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
Liberty of locomotion, which Blackstone boasts of as one of the rights
of Englishmen, belongs to the mass of them less than to other people.
For five hundred years the poor laws have confined the poor to their
parishes, denied them the right to bargain for their own wages, and as
late as 1725, set them up in stalls and shambles for hire, like cattle.
Liberty in England, as in Rome and Greece, has been, and is now, the
privilege of the few--not the right of the many. But in Rome, Greece,
and the Southern States of America, the many have gained in protection
what they lost in liberty. In England, the masses have neither liberty
nor protection. They are slaves without masters. This right of
locomotion, of choosing or changing their domicil, is not only denied to
the mass of the poor, but in all countries as well as in England, to
wives, to children, to wards, apprentices, soldiers, sailors, convicts,
lunatics and idiots. Take, then, this test of liberty, and how little of
it is there in England! But, in fact, there is a very large nomadic
class of beggars, rogues, and journeymen workmen, who are always
wandering, and yet, who are the most wretched members of society and its
greatest pests. So much for locomotion.
Great as the difficulty is to determine what is Liberty, to ascertain
and agree on what constitutes Slavery is still greater. Slavery, in its
technical form, has been almost universal, yet not exactly alike in all
its circumstances and all its regulations in any two ages, or in any two
countries. In very many ancient States, the power of life and death was
vested in the master. In most countries, the slave cannot acquire or
hold property legally. In all, he holds more or less by the permission.
In many, his legal right to separate property is protected by law. Even
in Cuba, he can compel his master to emancipate him, upon offering an
adequate price; and in some cases of irreconcilable disagreement, force
his master to sell him to another master. It is remarkable at first
view, that in Cuba, where the law attempts to secure mild treatment to
the slave, he is inhumanly treated; and in Virginia, where there is
scarce any law to protect him, he is very humanely governed and provided
for. In Cuba, many of the slaves are savages, and do not elicit the
domestic affection of the master, who sees in them little more than
brutes. The master is, besides, often an absentee, and tho' overseers be
far more humane than Irish rent-collectors, they have neither the
interests nor feelings of resident masters. But the most efficient cause
of cruelty and neglect, is the African slave trade, which makes it
cheaper to buy than to rear slaves. In Virginia, the slaves have
advanced much in morality, religion and intelligence, and their masters
and mistresses, living on the farm with them, naturally become attached
to them. Self-interest, however, is everywhere the strongest motive to
human conduct. Negroes are immensely valuable, and increase rapidly in
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account