Slavery and Racism
Jack O’Donnell
Development of Western Civilization
Dr. Carlson
November 17, 2011
Slavery and Racism: Are They One in the Same?
Aphra Behn was an extremely significant and influential English writer in the 1600s. One of her more famous works, Oroonoko, discusses the issues of slavery and racism in the Americas. Many people believe that slavery and racism go hand in hand. In fact, these two ideologies are awfully different. Slavery is the act of forcing humans to be treated property whereas racism is the belief that discrimination based on inherently different traits is justifiable. Behn, in Oroonoko, makes the fundamental differences between slavery and racism apparent. With the philosophical views of Rousseau and Trouillot’s analysis on the Haitian revolution, slavery and racism in Oroonoko can easily be separated and distinguished to show their dissimilarities. In the novel, Oroonoko is an African prince and war hero who enslaves many men from the various tribes he conquers in battle. Oroonoko believes this form of slavery is just and should be acceptable. Later in the story, Oroonoko is tricked and sold into slavery. He eventually works with many of the slaves he had sold to the Europeans back in Africa. Oroonoko considers this form of slavery to be incredibly unjust. The plantation owners did not “win” their slaves over in battle like Oroonoko, rather they barter or trade for them (Boeninger 9/26). The white males also treat Oroonoko as a lesser human being even though he is royalty. They constantly deceive Oroonoko into believing that his freedom is coming when in reality it is nowhere in sight. Because there was such an economic gap between the black slaves and the white slave owners, racism naturally became common custom (Behn). Racism in this case was derived from slavery; they were not the same idea. Behn depicts slavery and racism in this manner to show how different the two ideas are. In Africa, the slaves and the slave owners were of the
Development of Western Civilization
Dr. Carlson
November 17, 2011
Slavery and Racism: Are They One in the Same?
Aphra Behn was an extremely significant and influential English writer in the 1600s. One of her more famous works, Oroonoko, discusses the issues of slavery and racism in the Americas. Many people believe that slavery and racism go hand in hand. In fact, these two ideologies are awfully different. Slavery is the act of forcing humans to be treated property whereas racism is the belief that discrimination based on inherently different traits is justifiable. Behn, in Oroonoko, makes the fundamental differences between slavery and racism apparent. With the philosophical views of Rousseau and Trouillot’s analysis on the Haitian revolution, slavery and racism in Oroonoko can easily be separated and distinguished to show their dissimilarities. In the novel, Oroonoko is an African prince and war hero who enslaves many men from the various tribes he conquers in battle. Oroonoko believes this form of slavery is just and should be acceptable. Later in the story, Oroonoko is tricked and sold into slavery. He eventually works with many of the slaves he had sold to the Europeans back in Africa. Oroonoko considers this form of slavery to be incredibly unjust. The plantation owners did not “win” their slaves over in battle like Oroonoko, rather they barter or trade for them (Boeninger 9/26). The white males also treat Oroonoko as a lesser human being even though he is royalty. They constantly deceive Oroonoko into believing that his freedom is coming when in reality it is nowhere in sight. Because there was such an economic gap between the black slaves and the white slave owners, racism naturally became common custom (Behn). Racism in this case was derived from slavery; they were not the same idea. Behn depicts slavery and racism in this manner to show how different the two ideas are. In Africa, the slaves and the slave owners were of the
Bibliography: Behn, Aphra. Oroonoko. London: Penguin, 2003. Print. Boeninger. Notes. 9/26/2011-9/27/2011 Breen. Notes. 10/31/2011 Carlson. Notes. 10/3/2011, 11/10/2011 Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. "Rousseau: On the Origin of Inequality: Second Part." Index. G.D.H Cole, 19 Oct. 2007. Web. 21 Nov. 2011. <http://www.constitution.org/jjr/ineq_04.htm>. Trouillot, Michel-Rolph. "The Three Faces of Sans Souci." Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History. Boston, MA: Beacon, 1995. Print.