Control

I have decided to work ahead for once in my life, and in so doing, have completed the readings for Friday's class on the issue of slavery.  Reading both Morgan and Zinn's accounts of slavery, I found it interesting that they both expressed similar views, however, their ideas were relatively new to me.  I had always thought of slavery as a purely economical concern in the colonies, brought on by the need for labor and some sort of innate hatred for differences in people.  However, both of the authors made the claim that one of the main reasons for slavery was economics, but an even larger reason was control.  This control was meant not only for the Africans, but for the poor whites who were feared by the elite.  After Bacon's Rebellion, in which poor whites and blacks joined forces, it became the interest of the elite to begin removing the rights of Africans in order to make poor whites feel better about their station in life and thus hold unto power.   In time, this tool for control also became a useful seed for profit.  Zinn summarizes these ideas effectively when he says,"We see now a complex web of historical threads to ensnare blacks for slavery in America: the desperation of starving settlers, the special helplessness of the displaced African, the powerful incentive of profit for slave trader and planter, the temptation of superior status for poor whites, the elaborate controls against escape and rebellion, the legal and social punishment of black and white collaboration"(38). 

I felt that this view shed a lot of light upon the subject of slavery as it relates to the American Dream and supposed founding upon the idea of Liberty.  When control, rather than simple hatred becomes the motive for keeping slavery, it is more understandable why the concept was held unto even in the face of the Revolution.  Control is a matter of fear, which is, in many instances, more difficult to shed than hatred or anger.  The struggle for power goes beyond the line of race and becomes a question of selfishness.  I will fight for my freedom, even if that means you can't have yours.  I will prevent you from being free, if that means my freedom can be better ensured.  Looking at slavery as a matter of security for an elite terrified of potential uprising from those beneath them helps me to understand why and how the ideas of slavery and liberty were entertwined at America's conception, and why their legacy lingers today.