The Unnatural Insitution
Adam
HIST-1301
Paper 1
Due 9/23/2013
The Unnatural Institution
Slavery has been a correlating characteristic among all major civilizations. The Sumerians made those they conquered their slaves, and used them for manual labor. The Egyptians made their slaves build large extravagant tombs for the pharos. Romans also forced those they capture into servitude, but the Romans also turned slavery into a commodity which allowed it to be capitalized. There where laws that allowed a father to sell his child in to slavery. The development of all of the great ancient cities has been on the foundation of slavery. Jurist Gaius wrote “Slavery is a human Invention and not found in nature. “ Institutiones (161AD). Fredrick Douglass wrote My Bondage My Freedom as a marketing ploy based on Jurist Gaius’s idea. Slavery is an unnatural institution and it affects everyone. It affects those enslaved, those whom enslave, and even those who are not involved with either one. It is easy to see how those whom have been enslaved are affected. The most come, or easier seen is the simple lack of freedom. Those whom are enslaved are slaves and not free men, but the damage and suffering goes much further than that. Slaves were not just denied freedom; they were denied natural human rights. Fredrick Douglass mentions in his book, how he was separated from his family while he was being raised. This was used to create a “brute” like mentality and avoid the intervention of alternate institutions like family (My Bondage My Freedom pg.29). In addition to the deprivation of a family institution, slaves were stripped of their identity (Pettingill 9/9/13). Those whom did the enslaving, or controlled those enslaved were also negatively affected by the institution of slavery. Everyone born in this world, with the exception of an extremely small percentage, has a conscience and moral core. It is in our nature to feel compassion for our fellow man. It is
HIST-1301
Paper 1
Due 9/23/2013
The Unnatural Institution
Slavery has been a correlating characteristic among all major civilizations. The Sumerians made those they conquered their slaves, and used them for manual labor. The Egyptians made their slaves build large extravagant tombs for the pharos. Romans also forced those they capture into servitude, but the Romans also turned slavery into a commodity which allowed it to be capitalized. There where laws that allowed a father to sell his child in to slavery. The development of all of the great ancient cities has been on the foundation of slavery. Jurist Gaius wrote “Slavery is a human Invention and not found in nature. “ Institutiones (161AD). Fredrick Douglass wrote My Bondage My Freedom as a marketing ploy based on Jurist Gaius’s idea. Slavery is an unnatural institution and it affects everyone. It affects those enslaved, those whom enslave, and even those who are not involved with either one. It is easy to see how those whom have been enslaved are affected. The most come, or easier seen is the simple lack of freedom. Those whom are enslaved are slaves and not free men, but the damage and suffering goes much further than that. Slaves were not just denied freedom; they were denied natural human rights. Fredrick Douglass mentions in his book, how he was separated from his family while he was being raised. This was used to create a “brute” like mentality and avoid the intervention of alternate institutions like family (My Bondage My Freedom pg.29). In addition to the deprivation of a family institution, slaves were stripped of their identity (Pettingill 9/9/13). Those whom did the enslaving, or controlled those enslaved were also negatively affected by the institution of slavery. Everyone born in this world, with the exception of an extremely small percentage, has a conscience and moral core. It is in our nature to feel compassion for our fellow man. It is