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Jacob Flynn
Dr. Joy Bracewell
English 1102
19 September 2013
In Union, or the threats to the American System
Most of you probably something about me; after all, I have been involved in the
government for longer than most of you have probably been alive. In short, I am
confident that I know the Constitution of this great union of many states. A threat to our
nation’s peculiar institution seems to arising though, and this threat cannot be taken
lightly.
I hold here in my hand a copy of a work that the former slave Frederick Douglass
claims to have written. To naïve eyes it certainly is a grand adventure full of emotion.
Emotion can tear us apart however, especially when we become passionate for the
wrong causes. For those of you whose main experience with the plantation system of
the United States comes largely from this work, I ask you if you notice anything peculiar
about the story told within the pages. What I noticed was a horrid description of the
proud Southern people. In this work, Douglass describes terrible actions being acted out
on the slaves. The people of the South are good Christians though. Nowhere else in this
nation will you find a greater fervor for religion than in the South. And if brutality must be
brought down upon a slave it is surely a discipline for his own well-being. Take
Jefferson’s notes on his own experiences with the slaves, or perhaps Dr. Samuel
Cartwright’s publications will be of greater evidence. In them, he describes what the
constitution clearly outlines: that slavery is a legal system and is in fact beneficial to the
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slaves themselves. Dr. Cartwright details many diseases specific to affecting free
slaves, such as “Dysaesthesia Ethiopica,” which afflicts slave that have tried to move
out of their submissive sphere as designed by the lord, God. And those who become
free are prone to be in a half-dazed stupor, covered in lesions. Is this what we want for
the slaves? To be living a life against the plan laid out by the Almighty? But instead the
slaves are treated in the position they are set to occupy, They can thrive. Take my wellmannered Charles for instance. He has faithfully served me for years and has benefitted
greatly from having a white master with increases in physical, moral, and intellectual
strength.
The slaves have their own roles in our world, but unfortunately some leave these
spheres and try to make it on their own in a white man’s world while not possessing the
qualities that make a white man so successful. Beloved and late president of the United
States, Thomas Jefferson, noted how unsuited slaves are to being free by finding them
to be not up to the cognitive faculty or strength or cool demeanor of a white man. When
a slave does become a freedman like Frederick Douglass, it is quite tragic. We see no
happy moment in Douglass’s story, and it is because he no longer fits into society.
These rambunctious individuals only stir the pot for other slaves to disobey and strip
honest and innocent white folk of their property – themselves. That is why I propose a
most cunning plan. The freedmen, now unsuitable for slave work yet now caught in
betwixt levels of humanity, should be sent back to their native home of Africa where
they may live out their lives among their own while not interfering with the lives of slaves
merely trying to be proper and serve their masters well. That way the unfortunate sons
and daughters of slaves and masters would be removed from tainting the rest of the
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slaves, who being of an inferior faculty to us see violence as a solution to their
grievances. Slave revolts occur around the south, in some case leading to the harm of
honest, Christian men, women, and children. Such horrendous acts against such kind a
people I cannot endorse.
I digress from this topic however, to speak about the rights regarding such
chattel. You see, our nation is founded upon the principles of John Locke who states
that the life, liberty, and property are the natural rights of the white man. Slaves, being
subservient to us, are rightly defined as property. You would not strip an honest farmer
of his oxen or plow, so why his laborers? Such an action would not only violate the
sacred principles upon which our nation was formed but also break the nation
economically. A complete collapse of the agricultural system would ensue, and it would
not just be the Southerners who would suffer. The North relies a great deal on crops
grown in the South and without resources like cotton coming into factories, I fear that
the strife and famine you, Mr. Dickens, have oft wrote about will become commonplace
in the nation. This surely will also spur Great Britain to arms as well, for they depend
upon Southern cotton to fuel their textile industry. Such a maneuver would be endanger
the American System as we know it! Our strong union will collapse as each sector
shrivels up and dies.What is to be sought is not violence and factions. We must remain
strong as a nation and come to realize that no matter our views on slavery, that the new
life described in Douglass’s book is not a sustainable one; it is one that will tear this
nation apart and plummet us into utter chaos. Then, as we have seen in poor France,
not even our liberty can be guaranteed. The French people split in their ideals instead of
holding fast as a nation with compromise and now they are stuck in the middle of a
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revolt. Is this the future we want for our own nation I ask you? Sometimes I feel that
slavery should not have been brought to the Union given the strife you abolitionists cry
out with, but slavery does exist here and cannot be terminated. It is a vital part of our
economy and therefore a vital part of our country. Thomas Jefferson was a great man
and the framework he gave us to govern ourselves by is of the absolute pinnacle of
quality. To hastily rewrite every man’s own words over it at whim would be disgraceful.
Work Cited
“American System (economic plan),” Wikipedia. 10 Aug. 2013. Web. 22 Sept. 2013.
Brown, William Wells. Clotel; or the President’s Daughter. Charleston: Bibliobazaar,
Print.
Cartwright, Samuel. “Diseases and Peculiarities of the Negro Race.” Game Manual.
2013. Web. 18 Sept. 2013.
Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave.
New York: Barnes& Noble Books, 2003. Print.
“Henry Clay.” The Biography Channel Website. 2013. Web. 19 Sept. 2013.
“Henry Clay,” Wikipedia. 25 Aug. 2013. Web. 22 Sept. 2013.
Jefferson, Thomas. “Notes on the State of Virginia.” Game Manual. 2013. Web. 18Sept.
2013.
“MLA Style.” Georgia Tech Library. 19 Aug. 2013. Web. 4 Sept. 2013
“The United States Constitution.” Game Manual. 2013. Web. 18 Sept. 2013.