Slavery Is a Much Discussed

Slavery is a much discussed matter in the modern society, with people looking back at the horrors that man has performed. A large number of authors have written on the subject, in attempt to present the public with detailed accounts of the occurrences having happened in the pro-slavery states. Stanley Elkins and James McPherson have gone at addressing the subject in their books, Slavery, and, respectively, Ordeal by Fire.

Stanley Elkins claims that the American public should accept the slavery era as a time when people preferred profits in favor of human lives. He rejects the thinking that the people that supported slavery were innocent and that the occurrence had been perfectly normal during the period. Consequent to choosing to exploit and to enslave people, individuals can be considered guilty, since they had not been obliged to conform to society's practices.

According to Elkins, the aftermath of slavery can still be felt in the present day U.S., with most individuals either regretting the happenings or expressing racist thoughts towards others. Elkins puts emphasis on the fact that the slavery system in the southern states had been very different than other slave systems around the world. The author goes as far as comparing it to the more recent actions performed by the Nazis during the Second World War.

All in all, slaves were being treated ruthlessly by their owners, as the latter considered black people to be inferior and predisposed for serving whites. James McPherson describes the slavery system and the incidents which have lead to the outbreak of the Civil War. The American Constitution is one of the main documents which served as evidence that the American public wanted their lands to be free and all people to be equal, regardless of their backgrounds.

Moreover, people began to realize that the slave system had been ineffective, as it discouraged evolution and it brought little profits to the nation. Even from the end of the Revolutionary War people expressed their desire for a free country and a large number of politicians have issued petitions to the government in order to have it abolish slavery in all states.

In spite of the fact that the southern states did not pay attention to the demands made by the government, most planters had started to perceive black people as normal workers and not as machines as they had done until the time. The involvement of the church in the slavery system in Southern America had had a beneficial effect on the slaves, as they had been granted several rights and more liberty.

Elkins does not support the concept that black people in Northern America have had a better life subsequent to the American public becoming dedicated to having capitalist beliefs. In his opinion, slavery is something that has left a permanent mark on all black people that lived in the U.S. after the slavery period. In spite of the gravity that his statements have, the author insists that the U.S. is always going to be guilty for having destroyed black people through convincing them that they had been inferior.

In contrast to Elkins, McPherson does not wish to condemn an entire nation for the atrocities committed by a number of people during a time when circumstances had led them in acting accordingly. McPherson considers that capitalism and laissez faire theories had actually brought benefits to the way that people had behaved until the time. Such concepts had brought the faults of the slavery system into public attention, and, as a result, more and more Americans began to consider slavery as being corrupt.

While Elkins attempts to sustain his arguments through presumptions and unconfirmed statements, McPherson brings solid proof to back up his book. Elkins almost seems to be more catholic than the Pope when trying to describe the present-situation in the U.S. Despite his book also brings important information relating to the slavery era, the author tends to exaggerate when claiming that slavery affected black people permanently, with the minority being unable to escape it.

McPherson appears to have given more attention to details and to their accuracy, and, in an effort to do so he gathered rock-hard information from the period. A main reason for McPherson's dedication to using correct information for the book is that he had been aware that a war-based book needs to present concise data and little from the author's convictions. Because of the exact.