Slavery vs. Colored Prejudice: Which Came First?
Slavery is a continuously controversial and debatable issue. Divergent viewpoints dispute what exactly began this separation of races. Questions continue to arouse the origin of black slavery. Evidently, colored prejudice was in fact the foundation of slavery.
Prejudice thrives from making a judgement of another by a belief of superiority. Slavery became morally easier when the white man or "slave master" considered himself in a higher class. A slave masters reasoning consisted of thinking blacks were unintelligent, unsophisticated or even too uncivilized to live in the newly colonized world. Whites thought the blacks could not make anything of themselves, and by enslaving them they were providing job opportunities. Slavery would have never been initiated if it weren't for a preconceived notion of superiority.
Some blame slavery on economy. The new introduction of cotton in the colonies caused a demand for workers.
A 13th century book illustration produced in Baghd...
English: Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice (unive...
Diagram of a slave ship from the Atlantic slave tr...When the English landed in Virginia, there was simply too much land and not enough farmers. This is where the Atlantic slave trade began. Scholars, warriors, merchants, farmers and artisans were shipped to the New World as servants to wealthy landowners. These landowners quickly saw the benefits of taking advantage of the "under privileged" and soon took on slavery. If blacks were considered as equals or even employees, they would have been paid for their work. Being bought and sold like items demonstrates the prejudice that lingered and established slavery.
In addition, stereotypes are also to hold responsible for slavery. Evidence shows that Europeans held a racial prejudice caused by many stereotypes. For example, blackness was used to associate death, evilness and danger. The devil was often thought of with black skin while certain god-like figures all have a light complexion. Even Ham, a bible figure from the Old...