Pro- and Anti-Slavery Movement in the 19th Term Paper

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Pro- and Anti-Slavery Movement in the 19th Century American Society

The history of black slavery movement in the American society during the 19th century has become a common theme of debate and discussion between Americans for and against black slavery movement. There have been numerous literary works, essays, and other written works that discuss this primary issue of black American slavery in America during the 1800s. An example of these literary works is an essay by Thomas Jefferson entitled, "Notes on the State of Virginia," and an autobiography by Frederick Douglass entitled, "Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave." These two written works discuss the issue of black American slavery in America, with Jefferson defending and justifying the black slavery movement, while Douglass calls for a radical change and opposition against the said movement. These two written works will be critically analyzed in this paper, and by quoting various important statements made by the two authors, this paper will criticize Jefferson's claims and justifications of the activities the white American society did for the slavery movement. Jefferson's argument for black slavery will be refuted through examples and discussion of Douglass' arguments against the slavery movement.

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Thomas Jefferson stated in his essay "Notes on the State of Virginia" under Query 14, entitled "Laws," that the blacks are rightfully subjected as slaves because of the inferiority of their mental and physical capabilities, which is an act of nature, which makes the argument that slavery is justly right because blacks are meant by nature to be slaves and inferior to whites. He state in his essay that blacks "equal to whites" in memory, "in reason much inferior... And that in imagination they are dull, tasteless, anomalous... never yet could I find that a black had uttered a thought above the level of plain narration..." (Jefferson p. 267). Ultimately, Jefferson sums up his argument for black American slavery by stating that "the blacks, whether originally a distinct race... are inferior to whites in the endowments of both body and mind... This unfortunate difference in color, and perhaps of faculty, is a powerful obstacle to the emancipation of these people" (Jefferson p. 271).

This argument and claim about the black Americans' inferiority to white Americans….....

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"Pro- And Anti-Slavery Movement In The 19th", 12 November 2002, Accessed.18 May. 2024,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/pro-anti-slavery-movement-19th-138555