these slaves would be mistreated. To compare this theory to something in current use, take the idea of owning a horse on a farm. The farmer provides a multitude of things that the horse needs, including things that wild horses don’t get, such as medical care. The horse is in turn expected to work for these things that the farmer is provided. Not only is this beneficial for both parties, but even if some people think something could go wrong to where the farmer would mistreat the horse, we have laws in place to prevent such acts and punish those who would do such a thing. The same could be said of slavery. The slaves are provided for in turn of doing work, and laws could be instituted to prevent misuse of the power owners would have against their slaves. I believe that slavery should also not be based on race. I propose that slaves be selected by a multitude of elements, including intelligence, criminal history, wealth, and multiple other aspects that would be deemed worthy.

Slavery is not a bad thing and if instituted correctly, can be extremely beneficial for a nation to reinstate. As history has shown, there is a large ratio of benefits recognized, such asproviding a multitude of and giving benefits many people, to practical arguments against the reinstitution of slavery, and most of these arguments can be disputed and proven faulty. With the multitude of evidence supporting slavery and the lack of reasoning against, slavery should logically be reinstated.

Sources

"Catechism of the Catholic Church - The Ten Commandments."Catechism of the Catholic Church - The Ten Commandments.N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2013. <

"DEBATES."DEBATES.N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2013. <

"The Roman Empire In the First Century." PBS.PBS, n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2013. <

"Roman Slaves."Roman Slaves.N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2013. <

"Slaves and Freedmen in Ancient Rome."Ancient History Encyclopedia.N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2013. <

"Ten Reasons Not to Abolish Slavery." : The Freeman : Foundation for Economic Education. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2013. <

"27f. The Southern Argument for Slavery." The Southern Argument for Slavery [ushistory.org]. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2013. <