John Calhoun on Slavery Essay - 911 Words

John Calhoun on Slavery Calhouns view was that slavery ought not to be considered, as it exists in the United States, in the abstract; but rather as a political institution, existing prior to the formation of the government and expressly recognized in the Constitution. The framers of that instrument regarded slaves as property, and admitted the right of ownership in them. Calhouns fundamental enterprise was to defend the institution of slavery. To do so, he first had to overturn the principles of the American Founding. He started with the Declaration of Independence, arguing that the proposition all men are created equal as now understood, has become the most false and dangerous of all political errors. Thus Calhoun transformed the†¦show more content†¦Calhoun believed the liberty Southerners enjoyed depended on slavery. Contrary to the writings of those who unabashedly celebrated the Norths free labor system, antebellum Southern society, though definitely stratified, was highly fluid. Fortunes could be and were made in a single generation. Agriculture, specifically cotton, was what made that society so mobile. Cotton was a labor-intensive crop, and as a farmer acquired greater cotton wealth, he required a greater number of field hands to work his expanding fields. So the ownership of slaves became a measure of status and upward mobility. To destroy slavery, according to Calhoun, would be to destroy a powerful symbol of what motivated the Southern man to improve himself, but in turn, slavery had to continue. In the end, Calhoun supported the institution of slavery for many reasons, but at the bottom of all his argument was this: he believed the African race was inferior. He shared the prevailing prejudices of the day -- held in both the North and South -- which black people were mentally, physically, and morally inferior to whites. This inferiority necessitated that they be slaves. He pointed to the impoverished living conditions of Northern free blacks as proof that black people lacked the ability to exercise their freedom positively. In Calhouns twisted view, slavery benefited black people Slavery provided black people with a quality of existence Calhoun believed they were incapableShow MoreRelatedCritical Analysis Of Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl By Harriet Jacobs1355 Words   |  6 Pagesaccentuates that the slavery system is evil and no good can be associated with it. Jacobs shows that slavery by its very nature extinguishes the morality and ethical values of slaveholders. Likewise, she highlights on the physical, psychological, health, social, and mental adverse implications of the slavery systems to the victims. Contrary, the seventh Vice-President of the United States of America and longtime Senator John C. 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The Compromise also made agreement on the land and who owned it, that was taken duringRead MoreThe Antebellum World View: Assumptions About Slavery Held by Many Southerners939 Words   |  4 PagesView: Assumptions about Slavery held by many Southerners After the end of the Revolutionary War in 1783, issues arose concerning the institution of slavery in the Americas. Most of the inhabitants in the North wanted abolition of the slave trade and of slavery, but there were many who opposed this view, primarily in the Southern States below Virginia. Pro-slavery apologists contributed many different view-points of the argument for slavery. Edmund Ruffin defends slavery from an economic view, Josiah