HIST 2112 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: January 30, Main Source, White Supremacy
Document Summary
The great contradiction: the birth and growth of slavery. Both northern and southern states were in this. Contradiction because america was a country based on the idea of freedom and. In 1860 cotton and slaves were equally valuable. Back then it was a pretty common idea: a cheap labor system designed to produce profits. Created economic profit: slaves as property. They sell slaves like property/objects -> like horses. Can separate children from parents: racial basis. Seen as "black inferiority" as an excuse. If someone questioned why they hit their slaves they"d say its because they"re inferior. You"re a slave if you"re in the wrong place at the wrong time. They were captured: slavery as permanent and heritable condition. Can be passed on as assets to family when you die. If you"re born a slave you die a slave. Slavery in the new world from 1500: new spain: indians and encomiendas, and (later) african, new spain began by enslaving their natives.
