fiatlux wrote:
America was far more immoral at its conception and for a few hundred years leading up to independence for everyone that was not white and rich than it is now. No slaves and not killing off the indigenous people the next hundred years: improvement. But labor is treated inhumanely for at least a century or more, almost chattle.
America was "discovered" by European Explorers many times over a period of several hundred years, from the Viking raiders of Norway, in the tenth century, to Columbus in 1492, to many travelers in later times. As to any date for its "Conception" that is highly debatable.
Some place it around the time of the original thirteen colonies, and the early council developments that resulted in the move to open up the West to exploration.
The first explorers were not interested in exploiting the natives, or enforcing a slave economy upon indigent pagan societies. Rather, they were considered guests in a new land that seemed "God sent" to the men who made the early attempts at establishing a new world for their families.
The first slaves were brought into the nation several hundred years after Columbus first reported his findings to Ferdinand and Isabella.
Until 1676, indentured servants were the labor force, the first slaves transported in 1619, to replace indentured servants. It proved to be much more costly than anticipated, because purchase cost more than wages.
And you are correct, they were "chattel" in the strictest sense of the term. "Property" was another term that applied, but it must be remembered, Wives were considered "Property" of Husbands in those days, so it is not as ignoble as it first resonates. It was the standard and understanding of the times.
The problem was, indentured servants did not want to work in the conditions of early south plantation life. Slaves had not only no choice, but for the most part, spoke no English or French or Spanish, (the three languages prevalent early on), and knew nothing about sailing vessels back to their places of origin. And they were intimidated until it was too late to do much about it, having been sold by their own neighbors to Portuguese slavers.
The beginning of Slavery in America was not the work of white slave owners; it was the work of black power in Africa, where the kings of tribes learned early on, that they could knock the weaker citizens and lesser individuals on the head, and sell them to the Portuguese, attaining ever more riches and its accompanying power.
It could be argued that if the White landowners had not purchased, there would have been no market, but that is not reality, as most slaves in America had it better than slaves in other parts of the world, mostly because replacement was easier and cheaper when they did not have to cross an ocean; and was considerably more expensive for the plantation holders, who in many cases, took it into consideration and treated their laborers somewhat better as a result of the economics involved.
As for the "moral" aspect, there was nothing as vile as current rhetoric would have us believe. Economics ruled much more than immorality. Many of the slaves were promoted as they proved themselves trustworthy and capable, moving from the fields into the homes as domestic servants.
Slavery in this country became illegal because White America developed a conscience that would see every man free and equal in society. Literally thousands of white soldiers died to free the slaves, 620,000 being the latest estimate, including 180,000 blacks in the army and 80,000 in the navy; and approximately 440,000 white soldiers who died in the conflict.
Though there are many claims made about blacks serving in the Confederate military, there is no official documentation to back up the claims.
There were many moral and civil issues raised but mostly by later generations who like to pontificate upon earlier wrongs and claims that cannot be established other than by popular opinion.
Todays consistent call for "Reparations" is total nonsense, because there are no longer any slaves to whom reparation can be assessed, let alone paid. "Reparation" is not something owed to descendants several generations removed, mostly because the people who caused the wrongs are no longer alive to be assessed the damages for payment.
To claim that White America today owes Black Americans "reparations" because their ancestors generations ago were enslaved by their own black neighbors, is disingenuous at best. At worst, it is simply a mischief developed to make whites look bad, most, if not all of whom had nothing to do with the issue. And none of the blacks either.
As for "immorality of Slavery" as an issue, slavery was first practiced as an application of mercy to conquered city-nations. It was a matter of "What do we do with our prisoners?" "We can't feed them, nor take care of them because we have no economy sufficient to provide for them and ourselves."
But if they were made salves, they became the economy, and were easily fitted into a segment of society. It was several centuries later that slavery became its own economy, wherein they were sold to other people in other places, and were taken captive for the express purpose of being sold.
In America, one advantage slaves had in many places, was the effort to convert them to Christianity. It served to cause the owners to treat them much more humanely.