Slavery as a "positive good" (1 ene 1820 año – 1 ene 1838 año)

Descripción:

By the 1820s, this argument evolved into a more aggressive pro-slavery ideology where slavery was described as a "positive good." This shift in thinking was a reaction to growing abolitionist sentiments in the North and the economic importance of King Cotton.

argue that slavery benefited both the slaves and society as a whole. They framed slavery as a paternalistic institution where enslaved people were cared for by their masters, which they contrasted with the Northern system of "wage slavery." This idea was famously articulated by Southern politicians like James Henry Hammond with his "mud-sill theory," which stated that every society requires a lower class to do menial labor, thereby enabling civilization to flourish.

Southern defenders of slavery often relied on religious and pseudo-scientific arguments to justify the institution.

Religious Defense: Some Southern theologians argued that slavery was sanctioned by the Bible. They cited passages such as the "Curse of Ham" and verses from the New Testament to claim that slavery was divinely ordained. James Henley Thornwell, for example, argued that slaveholders had a Christian duty to provide spiritual guidance to enslaved people, reinforcing the paternalistic image of slavery.

Scientific Racism: Southern intellectuals also used emerging pseudo-scientific ideas to justify slavery. Figures like Samuel Cartwright developed theories like “drapetomania,” a supposed mental illness that caused slaves to run away, and other outlandish ideas meant to prove African inferiority. These views provided an intellectual veneer to the racist justifications for slavery and fed into the growing sectional divide.

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