http://www.newscientist.com/blog/environment/uploaded_images/slave_irons-745469.jpg
It is without doubt that the American Revolution was a great time in our country's history. Without it America would not be able to stand as the pillar of freedom and opportunity that it stands as today. But there was one blotch that stained the valiant effort that the colonists put on by taking on the British empire. Whilst the colonists were calling for freedom, they were in fact the owners and traders of slaves themselves. So this brings me to the question that I want to raise for this blog post, were the colonists justified in starting a revolution whilst they were oppressing and enslaving so many people.
In my opinion, they were not. The revolution was a time for freedom and a time where the idea of quality of life was very important. The main complaint of the Americans was that they felt oppressed and unable to have a say in how they were governed. Patrick Henry went as far as to say that the colonists were slaves of England and needed to break free through war. Thomas Jefferson wrote to the king of England in the Declaration of Independence that the colonists were "endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." (http://www.earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/freedom/doi/text.html). He further stated that America was defecting from Britain because the King had failed to provide the colonists with these rights. I feel that America had no place demanding these rights when they were, as Alan Brinkley put it, "fighting both to secure freedom for themselves and to preserve slavery for others". (Brinkley, 127)
So, what do you guys think? Do you agree with me or feel that America, even though it enslaved other people, could demand freedom for themselves. Leave a comment below telling me your opinions.
I agree with Aaron's idea- the colonists were hypocritical in the sense that they were fighting so hard for freedom and independence while the people in the colonies were not equal themselves. Not only was slavery still huge in the colonies, but women also had limited rights. Most females were completely dependent on their male counterparts in that time period. America definitely did not have the right to demand freedom from Britain until they looked more critically at their own social issues, gender equality and slavery, places where equality, freedom, and independence still weren't present.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Aaron with regard to the colonists' justification in demanding freedom from Britain when they refused to grant freedom to their own slaves. I think that this is one of the most extreme cases of a double standard that we see throughout the American Revolution. I believe that it is totally unjustified to demand freedom while attempting to preserve slavery at the same time. In my opinion, there should be no such double standard. If the colonists believe in freedom they should secure it for everyone.
ReplyDeleteI feel that America could demand freedom, but I think it was incredibly hypocritical of them. On the one hand, it makes no sense to fight for the 'freedom of all men' when the cause was actually for 'the freedom of all white men'. However, everything must be done one step at a time: as hard as it was to abolish slavery, it would be even harder to have abolished slavery while escaping British rule. Had the Americans left the anti-slavery clause in the declaration of independence as it was originally, the Southern colonies would never have agreed to sign. Then were would America and it's ideas be?
ReplyDeleteI agree with Aaron in that they was not any justification in starting a revolution, or at least not anyone significant enough for them to begin a war against there own mother country. They cried for freedom, yet they themselves enslaved others. They cried for lower taxes, yet British citizens payed nearly 30x the amount that Americans payed. The Americans truly did not have it as hard as they made it out to be. I have more thoughts but I am out of time. Bye.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. In this situation, I would say that America was simply hypocritical. The colonists were angry that they were not being represented and that they were being oppressed, but what were the slaves that they themselves owned to say? For quite some time the colonies have been using slave labor freely. Not once did they give their slaves any legal representation, they only assumed power over them without consent. They cared little or not at all about their slave independence, yet they were fighting for their own. Until American was not justified in their search for independence because had they been, they would have ensured that it was practiced in their own borders first. America should not have complain about their situation because they were doing the same thing Britain did to them to their slaves.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Aaron, as the colonies could have lived on as a great nation, yet being a territory of Britain. There are a lot of countries that are currently able to stand as a nations, but are still colonies or territories of the British, like Anguilla, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, and Turks and Cacos. All these countries are still functioning, and are still showing no signs of revolution.
ReplyDeleteI do believe, though they were being somewhat hypocritical, that America was justified in it's desire for independence from Britain. The Americans believed that because they were being taxed and used by the British, that they should have some sort of representation in the house of commons. I think this is understandable. Though I think that the slavery in America was undoubtedly wrong, and infringed on the basic rights of people, America still was justified in it's rebellion against Britain.
ReplyDeletei do not think that america was justified to demand freedom for themselves if slaves could not be free, but also they had to focus on one issue at a time. they didn't want to take on too much because the revolution for themselves was already a huge issue, and in time, i think in about the 1800's they abolished slavey, so yes while it took a while to happen, eventually they did.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe the colonist's were justified in there actions - in our modern context they were hypocritical but at the same time I don't think one needs justification for a revolution because there will always be two sides of any justification. A people can only cling to their own "right" and be willing to give their lives in its defense.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you. It was hypocritical of Americans to complain about their own rights when they clearly disregarded the rights of others. In retrospect, because America was not more strict about abolishing slavery, the complaints of patriots seem weak. On the other hand the British, who were against slavery, seemed more level headed. The British clearly recognized that treating another race was wrong, so why would they treat their own people unfairly?
ReplyDeleteToday, it is common sense that slavery is wrong and against "liberty and justice for all". The colonists in the south at the time believed that by keeping slavery, they were preserving their own liberty. Like the Romans with the plebeians, they felt that the black slaves were unfit to be citizens. If there weren't slaves, then there would need to be white people acting as slaves, and life would be unbalanced. They believed this would thus undo the liberty they were fighting for. It is all in perspective.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you. However, it is important to consider the context of the situation. People, particularly in the South, justified slavery by saying that it prevented whites from being unequal. While this opinion is not ethical, one has to try to put oneself in their shoes to better understand their views.
ReplyDelete