Arguments FOR and AGAINST Slavery

Arguments against slavery/Anti-Slavery Arguments
Humanitarian

1. Slavery was inhumane and cruel, unjust and the punishment meted
out to the slaves was harsh for example the uses of the treadmill.
2. Slaves were not properly provided for, since food, clothing, housing
and medical care were inadequate and so the slaves often fell prey to
diseases.
3. Slaves were regarded as part of the estate stock and not as humans
and so were constantly humiliated and dehumanized.
4. The colonial laws for the control of slaves were repressive and did not
provide for their protection.
5. The judicial system was against them since some judges and
magistrates were slave-owners, and slaves were not allowed to give
evidence in court against a white person.
6. Slaves possessed no legal right to own property or to have a family
since family members could be sold for payment of debt or families
could be separated.
7. Slaves were people and if they were not freed, they would free
themselves and destroy the planters’ property.
8. The Slave Trade led to inter-tribal warfare in Africa and destroyed
family and political structures in African societies.

Economic
1. Slavery was uneconomic as provisions had to be made for control of
the slaves.
2. These provisions were more expensive than employment of free
labour.
3. Investments in slaves were wasted when they died in large numbers
from measles, epidemics, or when struck with yaws, scurvy, worms,
ulcers, and fevers.
4. There was evidence which indicated that a higher percentage of
British sailors than slaves died in the Middle Passage.
5. There was also evidence that the British Government earned more
money from custom duties from export of manufactured goods than
from the slave trade.
6. British industrial development would be stimulated by free trade.
7. Abolition of slavery would increase the number of
customers/consumers in the British Caribbean market thus
increasing British exports.
8. Slavery led to monoculture which was dangerous to the economy.
9. The profits of plantation owners were not reinvested in the local
economy but just spent abroad.
10. Slavery made the whites lazy and ignorant, William Byrd II, a
wealthy Virginian planter, said that ‘’slavery blew up the pride and
ruin the industry of the white people who seeing a rank of poor
creatures below them, detest work, for fear it would make them
look like slaves.’’

Religious
1. Slavery was contrary to the will of God.
2. The system of slavery encouraged hatred rather than love whereas
Christianity urges its followers to ‘’love’’ thy neighbour as thyself.
3. Christianity teaches that all men are equal in the sight of God but
slaves were subjugated to the will of their master.
4. Missionaries were discouraged from working among slaves, they were
persecuted and at the same time the religious education of the slaves
was neglected.
Social
1. Some whites had ‘’guilt conscience’’ about slavery and preferred to
live in a free society.
2. Life in a slave society was unpleasant and uncomfortable for whites
surrounded by cruelty and suffering.
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3. Slavery brought fear and insecurity. There was danger of slave revolt
and massacre ever present.
4. A slave society was inevitably socially restrictive.
Arguments for slavery/Pro-Slavery Arguments

Humanitarian
1. Slavery existed in Africa and it was felt that the slaves were treated
better in the Caribbean than in Africa.
2. There was a paternalistic relationship between the slaves and their
masters, and the slaves’ basic needs of food, clothing, shelter, and
their medical needs were taken care of by their masters.
3. Slaves were private property as stated by the English laws.
4. Slaves were being ‘’civilized’’ and they would revert to barbarism
without the positive effects of European civilization
5. Times were harsh yet slaves were relatively well-off. They would not
put up with harsh treatment and would run away, revolt, or work less.

Economic
1. Blacks were best suited for estate labour in a tropical climate.
2. Slave labour was vital to the survival of the sugar economy as
alternative sources of labour like the Amerindians or white indentured
servants were not available.
3. Substantial capital was already invested in the sugar industry and
slavery. Thus, the value of that investment would be lost without
slavery.
4. Loss of investments in sugar estates might injure the British economy.
5. Slave labour was more economically viable than free labour.
6. Slavery promoted the development of a strong navy and merchant
marine.
7. Slavery stimulated British industrial development and provided jobs for
the British public, and Britain with essential tropical products.
8. The plantation system could lead to diversification in agriculture.
Slaves were capable of producing food crops as plantation crops. They
were also capable of handling cattle.
9. The plantation system supported British shipping.
10. Those dependent on West Indian sugar would lose commerce,
reputation and power

Religious
1. Slavery provided an opportunity for slaves to be converted to
Christianity, thus giving them a chance of saving their souls, a privilege
not afforded in Africa.
2. Slavery was supported by the Scriptures and was compatible with
Christianity.
3. Slaves in the Caribbean could learn from whites how to live a Christian
life.
Social
1. If slaves were freed, the whites would become a minority.
2. Successful planters could make huge profits and become the leaders of
society economically, politically, socially and culturally.
3. Slavery was the means by which small planters could rise in the world
and emulate the big planters.
4. Poor whites were committed to slavery and racial superiority theories
in order to preserve the little status they had. The threat of free blacks
to white privilege made the poor whites hate the blacks more than
anyone else.
5. Slavery provided the basis for a superior culture. There had to be a
class of slaves to perform the menial duties so that the whites, leisured
class could confine itself to government and culture.