- Joined
- Aug 17, 2011
- Location
- Birmingham, Alabama
Part of the problem, I think, is that many people confuse racism with being anti-slavery. Those two concepts are not the same. It is possible to be racist, and still feel that it is wrong to own another human being. But in many cases, people will deny the achievement of Northern Abolition, simply on the grounds that, well northerners were racist, so it doesn't matter that they ended slavery.
IMHO there is a lot of that. It is the inspiration of my sinner analogy. Abolition was flawed because there was an original sin. Changing does not count because slavery was everywhere. It is immoral to praise an abolitionist because his grandfather owned slaves. And so on.
Meanwhile, the idea of economic determinism - the everything we do must have an economic reason - closes us to the possibility that ideas really do matter. Again: even if slavery had a small economic footprint in the North, that does not explain why northern states sought to end slavery, to the detriment of those who did own slaves, or the the disadvantage of those who believed the institution was beneficial and useful, even if only for a minority of people. In the above, people actually state that the end of slavery was based on ideas and ideals of freedom and liberty.
However, we do have free white laborers objecting to slavery because of competition and of course free land, free labor free men for whites opposing slavery. There was economic pressure against slavery.
IMHO slavery has to have political influence to survive, fewer slave owners, less influence and slavery is at a disadvantage to its moral opponents and its free labor opponents. This is most dramatically illustrated by secession. Secession was more or less in order of percentage slave in a States population and at one percentage point stopped dead.
*Vermont - immediate abolition in 1777
*Pennsylvania - gradual abolition in 1780
*Massachusetts - immediate abolition in 1783
*New Hampshire - gradual abolition in 1783
*Connecticut - gradual abolition in 1784
*Rhode Island - gradual abolition in 1784
*New York - gradual abolition in 1799
*New Jersey - gradual abolition in 1804
Slavery was also banned in the Northwest Territory as of 1787. So Ohio (1803) was a free state.
If we want to compare lies simply compare the above list to the corresponding list for the Southern States which happens to be empty.
Pictures
The Spread of U.S. Slavery, 1790–1860
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