American slavery was a system that became established in American society in the south, and became impossible to do away with. While many people from both the South and the North in America, disliked the concept of slavery, it's economic and social functions made it impossible for it to end. President Washington had slaves, yet he rhetorically frowned upon the enslaving of people. Like many southerners, he had acquired much of his wealth in the form of slaves. Southerners believed slavery was a necessary evil; the problem existed before them it and although they endorsed it, they were not personally endorsing slaves' cruel treatment.

Slavery was an Accepted Practice before the Americans

Before the American south, many cultures practiced slavery of their people. Examples of such date back to the time of the Ancient Greece (Henslin 152). During the time of slavery in America, people in most European countries, Native Americans, and even Africans embraced slavery as an essential part of their societies. It made sense for slave labor to provide an inexpensive labor force for the plantation style agriculture of the south.

European countries brought the majority of slaves from Africa to their colonies. Spain most likely introduced the English to the concept of black slavery, and believed in the inferiority of African culture. Spain, in the imperial age of the 1600s, brought the most slaves to south and Central America; they close to a million slaves. France sent almost a half million slaves in their West Indies (Garraty 38).

Many Native American tribes openly embraced slavery; it was not uncommon to see them exploiting the labor of enemy captives. Almond W. Lauber notes that Indians in the St. Augustine area of Florida had many Cuban slaves; Indians in Illinois had Iroquois and Ottawa Indians, among many other Indians that practiced slavery (qtd. In Schmidt 2). As Native Americans did not keep written records of slavery in their society, it is hard to know how many people where enslaved, instead we only have reports from white explorers of that era.

Slavery was accepted practice to many native Africans by the early 1600s. As far back as written records show, slavery existed in Africa; it was not a creation of Europeans. Wharton notes that "systems of bondage where common among Africans, [although they were limited] in time of service and did not pass the status of slave from parent to child" (2). Early on, Africans where often willing to sell members of revival tribes into slavery. They did not know or care what the result would be to their people as the system expanded (1).

Slavery existed well before Americans instituted it in their own society. It was embraced by many different societies around the world. An extension of slavery to a largely agricultural south only seemed like a logical extension; being so wide spread it reduced the moral wrong. Tocqueville believed that slaves were brought into America not by a 'fraud', but by their society's own choices (Pierson 652). When people criticized their practice of slavery, slave owners could point out it was not their idea; such an institution was wide spread across the world.

Codification of Slavery in America Helps It's Acceptance

During the first half the 1600s, slavery was not a clearly defined object in British law. There was no clear definition of what constituted a 'slave' or 'servant' in British law (Wharton 2). Vincent Harding goes farther to suggest that in this era, what we now call slavery took the forms of indentured apprentice, servant, or even free man needing to pay of his debt (qtd. in 2). In 1619, when former Spanish slaves arrived in Virginia, after being removed from a slave trading ship, they were free as British law at this time did not legally recognize the status of slaves.

Laws regarding slavery and the treatment of African blacks started to change rapidly in the 1640s. Legislatures and courts in southern states started to see imported blacks as different, as existing only to "serve his master or his assigns for the time of natural life, here or elsewhere" (2). These legislative moves along with changing public opinion started to changed how southerners viewed slavery.

Other laws changed status of slaves. In the late 1700s and early 1800s laws across the south banned slave owners from educating their slaves. Education plays a significant role in determining social class; it meant slaves were not equal to their owners. South Carolina in 1740 was the first to ban the teaching or writing to slaves, with a steep fine of "one hundred pounds current money" (Erickson 1). Other colonies followed later banning various academic skills. Virginia in 1804, banned the apprenticeship system for blacks imported from other countries (2). This had the immediate effect of impressing on the public at large that African American slaves were inferior; they were not as good as the population as a whole.

While it is hard to justify the codification of the laws that allowed slavery in today's society, the fact is they endorsed slavery after the 1640s in the south and made conditions more detrimental to slaves. A legal justification for slavery, it only worked to create larger public support for the system; many people just accepted it, as it was law.

The Institution That Would Not Go Away

In the early ninetieth century, few people fully embraced slavery. While it appeared to southerners that slaves were not as abused as their critics claimed, it was coming more apparent, how unfair this system was to those who where enslaved. Additionally, this system was starting to fail for the southerners. The economic benefits it provided where being questioned. Slavery existed, and it could not disappear overnight. The southern agriculture system depended on slaves to help work in the large plantations.

Many great leaders and thinkers from the south accepted and embraced slavery as a way of life, even if they held reservations on enslaving people. George Washington, used slavery as an investment, increasing his personal wealth. He openly engaged in slave trade, purchasing many slaves while he worked on increasing the size of his plantation. By the time he died, he had expanded his plantation by 5,600 acres and added 268 slaves to the operation (Pfeiffer 452). He had 317 slaves at his death in 1799. Those slaves today would have a net value over a hundred thousand dollars (452).

Privately, George Washington complained about the practice of slavery. During the winter of 1779, Washington would note in his diary that he did not want to be selling humans as part of his existence; he saw it as a moral wrong. In 1786, George Washington would write to Robert Morris saying, "I can only say that no man living wishes more sincerely then I does to see the abolition of slavery" (453). It is clear he did not approve of slavery, but he had learned to live with it.

It was clear that Washington had invested heavily in slavery and the southern plantation system; he would have lost a great deal of his worth if he had released his slaves. Slavery would prove to be a dilemma not only for George Washington, but also for other famous people of in the late 1700s and early 1800s, including Jefferson and Andrew Jackson.

Alexis Tocqueville, the observer of America visiting from France, wrote about slavery in his book Democracy in America. He suggests that most people in the south considered slavery to be a great evil, but one necessary for their society (Pierson 564). Slavery was so important to southern society that most farmers owned several. Even poor people in Tennessee relied on slaves to labor on their land; it was not a system that applies only to members of rich aristocratic society, according to Tocqueville. (652).

Many men of great statue and respect had slaves, although on many cases they questioned the morality of the system. It only existed because it would entail too great of cost to prohibit after it was established. The plantationc economy depended upon the existence of slaves. The system worked for many people and benefited them. Slavery Was Not Considered Cruel to Many Southerners

The ideology of slavery existing in the past, as a justification for southern slavery could only exist if people felt as slavery were reasonably well kept.. Slaves in general, were treated well, as they were valuable property. As Garraty points out, "only a fool or a sadist would fail to take care of such property" (308). Wharton suggests that "historically, under most regimes, slavery was not marked by brutality, deprivation or permanent loss of all civil rights" (2). Due to the 1808 ban on the importation of slavery (which both people in the North and South viewed as cruel), the supply of slaves was restricted, and therefore their value greatly increased. A high quality slave in 1820 cost about $600 in today's dollars and by 1850; they would cost almost $1,800 (307). Economics would ensure that any slave owner would try to get the maximum value out of a slave, and ensured that a slave live a long and productive live.

As such, almost all slaves received adequate amounts of all the necessities for survival from the plantation owners. Starving a slave or otherwise abusing him did not make sense from an economic standpoint; it would reduce his value. Many slaves lived long and productive lives; their average life span was only about 5 years less then that of free whites (311). This helped to legitimize slavery in the sense that many southerners viewed it not as a cruel institution, but one that actually protected and helped African Americas.

Slavery: In Perspective

Slavery was an issue that was rational and accepted by the American south. The economics of slavery forced people to legitimize it; they could not afford to end such a system. There was a worldwide acceptance of slavery when it was endorsed southern states, it became a legitimate institution which benefited society as a whole. Widespread abuses of slaves did not exist for economic reasons, so most southerners saw no pressing need to reform it or abolish it.

While slavery is viewed today as a moral wrong, it is hard to argue that southerners felt they had to keep it for their economic survival. In the critical view of modern American society, such reasoning appears weak, and not a significant justification for the horrors of slavery. Yet to many southerners, these reasons proved to justify their keeping of slaves.

Works Cited

Erickson, Ralph. "The Laws of Ignorance Designed to Keep Slaves". Education. Project Innovation, 1997.

Garrary, John A. A Short History of the American Nation. New York: Longman, 2001.

Henslin, James M. Sociology: A Down to Earth Approach. Boston: Allyn, 2002.

Pfiffner, James P. "George Washington’s Character and Slavery." Whitehouse Studies. (2001): 451-461.

Pierson, George. Willson, Tocqueville in America. New York: Oxford, 1996.

Schmidt, Alvin J. "Textbooks Favoring Multiculturalism Distort History." Opposing Viewpoints Series. Greenhaven, 2000.

Wharton, Martha L. "A Peculiar Institution: A Primer on American Slavery." Northstar Network. 30 Sep. 2002.