NewsVine_Mariyam
Platinum Member
My assistant sent this information to me earlier this evening
Over the last two decades I have tried to determine whether I could categorize a list of premises or precepts that, taken together, could explain the whole institution of colonial and antebellum slavery and the race relations law of that era. Ultimately, I concluded that for those Americans in power, there were several basic premises, goals, and implicit agreements concerning the institution of slavery that at once defined the nature of American slavery and directed how it should be administered. Sometimes, these premises and goals were articulated precisely in statutes, judicial opinions, and executive orders. At other times, it appears that there was an implicit agreement on these principles. But, whether or not articulated as formal rules of law, I have identified a general consensus concerning principles or premises that led to the legitimization and perpetuation of slavery and of racism in America during the colonial and antebellum periods.
Slaveholders, legislators, judges, and other public officials displayed a common understanding on the issues of race and slavery that catered to their shared economic interests and political views. This common understanding created a simple “universality of the rules.” Once established, these rules formed the logical and precedential foundation for the American slavery culture for more than two hundred years. It is the breakdown of those components making up this “universality of the rules” that I call the Ten Precepts of American Slavery Jurisprudence. As we shall see, even after the abolition of slavery, some aspects of those precepts, pertaining to the alleged inferiority of blacks and the desire to make blacks powerless, still continue to haunt America . . .
1 Inferiority: Presume, preserve, protect, and defend the ideal of the superiority of whites and the inferiority of blacks.
2 Property Define the slave as the master's property, maximize the master's economic interest, disregard the humanity of the slave except when it serves the master's interest, and deny slaves the fruits of their labor.
3 Powerlessness Keep blacks--whether slave or free--as powerless as possible so that they will be submissive and dependent in every respect, not only to the master, but to whites in general. Limit blacks' accessibility to the courts and subject blacks to an inferior system of justice with lesser rights and protections and greater punishments than for whites. Utilize violence and the powers of government to assure the submissiveness of blacks.
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Slaveholders, legislators, judges, and other public officials displayed a common understanding on the issues of race and slavery that catered to their shared economic interests and political views. This common understanding created a simple “universality of the rules.” Once established, these rules formed the logical and precedential foundation for the American slavery culture for more than two hundred years. It is the breakdown of those components making up this “universality of the rules” that I call the Ten Precepts of American Slavery Jurisprudence. As we shall see, even after the abolition of slavery, some aspects of those precepts, pertaining to the alleged inferiority of blacks and the desire to make blacks powerless, still continue to haunt America . . .
1 Inferiority: Presume, preserve, protect, and defend the ideal of the superiority of whites and the inferiority of blacks.
2 Property Define the slave as the master's property, maximize the master's economic interest, disregard the humanity of the slave except when it serves the master's interest, and deny slaves the fruits of their labor.
3 Powerlessness Keep blacks--whether slave or free--as powerless as possible so that they will be submissive and dependent in every respect, not only to the master, but to whites in general. Limit blacks' accessibility to the courts and subject blacks to an inferior system of justice with lesser rights and protections and greater punishments than for whites. Utilize violence and the powers of government to assure the submissiveness of blacks.
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