Preview

Founding Fathers View on Slavery

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
323 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Founding Fathers View on Slavery
During the earlier years of the United States, there was a group of leaders who led the new country all the way through the American Revolution and into the 19th century. This class of men, known today as the “Founding Fathers”, had a substantial impact on the early growth and development of the United States. However, the Founding Fathers were conflicted regarding many of the defining problems of the time period, including slavery and how to approach this horrific matter. Some men saw the African-Americans as males who were almost if not entirely equal with the white race. On the other hand, some viewed the African-Americans as in superior to white men. The majority of the Founding Fathers agreed, nonetheless, that slavery was inappropriate in the country in which they were instrumental in founding and creating. Possibly the most significant disagreement among the Founding Fathers in regards to slavery was how to get rid of slavery for good in a peaceful method.

As a whole, the Founding Fathers were against the idea of slavery. (Document C) However, there was debate among the Founding Fathers concerning the topic of equality between African-Americans and the whites. White supremacy was a widespread belief in the beginning years of America, as this was a period of time when the color of a mans skin could arguably be considered as a flaw to society. (Document A) In vision of the Founding Fathers’ views on the natural rights of men, they were really not at ease with the thought of oppressing others humans, but some didn’t consider the African-Americans to be in the same rank in society as white men, (Document B) or to possess similar rights as white men. A great model of this attitude of dominance is innate in the Three-Fifths Compromise, which stated that the African-American male is equivalent to merely three-fifths of a white man. (Document

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    From the 1760s to the 1860s opposition to slavery grew and morphed, culminating in the outbreak of the American Civil War. The writing of the Three-Fifths Clause, in 1787 (Source 1) reveals how, from the birth of the Union, the issue of slavery forced sides to come to uneasy compromises. Slavery at this time was purely a political and economic issue. Throughout the 100 years however, the opposition to slavery evolved. The formation the single issue party, The Free Soil party, in 1848, symbolised a shift towards a moral opposition to slavery. Although the Free Soil Party had an economic incentive to push for the abolition of slavery, they also argued that free men on free soil offered a morally superior system to slavery. Magee depicts the multifaceted…

    • 354 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Crèvecoeur’s Letters from an American Farmer described America as a melting pot of Europeans. Like Crèvecoeur, many white Americans excluded blacks from their conception of the American people. Crèvecoeur’s idea that the United States was a nation of individuals that are melted into one is accurate to a certain extent. The United States, at the time, was truly diverse and filled with inhabitants of all parts of Europe. Those same individuals practiced a variety of beliefs and cultural practices that has aided in the efforts of shaped the nation into what it is today. However, when Crèvecoeur’s goes on to comment on how the Americans left behind “ancient prejudices” to receive new ones, I truly believe that his remarks are exaggerated. If the inhabitants of the United States had truly abandoned their old beliefs slavery would have been abolished as soon as the Declaration of Independence was…

    • 908 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Freehling’s article, “The Founding Fathers and Slavery”, he aims to show that Thomas Jefferson and his contemporaries believed in ideology that all men were created equal. He also goes on to show that the Founding Fathers took preliminary measures to diminish slavery all together. Although he admits the overall process was slow and small, he says, “The impact of the Founding Fathers on slavery... must be seen in the long run” (Freehling 82). Freehling also introduces other historians who oppose the idea that the fathers were even antislavery. On the contrary, "Scholars such as Robert McColley, Staughton Lynd, William Cohen, and Winthrop Jordan have assaulted every aspect of the old interpretation" (Freehling 81). Freehling goes on to include some key events such the congressional ordinance imposed by Jefferson in 1784, the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, and the African slave trade that navigated its way through ending slavery.…

    • 551 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In America’s history, the white people saw themselves as the superior population and discriminated against many different races. The majority of discrimination happened to be at the expense of the Black community. Throughout the nineteenth century, society’s views on race continued to evolve; some changed their previous perspectives after personal experiences with the African Americans.…

    • 901 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Jefferson’s notes do not seem to be something typical of the era or that most would agree on, slavery and segregation were very strong and blacks were not even considered or thought of to have human rights like they have today during that era.…

    • 310 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Asserting, “we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal” (The Declaration of Independence, U.S. 1776, para. 5) but this did not mean that civil government had to treat each individual on the same on the basis. This idea was contradictory because this was a society in which slavery was accepted, in the South, and many ideas were originally based off slavery. Many of the Founding Fathers themselves owned slaves and fought in favor of slavery, patriarchy, and to rule by wealth. To make such a bold statement that “all men are created equal” while keeping them enslaved to the very men that wrote this document is antithetical. It wasn’t until Congress ratified the 13th Amendment on December 6th 1865 in the Constitution which abolished the institution of slavery, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction” (U.S. Const. amend. XIII). The Declaration of Independence was unable to accommodate a passage insinuating the freeing of African-American slaves because of the economic confidence on free labor at the time. While this issue of emancipation would ultimately introduce the United States to a civil war, the social atmosphere of the current country during the…

    • 774 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The primary writer of the Declaration of Independance and one of the most prominent figures of the early history of America, Thomas Jefferson is one name that almost every American should have at least heard of by now. In the past, I have been taught that Thomas Jefferson was an abolitionist who believed that slavery was immoral, but his racism towards African Americans (and his idea of white superiority) was very surprising to me. He seemingly wants slavery to end (while owning many slaves himself) but also believes that, “It is not against experience to suppose, that different species of the same genus, or varieties of the same species, may possess different qualifications.” He states that African Americans are of a different species, and later remarks…

    • 1933 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Although slavery was abolished in 1865, nothing in the Constitution provides for racial equality. In today’s society, the color of skin or the race of the individual often triggers behavior by other members of society. Dr. King once said “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” (King). Although many appear to ignore the mistakes of the past in professing that our society has evolved and is pro-diversity, even Jacobs wrote “There are wrongs which even the grave does not bury.” (Incidents Chapter XLI). Slavery remains a part of America’s history that cannot be merely forgotten as if it did not happen. Today’s society should learn from the mistakes of the past and work to eliminate the racial equality issues, sexual equality issues, and the moral decisions described by Harriet Jacobs over 100 years ago that remain prevalent…

    • 956 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    How did a country that was founded on the idea of freedom become a place where people’s freedom was rejected and where a person was not even thought of as a whole person? Slavery, although it is a terrible part of the history of the United States that we cannot get rid of, was justified by some Founding Fathers and philosophical thinkers. It is seen in some readings that the thinkers who had such a great influence on the forming of our country, actually thought of slavery as something that was okay. These views and ideas may have influenced some of the Founding Fathers to support slavery, and may have helped lead some to even participate in slavery. Slavery has always been around, although it was not always as prominent as it was in the early…

    • 1435 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The south's view on slavery was way different from the one in the north because they thought slavery was a good thing because their economy depended on slavery. In the north they had a complete different opinion on the topic of slavery the north believed it was wrong and it should be stopped this is why in the north there was a lot of abolitionists groups. The south would constantly say that everything they said was fake and that they are liers. This is why compromise started to break down because the U.S could not hold the balance between the slave states and the free states. The more and more the U.S would try to keep the balance the more it got difficult to control. The U.S gained the new lands gained from the louisiana purchase and the mexican secession which caused the south to want slavery in the new states but the north wanted it banned their. The more and more the south would try to get new states to become slave states the north would try to prevent it from ever happening this is why the compromise broke down.…

    • 696 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Americans often remember the battle cry of Patrick Henry “Give me liberty,” though many forget that with the liberation of America in the 1770s from British control, Black Americans remained in bondage in this nation. The American Revolution revealed the hypocrisy of liberty; as the colonies fought for independence, enslavement remained an integral part of the new nation. Liberation was the idea that men had certain inalienable rights that were deemed “god given.” The problem with having these rights was that they were exclusive to white, land owning men. The segregation of black men specifically allowed the institution of enslavement to scourge the land with fear of…

    • 2303 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Alexander Stephens’ 1861 Cornerstone Speech, he reveals his theory on why the “revolution” occurred. This famous speech spoke on the thought that the new government was based upon the fact that whites were superior to African Americans. It is the refutation of the indication that all men are created equal. According to Stephens the "cornerstone" of the confederacy was ultimately the true foundation that was indeed slavery. This speech is often viewed today as a dramatic moral clause to the question of equality among all human beings. Stephen’s fundamental assumptions of blacks and whites is paternalistic. Stephen states the appropriate status of black people. The race that is superior should step up with pride in taking action on what they know. The Founders had a basis that regardless of…

    • 685 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    "The Founding Fathers and Slavery (Founding Fathers)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 6 Jan. 2014. .…

    • 700 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the 1800’s there was much turmoil over the debate of slavery and whether it was inhumane or not. Slavery caused the nation to separate into 2 factions; the north, who believe in abolishing slavery and the south who thought that slavery was a “benign institution” as quoted by Ulrich B. Phillips. There is much debate whether slavery was the prominent cause of the Civil War. Contrary to popular belief, slavery was not the ultimate cause of the Civil War; in fact the economic, cultural, and political differences between the North and South played more prominent roles in the instigation of the Civil War and influenced the beginnings of slavery.…

    • 683 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The struggle of African Americans to make the promise of “all men are created equal” a reality began long before the Civil Rights Movement of the 20th century. Early leaders like Frederick Douglass and John Mercer Langston not only worked to bring…

    • 1287 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays