Was Slavery A Necessary Evil?

When we think of slavery we think of something bad. A better word would probably be evil or immoral. The Webster dictionary defines slavery as "someone owned legally by another person and is forced to work for that person without pay". This barely scratches the surface of what slavery was and in some cases, still is. But there is no question that there were benefits to such a system and this blog post will make an argument that one could make the case that slavery was a necessary evil. However, this opinion does not in any way represent my personal feelings on the matter.


When we ponder slavery, many people will think of something close to this: a horrific display of people being treated as if cattle and punished like animals. However, their labor is was undoubtedly the driving force for the adage: "cotton is king". But it wasn't just cotton. Other crops included tobacco, rice, and sugarcane. These crops were consumed both in the US and out on an increasingly large basis. 

Here is a chart to show the explosion of cotton to meet the demand:



Slave labor accounted for a large amount of this growth. Of course, only a very small percentage of that amount were under plantations that owned 50 or more slaves. However, these large plantations had greater yields and thus, more acreage to put towards crop growth. Mississippi cotton alone shipped 535 million pounds of cotton by 1859 (Cotton and the Growth of the American Economy: 1790-1860).  Such profits could not be ignored and large plantations gained power throughout the south in both regional and local politics. This caused conflict with the North as two sides emerged: an agricultural based Southern economy and an industrializing Northern economy. 


As early as the 1830s, this dichotomy between the North and South was rapidly emerging. John C. Calhoun, a very Dr Jekyll looking character, made the case at the time for the co-existence of  the two sides. He astutely wrote at the time: "The conflicting elements would burst the Union asunder, powerful as are the links which hold it together." According to Calhoun, in order for the two sides to be one as a Union, neither side can surrender its institutions in favor of the other. This is a very strong argument because it compels us to think about different perspectives and different sides (especially if both are strong enough that one without the other could to conflict). However, the caveat to Calhoun is that he writes this about the black man: "Never before has the black race of Central Africa, from the dawn of history to the present day, attained a condition so civilized and so improved, not only physically, but morally and intellectually".

But perhaps, at the time, the methodology to keep slavery was necessary for the Southern economy. As Patrick points out, there was a very real and well deserved fear that the slaves could rise up ala Haitian style and violently overthrow their masters through armed revolution. This scenario wasn't entirely out of the question. Small instances of this sort did occur such as with John Brown at Harpers Ferry and Nat Turner's Rebellion. For a man like Calhoun to view these developments, I can see why his fears of the end of slavery being both the end of a southern identity and economy could be founded. But then we must also ask ourselves, if you're a slave, would dying for freedom be worth everything? This question is the antithesis for the arguments to keep and maintain slavery because the answer should be a stern yes. 

Here is a video that gives more insight on John C Calhoun: 
http://www.c-span.org/video/?c1491853/clip-john-c-calhoun-biography

Here is a dramatic representation of Calhoun's views on slavery:

I am of a mind to think that, at the time, perhaps the views were relevant. Slave labor, for those that owned them, did lead to greater amounts of demand on both a domestic and international level. It was an economy built almost entirely off slave labor and removing that one factor would have led to conflict both locally and regionally. Of course, eliminating slavery does not make this idea of slavery being a necessary evil obsolete. Slavery has provided many ills and benefits. Slave labor has built some of the greatest feats of human architecture such as the Great Wall of China where over 400,000 died in it's construction. It is a labor produced by slavery we still visit and admire today. Overall, this is idea of slavery being necessary is difficult to vouch for personally, but academically, the argument is there.