Douglass and abolitionist literature: transatlantic slave trade and slave narratives

Romanticism Slavery

The story of Africans and the Americas is a violent and painful one. Africans were used as a race of slaves by white colonists in America, and in regions across the world for centuries. Yet, as inhuman as many people considered slavery to be, it was not until the Democratic foundations for the United States were laid that a government formally adopted a philosophy that was incongruous with its practice. When the Constitutional Convention convened in Philadelphia during the summer of 1787 the founders of the United States sought to put into writing the ideological basis for the nation they had recently created -- and slavery was an issue. The perpetuation of slavery was a direct contradiction to their premise that "all men are created equal," and many members of the Convention called for its abolishment. It should not be surprising, therefore, that growing from the ideals of this new nation were new hopes for African-Americans; those who sided with the colonists saw an end to slavery as a very real possibility. However, it was acknowledged by the Convention that the Southern economy could not function without it; slavery continued, but only where it was indispensable.

Slavery in the English colonies originated in the North, "The first slaves were Native Americans forced into servitude by the Puritans in Massachusetts.... But in the spirit of the Declaration of Independence and the American Revolution, Vermont and Pennsylvania freed their slaves through state constitutions in 1777." Slaves were not as instrumental to northern society because the colder climate meant that the large crop farms -- like those of the south -- simply could not me maintained. It should not be surprising, therefore, that the other Northern states were quick to follow Pennsylvania and Vermont's example. Thus, slavery began to die in the United States; but it would prove to be a slow and violent death.

Despite the moral contradiction between the United States Constitution and the establishment of slavery, it was not until the Civil War that anything substantial was done to rectify the predicament. President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. This was notwithstanding his pronouncement at the onset of war that, "It would be a war to restore national unity, a war in which slaves would be, at best, interested spectators whose status and circumstances would remain unchanged." It goes without saying that the citizens of the northern states were not united in the cause to abolish slavery. But one demographic that was, without a doubt, united behind the cause was the black community -- free or slave. Frederick Douglass wrote of the Emancipation Proclamation, "Common Sense, the necessities of war, to say nothing of the dictation of justice and humanity have at last prevailed. We shout for joy that we live to record this righteous decree." It is quite likely that Lincoln was aware of the response this proclamation would elicit from black Americans: "Moreover, the liberated themselves became the liberators, for the proclamation also announced the acceptance of men into the Union arm and navy." By simultaneously freeing most of the southern slaves and permitting their admittance into the armed forces, Lincoln provided some indication of his underlying motives. One main reason for the Emancipation Proclamation was that it formally welcomed a very willing fighting force amid the Union ranks.

Slavery, however, could not be eradicated so easily. Although it became illegal for one individual to be in servitude of another without pay, the southern states orchestrated a myriad of segregation statutes, or "Jim Crow" laws, which ensured the privileged positions of white Americans while trampling the rights of blacks. "In bulk and detail as well as in effectiveness of enforcement the segregation codes were comparable with the black codes of the old regime, though the laxity that mitigated the harshness of the black codes was replaced by a rigidity that was more typical of the segregation code." Essentially, black Americans were formally ostracized by whites in the south, and informally in the north. In short, the debt to black Americans could not be paid or even set right through the simple act of emancipation. There was no apology, no efforts to atone for the atrocities of the past, and there was little hope for black Americans to achieve any form of equality -- as officially set down by the Constitution -- without a massive social movement.