Ben holds it down for New England

Benjamin Franklin’s “A Conversation on Slavery” was published in 1770 as a response to the English accusations of hypocrisy and injustice in colonial claims to liberty. Ironically, the prosperity of the English colonies in North America was a direct result of the slave trade. Franklin’s argument presented in “A Conversation on Slavery” is structured by a conversation between an American, an Englishman, and a Scotsman. The Englishman begins the conversation with, “You Americans make a great clamour upon every little imaginary infringement of what you take to be your Liberties; and yet there are no People upon Earth such as enemies to liberty, such absolute Tyrants, where you have the opportunity, as you yourselves are.” The American response to these accusations is one of denial and blame distribution, arguing that at least some of the blame should be put upon the English as well. He points out that only a few slaves exist in the largest English colonies of New England and belong only to a few wealthy men. He argues that slavery should not be labeled as a public crime in the colonies but instead only a few people are responsible for the accusations. Franklin takes it one step farther to explain that slaves are treated well during times of sickness, tounge-in-cheekly relating it to the care the English provide the poor. He compares the English bottom class to slaves again by suggesting that the poor in English aren’t free either because of English law, “They are obliged by English law "to work for their Masters so many Hours at such a Rate, and [these laws] leave them no Liberty to demand or bargain for more, but imprison them in a Workhouse if they refuse to work on such Terms.” Franklin is effectively able to turn the tables on the English by making a reference to their own citizens who they treat horribly. Franklin makes the concession that some colonists buy slaves, but England is responsible for facilitating the trade. He writes,

“You bring the Slaves to us, and tempt us to purchase them. I do not justify our falling into the Temptation. To be sure, if you have stolen Men to sell to us, and we buy them, you may urge against us the old and true saying, that the Receiver is as bad as the thief. This Maxim was probably made for those who needed the Information, as being perhaps that receiving was in it's Nature as bad as stealing: But the Reverse of the Position was never thought necessary to be formed into a Maxim, nobody ever doubted that the Thief is as bad as the Receiver." I took Franklin’s argument and attempt at passing off the blame as a reflection of his ultimate goal to defend the political and financial interests of the colonists. He does not really care about the truth of the matter, but instead is focusing on evading the harder questions on slavery by turning the accusations against his accusers. The conversation portrays Ben as a proud colonist of New England, who will not budge on the fact that the relatively small number of slaves in his province and their general treatment is much more noble than that of the southern colonies. He may know slavery is morally wrong, but he also realizes that the success of the South’s plantations is a direct result of the institution of slavery. The debate over slavery would not be silenced with this conversation, but instead would grow with the success of the American Revolution and continue on to be a major issue during the Civil War.

Slavery vs. the Slave Trade

I found the discussion between Gordon Turnbull and Olaudah Equiano to be rather interesting considering the content of Equiano’s narrative that we’ve read thus far, and our class discussion this past Tuesday. Turnbull defends the institution of slavery in the British West Indies, claiming that Europeans were rescuing “the kidnapped Africans from the brutal conditions existing in their native lands. He depicted the slaves in the English colonies as living in a well-provided and happy state” (326). It is then stated that Equiano attacked Turnbull’s claims in a letter written February 5, 1788. Clearly Turnbull’s account of what happened once the slaves stepped off the boat is not entirely accurate, for he describes the situation as if it were the best thing to ever happen to these now enslaved peoples. Yet, Equiano’s novel has not contained the horrible and demhumanizing description of slavery that I was expecting. In fact, most of his journey he has described as being somewhat of a positive learning experience.

For example, throughout his story it appears as if Equiano actually become rather friendly with many of his various masters as he was a good worker and they respected him for that. In fact he states that after a few years he felt “happly situated” at sea (92). He also began to feel more like an Englishman everyday he was out at sea. He describes his account of being fed and housed rather well, and only seems to be in despair when he has to change masters as he worries about his next master maybe not becoming his friend. This can be seen when he describes himself being plunged into “a new slavery,” comparing his previous experiences to that of “perfect freedom” (111). Equiano also discusses the captain’s clerk teaching him how to write, and promising Equiano that he would allow him to enter into business with him once he was a free man. Yet, in the meantime, Equiano was still treated “with the greatest kindness” and didn’t seem to mind his situation all that much (108).

Along the lines of our class discussion on Tuesday, it appears that all the descriptions of actual slavery are far more positive than those of the actual slave trade itself. However, Equiano still obviously ponders the idea of escape even though he does not describe his situation as all too miserable. In fact, Equiano was only physically harmed when he attempted to escape and was later found. Other than that he was properly treated and didn’t describe any of his masters as too unreasonable, brutal, or even mean. Maybe I’m overstating his happiness, as he could have just been trying to make the best of a bad situation, but Equiano’s story of slavery is vastly different from what I had previously learned on the subject.

Commoditization and Dehumanization in the Slave Trade 11/29

Of the numerous accounts on the atrocities committed in the treatment of slaves in An Interesting Narrative, Alexander Falconbridge’s description of the conditions in which Africans were transported was perhaps the most disturbing. Surgeons have always been a necessary position on a ship to preserve the health of sailors at sea for long periods of time. Even sailors themselves were often ravaged by illness due to lack of necessary provisions and nutrition, and required medical care. The environments that slaves were placed into were exceptionally more inhospitable, to the extent that they were entirely dehumanized.

After being partitioned and shackled below decks in confined cabins, equivalent to those meant to hold cargo on trading vessels. The exceedingly overcrowded cabins did not “permit them the indulgence of an erect posture”, and they were forced to lay on shelves. Combined with the sorting system, whereby men, women, and children were separated, the Africans were commoditized to the point that they were viewed as nothing more than alternative wares.

They were kept at bare subsistence levels of food and sanitation to minimize the cost of their transportation for maximum profits. “The diet of negroes, while on board, consists chiefly of horse-beans, boiled to the consistence of a pulp”, and they are provided with “three or four large buckets” to excrete in. Falconbridge likens the cabins to a slaughter-house, “so covered with the blood and mucus which had proceeded from them”. In such conditions, it is no wonder that they often became malnourished, and due to their confines were required to “ease themselves as they lie. This becomes a fresh source of broils and disturbances, and tends to render the condition of the poor captive wretches still more uncomfortable”. They were left to rot in their own filth in excessive heat, pushing them to prefer death to continued suffering. Women were raped, all were beaten and threatened with torture with “such brutal excess, as disgrace human nature”. Perhaps it was out of necessity that the crews transporting the slaves degraded them to the level of animals and commodities. By doing so they were able to alleviate any sense of compassion for the individuals that were forced to endure in “a situation more dreadful and disgusting” than comprehension allows.