Suppose you were living in pre- Civil War times, what reasons would you give for abolishing slavery?

Question

I understand that it's wrong, but how would you explain it to a child? I'm looking for outside opinions to expand the reasoning.

Answer 1

I would have several compelling reasons to abolish slavery. If I believed in family values and my family had Irish slaves for instance, I would want to help my family name and future generations because of our common blood and enter twined ancestry. I would search for the genius of survival of the slave. How could they survive on so little and endure so much? What is there source of pride and faith? I would seek to understand both sides of the argument and settle on what is fair and right based on my family that has mixed blood.

If I did not have slaves in my family, I would read the history books and see if it worked. Then I would see who it worked for? At that point I would seek to make my country a better place for everyone, because know one is leaving once they are here.

Assuming I am in pre-civil war times, I would take issue with Henry Clay's Missouri Compromise. He sought to divide slave states and free states by making the slave 3/5Th's of a man. I would argue with Mr. Clay that England's Monarchy sought to separate the dignity of the common man because of royalty, here you are the standard bearer for our young democracy and your politics retards the very liberty we fought for. In fact Benjamin Banneker a slave, was the notable figure to first die triggering the Revolutionary war. I would take him to task with Thomas Jefferson's family who had slaves, his evolution on the issue of slavery and then ask him and the Congress haven't we improved our intellectual capital and pedigree since then? Lastly, I would show them that the ideal of Democracy should be placed on a higher plane than the agricultural economy of the south and the industrial economy of the north. I would show the business men how the rivers and canals of the south can work seamlessly with the railways of the north and that Commerce could be unfettered by increasing funding for shipping and railways. Surely this would be better than illustrated self hatred and shooting not only your neighbor, but your credibility as a growing world power. This is what i would contend as reasons to abolish slavery.

Answer 2

Every individual is different and has some very special gift to offer to the world.
Perhaps their gift is a high tech communication system, the construction of a house, a new medical discovery, a piece of art, a word or even a simple smile shown at the right moment. Whatever it is, it's important to the world that they be allowed to give of their gift.
I would tell my child that we must seek out that gift rather than smoother it with the will of others. In this way, we will all benefit 10-fold with what each person has to offer.

Answer 3

1. The golden rule is the universal absolver. ask the child "would you like to be sold? away from your family?" 2. people may be paying higher prices at slave markets and food/ lodging for their slaves than if they just hired help on their farms 3. people should not be property, and all people should be given free rights to their own lives, it's simply wrong (sorry, i know that sounds copycatish, and kinda unoriginal, but.. : / 4. if a slave has the potential brains to cure cancer or such, why are we going to keep slavery going? is it better to better yourself in the short run, or better mankind(womankind) in the long run? i don't know why people are quoting the constitution and such, as you specifically stated "pre-civil war times" and specifically said that you don't want "it's just wrong" eh, people will b people i suppose. i really like your question! do you have any more like it? (message me!) hehe Hope this answers your question, Neferiel PS: to sophy.. WTF?! how the hell would you know? are you some sort of oracle? no. "living in precivil war time" you wouldn't KNOW of the industrial revolution, and seriously... that was in the North mostly anyway, not the south, the south would most likely keep using slaves...

Answer 4

Slavery in my opinion is crime.No human being has the right to hold a person against their will and demand work from them.Everyone has the freedom to do whatever he/she wants to do.Different people have different interests and different abilities that can be put to use to get the better out of it.The worst thing is the trading of slaves.People sell or buy slaves without even a fringe of realization in their mind that they are trading a human being who is just like them.Who has the same desires,similar ambitions as they do.They don't even think that the person they are going to "buy" may also have a dream to become a successful person.in fact,if you imagine yourself in place of these slaves,the scenario will scare you to death.

Answer 5

To hold another human being against their will is wrong in any time period. I simply would have offered them a job such as field worker or nanny for my children. When you take someone as a slave you don't just rob them of their God-given freedom, you rob them of their identity as well. I know that God spoke of slavery in the old testament, and it was practiced by the Israelites, but God also warned them to not mistreat their slaves and must let them go free after seven years. Many of the slaves stayed on after their seven years were up because they grew close to their master and his family, as did many slaves before and after the Civil war. I know that my grandmother had a black nanny whom she called "Miss Rosie" and Miss Rosie's spoken word was law in my grandmother's house. No-one- not even my great grandfather- would even think of offending Miss Rosie by second guessing her pronouncements about how things were going to be done from who did what extra chores to punishment for any of the twelve kids under her charge (and, according to grandmother, she was a strict disciplinarian). I simply cannot conceive of the idea of slavery in any form. With my luck and my views had I lived back then, I probably would have been lynched myself.

Answer 6

I would start with causality. Of course, this is all hypothetical because slavery has existed forever, still exists and will exist again in the future. It was an essential method of building a country from scratch at the time. The causality would be in regards to the consequences of freeing them back into the populace of the country in which they were enslaved.

Answer 7

We still have slavery in effect today. It's called a job. LOL...sorry, couldn't resist .

I think slavery is seriously inhumane treatment and exploitation of any person. So is a job where employees are yelled at, made to do things they don't want to, and the list goes on.......

Answer 8

Simple, I would explain to the child from a Christian point of view... stating that Jesus loved all ppl and that we are all equal in God's eyes.

Answer 9

The Declaration of Independence says it best.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

Answer 10

If I was alive then, and I had slaves, I would not even consider this question. however if I lived then and was not a rich man, I would probably be in the same company as the slaves, and in no position to *****.