Slavery

Paper Summary:

This book review analyzes the crucial philosophical, historiographical and psychological foundations of African slavery, as discussed in "Slavery: A Problem in American Institutional and Intellectual Life" by Stanley M. Elkins. The paper relates that Elkins uses the economic concepts of capitalism and the philosophy of morality in slavery to argue the controversial issue of the African "Holocaust" in America historiography.

From the Paper:

"In chapter one, the problem of slavery in North America from the 17th century until the Civil War can be seen through the economic problem of historiography. In many cases, the clashing philosophical premise of slavery in America revolves around how colonial English elites and early Americas were either morally ignorant or were consciously using slaves as a 'commodity' within a Marxist capitalistic system. For Elkins, the major issue of "old debates" revolves around the problem of Marxist thought and how this creates a historical background that often blames capitalism for slavery to eventually cause the Civil War (Elkins, 2006, pp.10-13). In many ways, the problem of slavery was not a purely capitalistic system that was driven by an economic necessity, but surely, there was a philosophical background that kept Southerners attached to the immoral vice of their absolutist institutions. The critical perception here helps one to realize that the "old debates" were structured to help distance the humanist problem of slavery through a rigidly imposed economic system."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Elkins, S. M. (1976). Slavery: A Problem in American Institutional and Intellectual Life. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

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