Jesse Bennett
His 131 0003
Geoffrey Harris
17 November 2014
Written Reflections 3 Morgan’s writings on the paradox of slavery and freedom are interesting. He explores the fact that a paradox is something that is contradictory, and the fact that America’s founding fathers were seeking independence and freedom, and yet that enslaved thousands of Africans as well as their children. Thomas Jefferson once said that all men were created equal but he owned hundreds of slaves, this would constitute a contradiction or a paradox. Many people would say that this would mean that people like Jefferson and others were hypocrites and only after their own wealth and well being. Morgan suggests that these individuals were firm believers in the aspect of freedom and that we should try to arrive at the conclusion of why or how “such men could have arrived at beliefs and actions so full of contradictions” (Morgan 7). Morgan takes a look at America more importantly Virginia during this time period. During this time period indentured servants started to become freemen. Freemen started to become a significant part …show more content…
The process of African slaves coming into the picture was a result of an unthinking decision. Virginians bought the cheapest labor they could get (Morgan 25). Through this process they assumed or so it was thought at the time that these African slaves would be unable to claim the property or any thing else from these Englishmen. This in turn created a new population of slaves and they began to out number the freemen. The result of Bacons Rebellion in the following years resulted in a stricter code for slaves, enabled many freemen to vote and many freemen became slave owners. This completed the cycle that American democracy rests on American slavery because the fact that slaves gained the vote and in turn gained slaves and in the end these slaves also gained the
His 131 0003
Geoffrey Harris
17 November 2014
Written Reflections 3 Morgan’s writings on the paradox of slavery and freedom are interesting. He explores the fact that a paradox is something that is contradictory, and the fact that America’s founding fathers were seeking independence and freedom, and yet that enslaved thousands of Africans as well as their children. Thomas Jefferson once said that all men were created equal but he owned hundreds of slaves, this would constitute a contradiction or a paradox. Many people would say that this would mean that people like Jefferson and others were hypocrites and only after their own wealth and well being. Morgan suggests that these individuals were firm believers in the aspect of freedom and that we should try to arrive at the conclusion of why or how “such men could have arrived at beliefs and actions so full of contradictions” (Morgan 7). Morgan takes a look at America more importantly Virginia during this time period. During this time period indentured servants started to become freemen. Freemen started to become a significant part …show more content…
The process of African slaves coming into the picture was a result of an unthinking decision. Virginians bought the cheapest labor they could get (Morgan 25). Through this process they assumed or so it was thought at the time that these African slaves would be unable to claim the property or any thing else from these Englishmen. This in turn created a new population of slaves and they began to out number the freemen. The result of Bacons Rebellion in the following years resulted in a stricter code for slaves, enabled many freemen to vote and many freemen became slave owners. This completed the cycle that American democracy rests on American slavery because the fact that slaves gained the vote and in turn gained slaves and in the end these slaves also gained the