The Benefits of Slavery in America?

[Damnyankee]

I am curious as to what people are going to say, besides all the economic reasons and such.

 

[Fifty]

Helps prevent miscegenation!

 

[Damnyankee]

Helps prevent miscegenation!

I would think it does the opposite, lol.

 

[Fifty]

I would think it does the opposite, lol.

Well I thought you were thinking along the lines of reinstating it today (if you were talking back then then you should have used the FREAKING HISTORY FORUM!), where it would help prevent miscegenation because if a master raped a slave they could just abort the baby.

I'm not saying that's right or anything, just that someone nuts enough to want slavery might hold such a view.

 

[AL_DA_GREAT]

it to a great extent paid for the industrial revolution.

 

[Yoda Power]

it to a great extent paid for the industrial revolution.

Ehh, it was the northern states where slavery was forbidden that the industrial revolution started in the US. The south was probably the last area in USA to industrilize.

 

[amadeus]

In retrospect, it was an awful idea; it held the south back for decades, and now it's holding the U.S. back (through massive social welfare programs that never seem to work) as a whole.

 

[Damnyankee]

Well I thought you were thinking along the lines of reinstating it today (if you were talking back then then you should have used the FREAKING HISTORY FORUM!), where it would help prevent miscegenation because if a master raped a slave they could just abort the baby.

I'm not saying that's right or anything, just that someone nuts enough to want slavery might hold such a view.

I would, but I'm talking about the positive effects present even today.

 

[Damnyankee]

In retrospect, it was an awful idea; it held the south back for decades, and now it's holding the U.S. back (through massive social welfare programs that never seem to work) as a whole.

Bingo. America would have been so much better off without it. No racial tensions, no welfare, etc etc. Funny thing is though, African Americans would be worse off in Africa, lol

 

[Elgalad]

What Amadeus said, but I'd also add that it slowed down America's own industrial revolution in the 19th century and directly (agricultural and resource focused economy) or indirectly (Civil War destruction) kept us from becoming a real world power until the 20th century.

All in all I would say, no real benefits when compared to the costs.


-E

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Jazz & Blues.

 

[QuoVadisNation]

It (supposedly) caused the Civil War. The Civil War in turn changed the country into a more centralized federal government. Secondly, the whole black-white dichotomy sadly helped establish badly needed national identity between north and south after reconstruction. There are also the crack pot theories that the legacy of slavery helped immigrants (Italians mostly) 'become white' through shared 'values'.

Anyone who knows history knows that there is an incredibly dangerous fallacy in predicting what would have happened if slavery hadn't existed. So I don't know what benefits there would be to compare it against the benefits brought on by slavery.

Also: You can also go back to pre-colonial days and start wondering where Middle America would have been without slavery as a practice? Would it have had the ambitions to declare independence?

 

[AL_DA_GREAT]

I am not saying the cotton plantations paid for it I am saying the English slave merchants paid for the revolution. I say it was definetly not worth it. I am against blacks in white countries.

 

[Yoda Power]

I am not saying the cotton plantations paid for it I am saying the English slave merchants paid for the revolution. I say it was definetly not worth it. I am against blacks in white countries.

England was one of the first countries to stop slavery, when the industrial revolution was still in it's very early days.

If you think of trade, there was a lot more important things than slaves that made England rich.

edit: oh yeah, if you're against blacks in white countries, then surely you are against whites in native american countries too? Or does it only go one way round?

 

[QuoVadisNation]

I am not saying the cotton plantations paid for it I am saying the English slave merchants paid for the revolution. I say it was definetly not worth it. I am against blacks in white countries.

Well then, it's a good thing you're not in charge. Isn't it?

 

[Elgalad]

I am not saying the cotton plantations paid for it I am saying the English slave merchants paid for the revolution. I say it was definetly not worth it. I am against blacks in white countries.

I did not realize America was a 'white country'.

I don't mean to be flip here, but what is your point?

The United States (and prior to that, Colonial America) has never had one 'ethnic identity'. That's one of our greatest strengths, imao.


-Elgalad

 

[woody60707]

Bingo. America would have been so much better off without it. No racial tensions, no welfare, etc etc. Funny thing is though, African Americans would be worse off in Africa, lol

You hit on a point missed by a lot of people. With out slavery there would be a lot less blacks here today. What means we would be with out the added benefits that diversity brings.

The United States (and prior to that, Colonial America) has never had one 'ethnic identity'. That's one of our greatest strengths, imao.


-Elgalad

 

[aneeshm]

I am curious as to what people are going to say, besides all the economic reasons and such.

I'd say it was an economic disaster.

There were, TBH, no benefits whatsoever.

 

[aneeshm]

You hit on a point missed by a lot of people. With out slavery there would be a lot less blacks here today.

That would be a good thing!

What means we would be with out the added benefits that diversity brings.

What benefits?

This "diversity" thing is a bunch of bullcrap. It has no benefits whatsoever.

I challenge you to name one - and I mean it, just one concrete benefit of this so-called "diversity".




Oh, and you conveniently forget that the social cohesion of many African communities was destroyed by the slave trade. Had this not happened, it is probable Africa would have been in much better shape now, and would have had the ability to interact with the rest of the world on its own terms.

 

[cthom]

slavery never went away, it just became the sweathouse.