Slavery As A Necessary Evil

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Slavery as a Necessary Evil It is inevitable that with the mention of slavery emotions will be aroused within whoever is present. Today most people look at slavery as one of the biggest mistakes our country has ever made. However, some will say they can see positives within the topic. It is the obvious nature and cycle of life that everything is not perfect and mistakes must be made to learn valuable lessons. Appalled by any notion of slavery as being necessary, most people do not see the evidence showing why it was necessary for our country and its growth. Without slavery the crops and agriculture of the United States would have been nowhere near as successful as it was and is today. Slavery empowered thousands of people's lifestyles; styles to which they had become accustom. This created people to think of their rights as individuals. In the U.S. the rights of the people are what we pride ourselves in, without slavery being so controversial, would people have taken the measures to make sure everyone was equal in the long run? Through these opinions, slavery could indeed be seen as a necessary evil.

History, and how it flows together is a truly amazing thing, when it is actually looked at, we see many things wrong and right. Many issues lead astray, many ideas turned bad, but no matter what, it is a pattern that making mistakes is necessary for moving ahead and growing. Without doing something wrong, how would we know right? Slavery can be viewed in the same way. It is much more difficult to see through the eyes of slavery as a positive, but without it, many ideas, successful industries, rights, and morals would not be thought of. It is simply the nature of life; we must recognize that there will always be hardships before good times. There will be things we realize later were not the smartest choice, but we learned, and that is what is important in continuing on.

Agriculture, production and crafts work are a few of the things that would not have been possible or successful without the work of slaves. Without slaves mass production would not have been a possible idea, therefore our economy would not thrive as well as it has. Paying for time and energy in food production must be worth the profit being received, if the Southerners in the 1800's had to pay top price, it would not have been worth their money. Slavery had an extreme influence on the economic system, helping build it to what it is now, known as the most successful in the world. (Sectionalism 420) Thus, the beginning of slavery was obvious, seen as reasonable, better, quicker, and less expensive, although inhuman, it was the way to go. However once it began, it would be much more difficult to stop. It was now people's way of life, and to them, nothing was being done wrong. Many moral issues stemmed here, why is it all right to tell some people they cannot live how they wish? Who decides what is right and wrong? These questions brought about the Civil War. Although the war was bloody and very tragic, it is a possibility peoples rights and moral issues would not have been brought up, therefore would be unresolved. If all the slaves were all of the sudden set free, what would happen to our world? These people who had not been educated, did not know the ways of life in our country, it was be chaos. The slave owners, who produce and thrive, would have no one to work for them, thus they would crumble. It is well known that it is much easier to do, than to undo. The people of the southern United States truly believed things would fall apart, it was meant to be this way, slaves, aristocrats, rights for some, not for others. Freedom, a very powerful word, was actually put into use when questions of slave's rights came about. Freedom of speech, freedom of privacy, choice, prayer, everything had a new meaning. (Text 603) "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." These words spoken by President Abraham Lincoln, at the Gettysburg Address, changed America forever. "All men are created equal" is a phrase of words we often hear, however, they are too often taken for granted. With the abolition of slavery, people's minds were opened and they were now able to question their own rights. Not only slaves rights needed changing, it was just the beginning. However, it is necessary when starting anew, to have had a past, which is being changed. Slavery was a necessary evil. As hard as that is to see, it was essential in moving to the next step in history.

Works Cited Cardinal Newman Notes: Sectionalism. 12 September, 2001 Cardinal Newman Notes: Agrarian South. 12 September, 2001 Cruciano, Chiara. Personal Interview. September 14, 2001 Newman, John J. and John M. Schmalback. United States History Text New York: Amsco School Publications Inc. 1998