Cannibals all! or, Slaves without masters — John Shaqi
Cannibals all! or, Slaves without mastersFitzhugh, George
General
Cannibals all! or, Slaves without masters
Fitzhugh, George
Slave labor; Slavery -- Justification; Slavery -- United States; Working class
The great objections to the colonial slavery of the latter Romans, to
serfdom, and all forms of prædial slavery, are: that the slaves are
subjected to the cares as well as the labors of life; that the masters
become idlers; that want of intercourse destroys the affectionate
relations between master and slave, throws the mass of ignorant slaves
into no other association but that with the ignorant; and deprives them,
as well of the instruction, as the government, of superiors living on
the same farm. Southern slavery is becoming the best form of slavery of
which we have any history, except that of the Jews. The Jews owned but
few slaves, and with them the relation of master and slave was truly
affectionate, protective and patriarchal. The master, wife and children
were in constant intercourse with the slaves, and formed, in practice as
well as theory, affectionate, well-ordered families.
As modern civilization advances, slavery becomes daily more necessary,
because its tendency is to accumulate all capital in a few hands, cuts
off the masses from the soil, lessens their wages and their chances of
employment, and increases the necessity for a means of certain
subsistence, which slavery alone can furnish, when a few own all the
lands and other capital.
Christian morality can find little practical foothold in a community so
constituted, that to "love our neighbor as ourself," or "to do unto
others as we would they should do unto us," would be acts of suicidal
self-sacrifice. Christian morality, however, was not preached to free
competitive society, but to slave society, where it is neither very
difficult nor unnatural to practice it. In the various family relations
of husband, wife, parent, child, master and slave, the observance of
these Christian precepts is often practiced, and almost always promotes
the temporal well being of those who observe it. The interests of the
various members of the family circle, correctly understood, concur and
harmonize, and each member best promotes his own selfish interest by
ministering to the wants and interests of the rest. Two great stumbling
blocks are removed from the acceptance of Scripture, when it is proved
that slavery, which it recognizes, approves and enjoins, is promotive of
men's happiness and well-being, and that the morality, which it
inculcates, although wholly impracticable in free society, is readily
practised in that form of society to which it was addressed.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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