This week, my favorite part of class had to be the class discussion on George Fitzhugh's piece. I really liked how we tried to to look at slavery as an economic factor rather than about black or white. While I am certainly not advocating slavery in any way I felt that Fitzhugh made some very valid points. He brought up valid points, unlike those views of Thomas Jefferson on how the south flourished with the use of slaves. At least Fitzhugh used logical thoughts, while Jefferson just believed that the Africans and native Americans were smelly and just biologically different. Plus, the type of economy just wouldn't have been possible without someone doing the dirty work. If you think about it, the south still doesn't flourish the way it did back in those old days.
Someone pointed it out in class that since slavery was made illegal we just pushed it off to different countries. I believe that pretty much everyone in America would say that slavery is wrong...however, out of those people look down and see how many are wearing Nike sneakers (and I'm guilty of this) that were produced in a sweatshop, I would consider that a form of slavery.
Fitzhugh, in my opinion tried to make the point that they didn't enslave the Africans because they were black, and that the motives weren't racist ones- they enslaved them because the lower class white people of the south were educated well enough to know that they couldn't be forced to work in fields with no pay. Clearly, the Africans were exploited...but it was necessary.
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I agree with what you say about Fitsugh. I also liked that he described slavery not as issue to deal with black people, but as an economic resource. He said that if there wasnt black slavery then there would be white slavery, it wasnt dependent on the race. He believes that it necessary for the economy to flourish, and he felt so strongly about his opinions that he encouraged all of the world to follow in the South's footsteps. He believed in what he said, and didnt contradict himself, unlike thomas Jefferson and John Smith.
Another thing that made Fitzhugh's writing interesting was that it was more first hand than the writings of Jefferson. Had Jefferson had more experience with African Americans other than his own slaves, maybe his piece would have been a little more reliable.
I like that Fitzhugh did not just make blatant assumptions and throw them out there like they were facts. He was not right about everything, but at least he supported his statements.
I agree that sweatshops are filled with unnamed slaves. What is the difference: they can leave if they want to? No, not really. If you think about it, they are so easily replaceable that if they leave they will not find work, and will starve and die. They know this, and this fear of death enslaves these people. I remember someone said that nobody supports slavery in America anymore, but lets just look around at people's shoes, clothes, and bags. (I think that is support enough!)
I definetly agree with all that you were saying about how, unlike Jefferson, Fitzhugh had logical reasons backing him up. Jefferson it seemed just based his writing on the first opinion he came across that he agreed on. Jefferson had the 6 year olds argument by saying that whites were better because blacks smelled bad. Fitzhugh had the educated argument, brining in slavery's impact on the economy. These were two extremely different arguments for the same cause. If I had been living at this time and raised by this white Southern culture, I would be inclined to believe Fitzhugh although at the time Jefferson's argument worked so well for the simple reason that it was an argument. The South needed a way to defend itself against the North and those opposed to slavery and clearly it didn't matter what the argument was as long as it approved slavery.
I agree with the point that slavery has basically just been pushed out of our country. I thought this may have been the most logical comment in continuing Fitzhugh’s argument that slavery was a necessity. While I still don’t believe this is the case, the companies controlling the sweatshops are making large profits from their production, just as the plantations of the south did with their slaves. In a sense these companies that are using sweatshops to produce their products are like the slave owners of the south. The people working in the sweatshops may not have a choice as to whether they want to work there or not because it is their only way to continue surviving. It seems as though we are not necessarily given access to knowing about sweatshops, because the reaction of the public could be detrimental to the companies involved.
Some good points here, Liz. It does seem so very true that slavery is put off to other countries (more true than we make like to think). It is interesting that Fitzhugh can still be a relevant writer today, isn't it? I think you hit the nail on the head when you state that he had some very logical points in his argument and wasn't quite so contradictory as Jefferson.
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