In recent years interest in the issues of slavery and human trafficking has converged with the emergence of the concept of ‘modern slavery’. This thesis seeks to address the complex phenomenon of ‘modern slavery’ and analyse the effect it has on legislative responses to slavery and human trafficking, with a particular focus on the Modern Slavery Act 2015. It begins by locating the problem historically through its foundations in slavery and human trafficking and explores the incomplete nature of the abolition of the practices. These observations provide the context for analysis of the existing international anti-slavery and trafficking legal frameworks, the emergence of the concept of ‘modern slavery’ and the subsequent blurring of the legal boundaries between the practices. The complexity of the concept of ‘modern slavery’ is reflected in the variety of practices included within its scope and the lack of consensus among stakeholders concerning the meaning of the term. This thesis examines the phenomenon of ‘modern slavery’ and the conflation of human trafficking and slavery underneath the umbrella of ‘modern slavery’. It demonstrates that the shortcomings of the existing models of ‘modern slavery’ are themselves evident in the legal and policy responses to slavery and human trafficking. The overall effect of the uncritical use of the concept is a negative impact on potential victims of human trafficking and slavery, but also other exploitative practices. These observations are supported by doctrinal analysis of i) historical anti-slavery and trafficking movements ii) international frameworks and definitions of slavery and trafficking iii) existing academic literature examining the concept of ‘modern slavery’ and iiii) The Modern Slavery Act 2015. This thesis extends the existing literature by investigating how different conceptualisations of slavery impact the efficacy of anti-slavery legislation, specifically the Modern Slavery Act 2015. The thesis explores the disconnect between different sections of the literature of slavery and trafficking. The thesis argues in conclusion that the development of the concept of ‘modern slavery’ and the subsequent collapse of the legal boundaries between human trafficking and slavery has a potential threefold effect, which limits the utility of current anti-slavery/trafficking legal and policy responses.
Item Type: | Thesis (PhD) |
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Divisions: | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Law and Social Justice |
Depositing User: | |
Date Deposited: | 26 Mar 2019 12:27 |
Last Modified: | 19 Jan 2023 01:04 |
DOI: | |
Supervisors: | |
URI: |
Research Support, University of Liverpool Sydney Jones Library, Abercromby Square Liverpool L69 3DA, UK +44 (0)151 794 0000
Slavery is a social state defined by law and customs as the most absolute involuntary form of human servitude. A slave is characterized because his work or his services are obtained by force and his physical person is considered as property of his owner, who disposes of him at his will.
From the earliest times, according to the thesis statement about slavery, the slave was legally defined as a commodity that the owner could sell, buy, give away or exchange for a debt, without the slave being able to exercise any right or personal or legal objection. Most of the time there are ethnic differences between the slave trader and the slave, since slavery thesis statement is usually based on a strong racial prejudice, according to which the ethnic group to which the trafficker belongs is considered superior to that of the slaves. It is very rare that slaves are members of the same ethnic group as the owner, but one of the few exceptions occurred in Russia during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
The practice of slavery dates back to prehistoric times, although its institutionalization probably occurred when agricultural advances made possible more organized societies that required slaves for certain functions. To obtain them other peoples were conquered; however, some individuals sold themselves or sold their family members to pay outstanding debts; Slavery was also the punishment for those people who committed some crime.
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Slavery was an accepted and often essential situation for the economy and society of ancient civilizations. In ancient Mesopotamia, India and China slaves were used in households, in commerce, in large-scale construction and in agriculture. The ancient Egyptians used them to build royal palaces and monuments. The ancient Hebrews also used slaves, but their religion forced them to release those of their own people on certain dates. In the pre-Columbian civilizations (Aztec, Inca and Mayan) they were used in agriculture and in the army. Among the Aztecs, practitioners of various trades bought slaves to offer them in sacrifice to their patron god.
In Homer’s epic poems, slavery, as a thesis on slavery, is the logical fate of prisoners of war. Greek philosophers did not consider slave status morally reprehensible, even though Aristotle proposed freeing faithful slaves. In ancient Greece, slaves, with rare exceptions, were treated with consideration. However, the helots of Sparta (descendants of a people conquered and forced to work hard in the countryside and fight in the Spartan armies) were treated with great severity, mainly because their population was greater than that of their rulers.
In general, slaves were used as domestic workers, in urban and field jobs, in the navy and transport. Domestic slavery, in general, was less harsh, since the treatment they received was usually very familiar. Roman slavery differed from Greek slavery in several aspects. The Romans had more rights over their slaves, including life and death. Slavery was much more necessary in Rome for the economy and the social system than in ancient Greece, especially during the Empire. The well-off Romans, who owned large mansions in the city and in the countryside, depended on a large number of slaves to maintain their homes and agricultural properties.
The imperial conquests decimated the Roman armies, so that it became necessary to import a large number of foreign slaves to carry out the work of the field. The main source of slaves was war: tens of thousands of prisoners were taken to Rome as slaves; however, all those convicted of serious crimes and debtors, who sold themselves or sold their family members to pay their debts, became slaves.
Middle Ages
The adoption of the Christian religion as an official religion by the Roman Empire and its later spread during the Middle Ages in Europe and part of the Middle East, was an attempt to improve the conditions of slaves, but failed to eliminate the practice of slavery. After the fall of the Roman Empire, during the barbarian invasions between the 5th and 10th centuries, the institution of slavery became a less binding system: serfdom. Islam in the seventh century recognized from its origins the institution of slavery, although the Prophet Muhammad exhorted his followers to keep a correct deal with them. In general terms, the slaves of the Arabs, who mostly carried out domestic work, were treated with greater respect.
The exploration of the coasts of Africa, the discovery of America in the fifteenth century and its colonization in the following three centuries boosted considerably the modern slave trade. From the mid-fifteenth century until the 1870s, between 11 and 13 million Africans were exported to America; between 15 and 20% died during the voyages and around 10 million were enslaved in the countries of destination. Portugal, which needed workers for the countryside, was the first European country to cover its demand for work with the importation of slaves. The Portuguese started this practice in 1444, and in 1460 each year they imported 700 to 800 slaves from different parts of the African coast. These were captured by other Africans and transported to the west coast of Africa.
Soon Spain imitated this practice, although for more than a century Portugal continued to monopolize trade. During the 15th century, Arab traders from North Africa sent slaves from central Africa to the markets of Arabia, Iran and India. In the sixteenth century, the Spanish conquistadors forced the indigenous youth to cultivate large plantations and work in the mines. The Indians were not used to living as slaves and could not survive in these conditions, partly because of their lack of immunization against European diseases and harsh working conditions.
The collapse of the indigenous populations, total in the Antilles and partial in the American continent, caused the increase in the number of slaves. There were many indigenous young people who died because of the rudeness of the work, so it was decided to import to the Spanish colonies African slaves that were believed to be better able to withstand forced labor. The King of Spain Carlos I established in 1517 a system of concessions to individuals to introduce and sell African slaves in America. In the mid-sixteenth century, indigenous slavery as a legal institution disappeared in New Spain. Other modalities emerged, such as indebtedness or encomienda. Slavery thereafter would affect only African blacks.
As we can read in essay about slavery and freedom, the massive arrival of African slaves in Brazil began in the second half of the sixteenth century, but already in 1501 their presence was recorded in Santo Domingo, Puerto Rico, Cuba and Jamaica, where about 4,000 Africans entered the year. The granting of rights in the slave trade was always a real prerogative. In the late sixteenth century, the United Kingdom began to compete for the right to supply slaves to the Spanish colonies, held until then by Portugal, France, Holland and Denmark. In 1713, the British South Sea Company secured the exclusive right to supply slaves to these colonies.
The first African slaves arrived at Jamestown (Virginia) in 1619 from the hands of the first English corsairs; the slaves were subject to the so-called “limited servitude,” a legal situation proper to white, black and indigenous serfs, which was a precursor to slavery in most English colonies in the New World. With the development of the plantation system in the southern colonies, the number of imported African slaves, in line with thesis statement on slavery, increased considerably in the second half of the seventeenth century. As they became more relevant (especially in the South, where they were considered fundamental for the economy and society) it became necessary to modify the corresponding legislation. During the American War of Independence (1776-1783) they were slaves in the broadest sense of the word, with legislation that clearly defined their legal, political and social situation.
Denmark was the first European country to abolish the slave trade in 1792, followed by the United Kingdom in 1807 and the United States in 1810, although the latter had to wait until the Civil War (1865) ended so that it would be definitively abolished the whole country. According to the essay topics about slavery, in the Congress of Vienna of 1814, the United Kingdom tried to convince other countries to adopt similar policies, getting almost all European countries to adopt a regulation on the matter or to sign a treaty that would prohibit this type of traffic.
The Treaty of Ashburton of 1842 between the United Kingdom and the United States established the maintenance of forces on the African coast to monitor compliance with the law. In 1845, the collaboration of the naval forces of the United Kingdom and France was replaced by the mutual right of ship inspection to monitor compliance with current regulations. The limitation of the number of slaves led to an improvement in their living conditions. The slaves of the French Antilles obtained freedom in 1848 and in the Netherlands in 1863.
In America, the emancipation and birth of the new republics led to the abolition of slavery: Mexico abolished it in 1813, Venezuela Colombia in 1821, and Uruguay in 1869. Only in Brazil slavery last until 1888. In the wars of independence, the black population of some countries simultaneously aligned with the Creole patriots.
According to the essay about Frederick Douglass slavery, Frederick Douglass was an abolitionist who altered America’s views of slavery through his writings and actions. Frederick’s life as a slave had the greatest impact on his writings. Through his experience as a slave, he developed emotion and experience for him to become a successful abolitionist writer. He experienced harsh treatment and his hate for slavery and desire to be free caused him to write Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.
The International Convention on Slavery, held in Geneva in 1926, and in which the 38 countries of the League of Nations participated, approved the abolition and prohibition of the slavery thesis trade and the total abolition of all forms of slavery. The proposals arising from this convention were confirmed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations (UN) in 1948]. In 1951, the UN Committee on Slavery reported that this practice was rapidly decreasing and that only vestiges remained in some parts of the world (Mauritania was the last country to abolish it in 1980).
The Committee also reported that a large number of people still lived under bondage-like servitude. These types of servitude included peonage, child abuse and the involuntary surrender of women in marriage. In 1956, and on the recommendation of the Committee, a new conference was held in Geneva, attended by 51 countries. This conference decided to hold an additional convention on the abolition of slavery, the slave trade and institutions and practices similar to slavery. This new convention condemned servitude-like forms of slavery and established penalties for the slave trade. From that moment, any breach of its resolutions would pass to the international courts of justice.
I'm struggling to come up with a thesis statement surrounding slavery, that also connects to the unit question 'What is worth fighting for?'. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Christopher F.
Lisa F. answered 01/01/23
Dedicated writing tutor for English and multiple subjects (PhD)
Hi, Holly, coming up with thesis statements are usually a major step in getting your paper started. Try thinking about the thesis you need to write as the way you would respond to your instructor's prompt or question. In any material you read about slavery, what did you see that was worth fighting for? You could also think about the different groups involved in slavery, both those for it and those opposed to it. What did these different groups feel was worth fighting for? Which group's actions do you feel strongly about? If you create a thesis you feel strongly about, it will help your motivation on the assignment. If you 'd like help on the assignment, I'd be happy to help you. Just message me.
Stephanie B. answered 01/01/23
English Major Who Loves Literature
Thesis statements can be overwhelming, but try and think of it more as an answer to a question. What might someone ask when it comes to slavery and what is worth fighting for? What might the slaves have been fighting for?
Think of major people or events and what they were fighting for. For example, when Harriet Tubman led slaves to freedom at the risk of her own life. What was she fighting for?
Once you decide that, you can create a thesis statement with supporting points that you will detail further in your paper.
I am happy to work further with you on this—feel free to message me.
Jacob D. answered 12/31/22
Your personal reading/writing tutor
This question is vague, it would help to understand the context of your research. I would start with something like "The cost of the Civil War and why America needed to pay it."
Cost can be evaluated in many different facets. Do you mean monetary cost? Bloodshed? Dividing the union?
Barbara T. answered 12/31/22
Experienced Writing Professor / College Prep Coach
You don't say what kind of slavery, who is being enslaved, what gender, class, race, what country you're studying or what time period. But I would assume that stopping slavery in any century or country is definitely worth fighting for.
A thesis can also be called an argument. You're putting together a set of ideas and trying to convince someone (a reader) to see your ideas and understand them. Try to think about what matters to you - what to you is worth fighting for. If having freedoms, not hurting people, not treating them terribly, not physically abusing them, or selling them off to the highest bidder is worth fighting for, then you know what you would want to say about enslaving people or slavery, in general.
Think about what you've learned concerning slavery and what matters to you. Then you need to come up with the WHY of this - why is it important to fight against slavery? Or why was it important in the past to fight against slavery. Or what is the purpose of fighting for the rights of people? Or fighting for people's freedoms? Or their ability to live their lives as they see fit instead of being told how to live their lives under a master? The WHY is your thesis or argument that you will use to discuss further ideas in the body of your paper.
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February 16, 2024
Dear Members of the Yale Community,
Several years ago, we embarked on a journey to understand better our university’s history—specifically Yale’s formative ties to slavery and the slave trade. We chose to do this because we have a responsibility to the pursuit of truth and the dissemination of knowledge, both foundational to the mission of our university. Confronting this history helps us to build a stronger community and realize our aspirations to create a better future.
Today, on behalf of Yale University, we recognize our university’s historical role in and associations with slavery, as well as the labor, the experiences, and the contributions of enslaved people to our university’s history, and we apologize for the ways that Yale’s leaders, over the course of our early history, participated in slavery. Acknowledging and apologizing for this history are only part of the path forward. These findings have propelled us toward meaningful action to address the continued effects of slavery in society today.
Since October 2020, members of the Yale and Slavery Research Project have conducted intensive research to provide a clearer and more comprehensive understanding of the university’s past. The Research Project included faculty, staff, students, and New Haven community members, and it was led by David W. Blight, Sterling Professor of History and director of the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition at Yale. Members of the group shared their results publicly as they did their work, and the university has steadily launched programs and initiatives in response.
The full findings from this project are now published by Yale University Press in a scholarly, peer-reviewed book authored by Professor Blight and members of the Yale and Slavery Research Project. Key findings and the full book are available to all online .
Yale and Slavery Research Findings
The Yale and Slavery Research Project has deepened greatly our understanding of our university’s history with slavery and the role of enslaved individuals who participated in the construction of a Yale building or whose labor enriched prominent leaders who made gifts to Yale. Although there are no known records of Yale University owning enslaved people, many of Yale’s Puritan founders owned enslaved people, as did a significant number of Yale’s early leaders and other prominent members of the university community, and the Research Project has identified over 200 of these enslaved people. The majority of those who were enslaved are identified as Black, but some are identified as Indigenous. Some of those enslaved participated in the construction of Connecticut Hall, the oldest building on campus. Others worked in cotton fields, rum refineries, and other punishing places in Connecticut or elsewhere, and their grueling labor benefited those who contributed funds to Yale.
We also know that prominent members of the Yale community joined with New Haven leaders and citizens to stop a proposal to build a college in New Haven for Black youth in 1831, which would have been America’s first Black college. Additional aspects of Yale’s history are illuminated in the book’s findings, including the Yale Civil War Memorial that honors those who fought for the North and the South without any mention of slavery or other context.
Our Forward-Looking Commitment
Today, we announce actions based upon the Research Project’s findings and our university’s history by focusing on systemic issues that echo in our nation’s legacy of slavery—specifically, increasing educational access and expanding educational pathways for local youth in the New Haven community. These build on the initiatives and programs we have launched throughout the past few years as members of the project shared their research.
The new work we undertake advances inclusive economic growth in New Haven. Aligned with our core educational mission, we also are ensuring that our history, in its entirety, is better reflected across campus, and we are creating widespread access to Yale’s historical findings. We highlight some of our commitments below. The full details of the university’s response are available on the Yale and Slavery Research Project website .
Increasing Educational Access and Excellence in Teaching and Research
The lost opportunity to build a college for Black youths in New Haven in 1831 prompts us to strengthen our partnerships with Historically Black Colleges and Universities ( HBCU s) across the country today and expand educational pathways for young scholars in our home city.
Advancing Inclusive Economic Growth in New Haven
We remain committed to partnering with our home city of New Haven to create vibrant shared communities with increased economic opportunities. This builds on our ongoing work with the New Haven community, which includes increasing what was already the largest voluntary payment by a university to its host city in the country to approximately $135 million over six years and the creation of a new Center for Inclusive Growth to develop and implement strategies to grow the city economically.
Acknowledging Our Past
The research findings make clear that Yale’s foundations are inextricably bound with the economic and political systems of slavery. That history is not fully evident on our campus, and we are working to ensure that our physical campus provides members of our community with a more complete view of the university’s history.
Creating Widespread Access to Historical Findings
Yale and Slavery: A History provides a more complete narrative of Yale’s history and that of New Haven, Connecticut, and our nation. Aligned with our core educational mission, we will provide opportunities for communities within and beyond Yale’s campus to learn from the findings.
Working Together to Strengthen Our Community
Our commitments are ongoing, and there remains more to be accomplished in the years ahead. We have established the Committee on Addressing the Legacy of Slavery to seek broad input from faculty, students, staff, alumni, New Haven community members, and external experts and leaders on actions the university can take to address its history and legacy of slavery and create a stronger and more inclusive university community that pursues research, teaching, scholarship, practice, and preservation of the highest caliber. Secretary and Vice President for University Life Kimberly Goff-Crews will chair this committee.
We invite members of the Yale and New Haven communities to read the book and share with us their comments . The Committee on Addressing the Legacy of Slavery will review all input and consider future opportunities—with New Haven, other universities, and other communities—to improve access to education and enhance inclusive economic growth. The committee will report to the president. In the coming weeks, the committee will host listening sessions for faculty, students, staff, and alumni. The Committee for Art Recognizing Enslavement will also host forums for members of the community. These sessions will be posted on the Belonging at Yale calendar and the Yale and Slavery Research Project’s community input webpage .
The Yale and Slavery Research Project has helped us gain a more complete understanding of our university’s history. The steps and initiatives Yale has established in response to the historical findings build on our continued commitments to the New Haven community and our ongoing Belonging at Yale work to enhance diversity, support equity, and promote an environment of welcome, inclusion, and respect.
Today, we mark one milestone in our journey to creating a stronger and more inclusive Yale and to confronting deeply rooted challenges in society to do our part in building “the beloved community” envisioned by the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Our work continues, and we welcome your thoughts and hope you will engage with our history.
Peter Salovey, ’86 PhD President Chris Argyris Professor of Psychology Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health, Management, and Sociology
Josh Bekenstein, ’80 BA Senior Trustee, Yale Corporation
In 2015, the UK government introduced the Modern Slavery Act, giving law enforcement greater tools to identify and apprehend anyone involved in enslavement or human trafficking.
You might not think slavery an issue UK organisations need to be concerned about.
Unfortunately, that’s not true.
The UK saw 16,938 modern slavery referrals in 2022 – a 419% increase on 2015, when the Act was passed. The Home Affairs Committee also estimates at least 100,000 victims of modern slavery and human trafficking in the UK.
Many UK organisations unknowingly work with third parties involved in modern slavery. This most commonly occurs with forced labour in:
However, any industry driven by a demand for cheap products and services is susceptible through its supply chain.
If the UK is to eliminate the threat, organisations must not remain silent. They must take action to identify and report any suspicious behaviour associated with slavery.
Addressing modern slavery begins with a modern slavery statement. This blog covers:
Whenever an organisation is subject to any regulation, it should create a statement outlining:
You probably have a data protection statement , for example, which outlines the above.
A modern slavery statement is much the same.
The statement must acknowledge the risks of modern slavery and your role in preventing it. You should also outline the policies you’ve introduced to mitigate the threat.
According to the UK government , commercial organisations must publish a modern slavery statement if they:
*Turnover encompasses the income of the organisation and subsidiary undertakings, including those operating wholly outside the UK.
The Modern Slavery Act doesn’t give specific guidance on what a statement should cover or how to structure it.
However, it does include examples of information to potentially include, and how to write the statement.
For example, as a public-facing document, it should:
But what about specifics?
Here are six topics to include in every modern slavery statement:
Your modern slavery statement should begin with an introduction to your organisation, listing:
Also state your commitment to social responsibility and the eradication of slavery.
Ideally, reference the Modern Slavery Act by name, and explain that your statement and overall policies comply with the Act’s requirements.
Next, state that you’ve created policies to tackle slavery and human trafficking.
You can describe those policies in broad terms, but don’t need to go into depth. (Because policies are subject to change – so, if altered, you’d need to rewrite your statement.)
If you do describe your policies, focus on objectives rather than actions. For example, that you’re strengthening your supplier engagement process, or establishing a framework to easily enable people to report slavery.
Alternatively, you can direct readers to another document where they can review your policies. This can be, for example, a page on your website.
Again, you’re mostly exposed to slavery through your supply chains.
Acknowledge this in your statement, and that you perform due diligence checks on potential partners to identify suspicious activity.
As with due diligence checks, recognise the importance of risk assessments and state the steps you take to manage third parties.
While due diligence is more about future or ongoing activities, this section should also detail steps already taken to identify risks. This might include:
If you haven’t yet performed any of these activities, use this section of your statement to declare your intention to carry out checks. However, avoid listing specific examples of things you haven’t done yet.
Use KPIs (key performance indicators) to assess the effectiveness of your anti-slavery measures, such as:
Document those KPIs in your statement. However, you don’t need to publish your findings.
Finally, address the steps you’re taking to educate employees on modern slavery.
This should include a summary of online and in-person training courses you provide to staff. You can also run awareness campaigns, seminars and other appropriate activities.
Some organisations also provide dedicated training and resources page on their website, which employees can view to learn about modern slavery and how to report incidents.
If you’re looking to demonstrate your organisation’s commitment to eradicating slavery and human trafficking, our Modern Slavery Staff Awareness Elearning Course can help.
This contains everything you need to identify and eliminate the threat of forced labour. Show staff:
The course also explains the Modern Slavery Act requirements, and how they work alongside ESG (environmental, social and corporate) governance.
Interested in more business essentials topics, like environmental sustainability (ISO 14001), unconscious bias and anti-bribery? Check out our Business Essentials Staff Awareness Elearning Suite for a more cost-effective option.
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Saint Augustine of Hippo. Detail of engraving. Source: Wellcome Images via Wikimedia Commons.
By Toni Alimi September 04, 2024
Augustine is America’s public theologian again. Joe Biden invoked him in his inaugural address. Prominent conservatives, including J.D. Vance and Josh Hawley, cite him as an influence. Vance called Augustine instrumental to his conversion to Catholicism and chose him as his patron saint. Hawley claims that only a return to Augustinian Christian Nationalism, expressed most saliently (in his view) by the Puritans, can “save America.” [1]
Issues abound in Hawley’s framing. He sharply contrasts Christian Nationalism against “bloodthirst and conquest,” “ethnic hatred,” and “blood and soil nativism.” But this is ahistorical. Catholic Portugal, Spain, and France, and Protestant Britain, the Netherlands, the United States, and Denmark drove the Atlantic slave trade. The British empire colonized one-quarter of the world’s population. Catholicism was the state religion of Fascist Italy. Nazi Germany’s Wehrmacht soldiers wore belt-buckles reading, “Gott mit uns.” Christian nationalism has not been innocent of bloodthirst, conquest, ethnic hatred, or nativism.
However, even if we grant Hawley’s framing, digging deeper into Augustine’s thought reveals why Augustinian Christian Nationalism is unviable. Doing so will also surface other aspects of Augustine’s thought that chasten the triumphalism, materialism, and imperialism that characterize not just Christian Nationalism but most contemporary politics.
Hawley ignores Augustine’s endorsements of slavery and religious coercion. Central to Augustine’s justification of chattel slavery was his idea that all humans are slaves of God. Some of God’s slaves are faithful; others are runaways. God allows his runaways to fall into chattel slavery, through which masters are to help their slaves return to God’s service. Chattel slavery’s core theological purpose is to help slaves become Christian.
Many Puritans echoed this reasoning, including Cotton Mather in his essay, The Negro Christianized . [2] Against theologians who argued that Christians may not own one another as slaves, Mather insisted that converts make the best slaves. Christian slaves take obedience to earthly masters as their heavenly duty. [3] Augustine would have agreed. Christ, he said, “did not make slaves free, but bad slaves good.” [4]
Augustine defended religious coercion in a similar way. During his last two decades his political preoccupation was soliciting imperial power against a Christian sect called the Donatists. The Donatists held that law cannot and should not aim to compel piety. Augustine responded that coercion could disrupt people’s slavery to false religion and encourage them in faithful slavery to God. Along similar lines, the Puritans coerced Native Americans, hung “witches,” and expelled religious dissenters.
Critics worry that Christian Nationalism legitimates domination and religious coercion. If Christian Nationalism is rooted in Augustine and exemplified by the Puritans, they are right to worry.
But this is only half of the story. Animated by the idea that all humans are slaves of God, Augustine’s politics also chastens common political excesses. His inheritors too often fail to heed his warnings. Let’s consider three: Augustine against triumphalism, materialism, and imperialism.
Augustine wrote City of God to refute those who blamed Christianity for the fall of Rome. Often overlooked, however, is his concession that Christianity didn’t save Rome from falling. This is because no earthly city is Christianity’s ultimate concern. Some Christians, such as Eusebius and Orosius, thought that Christianity did and would continue to secure Roman triumph. However, Augustine sought to redirect Roman attentions towards the heavenly city. He is no ally of those who hope that Christianity will save America.
Indeed, he is no ally of those who take their political community to be integral to world history. Augustine denied that God’s plans in human history guarantee any particular community’s flourishing. Twentieth-century Augustinian theologian Reinhold Niebuhr criticized American messianism on these grounds. History may progress without America. [5]
This might distress people accustomed to the language of America as leading the free world. Such language is invoked not only by political conservatives, but also by liberals like Biden and Barack Obama. [6] Romans, who had for centuries seem themselves as the centerpiece of civilization, were similarly distressed by Rome’s sacking in 410. Augustine’s counsel to those unmoored by Rome’s fall was clear: look beyond earthly cities towards the heavenly city. [7]
In City of God 15.5, Augustine argues that only a city whose shared loves are noncompetitive goods can be stable.
Why? A good is competitive if increasing the number of people sharing in it decreases each person’s share. Material goods are typically competitive: the more money (as share of a currency) one person has, the less everyone else has. A good is noncompetitive if increasing the number of people sharing in it does not diminish each person’s share. Noncompetitive goods tend to be immaterial. You can have more peace without my having less. For Augustine, the most perfectly noncompetitive good is goodness itself. Paradoxically, as more people share it, each person’s share increases . [8]
Political communities typically value material resources – land, water, minerals – and other competitive goods – power, authority, glory. One person cannot have more of such goods without others having less. Augustine warned that communities organized around competitive goods generate factions that battle for an increasing share at others’ expense.
This is one reason that contemporary Christian nationalists are so often racist and nativist; they aim to secure material and other competitive goods for white Christians at the expense of racial and religious minorities. However, Augustine’s anti-materialism poses a challenge to everyone, not only Christian Nationalists. One Augustinian, Martin Luther King Jr., recognized that materialism “blinds us to the human reality around us and encourages us in the greed and exploitation which creates the sector of poverty in the midst of wealth.” [9] Racism places the costs of materialism disproportionately on racial minorities. And so, King claimed, racism and materialism travel together.
King identified a third “triplet” that goes with them. He called it militarism. Augustine might have called it imperialism. A city organized around competitive goods will be driven to expand and capture more of them to maintain or increase the amount each citizen enjoys, even at outsiders’ expense. [10] So Augustine explained Roman imperialism. So Simone Weil inveighed against French colonialism: “how many men have we deprived of a fatherland whom we now compel to die in order to preserve ours?” [11] And so can we diagnose the slave trade, manifest destiny, hegemony.
A city whose shared loves are competitive is willing to exploit outsiders. By contrast, a city whose shared loves are noncompetitive invites outsiders to share in its goods. For Augustine, just cities are anti-imperial, refusing to expand in ways that harm others even when doing so would be profitable. [12]
Augustine understood how difficult it is to imagine an earthly politics that avoids triumphalism, materialism, and imperialism. He rooted this difficulty in human resistance to divine mastery. Only a community that prefers suffering injustice to inflicting it will avoid these wrongs. And only a community that accepts its slavery to God will have such preferences.
You will have noticed a tension in Augustine. His arguments against triumphalism, materialism, and imperialism, and his arguments for slavery and religious coercion are of a piece. Central to both sets of arguments is his thesis that all humans are slaves of God.
Christian nationalists who claim Augustine’s authority fail to appreciate this. They typically embrace the triumphalism, materialism, and imperialism he criticized, ignore the slavery he endorsed, and wink and nod towards the religious coercion he advocated.
Modern thinkers like Niebuhr, King, and Weil have looked to Augustine for ways beyond triumphalism, materialism, and imperialism. But neither they nor their inheritors sufficiently attend to slavery’s entanglements with the better parts of Augustine’s thought. Political Augustinians are surely right that Augustine has much to teach us. But he also leaves us much disentangling work to do.
Toni Alimi is assistant professor in the Sage School of Philosophy at Cornell University.
[1] https://www.dailysignal.com/2024/07/09/sen-josh-hawley-america-founded-on-christian-nationalism/ [2] Mather, The Negro Christianized, 9. [3] Mather, The Negro Christianized, 13. For more on slavery among the Puritans, see Wendy Warren, Slavery in Puritan New England . [4] Augustine, Expositions on the Psalms 124.7 [5] Niebuhr, The Irony of American History . [6] https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2017/01/19/thank-you , https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2024/07/24/remarks-by-president-biden-in-statement-to-the-american-people/ [7] Augustine, “Sermon: The Sacking of the City of Rome.” [8] City of God 15.5 [9] King, “The Three Evils of Society.” [10] City of God 4.15. [11] Weil, On Colonialism , 78. [12] City of God 4.15.
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Analysis of Slavery in United States. The main points highlighted in the lecture are focused on the socio-economic differences between the two systems, the actual life of slaves, and methods of blacks' rebellion. "Slavery and African Life: Occidental, Oriental, and African Slave Trades" by Patrick Manning.
A. Thesis Statement: The reason slavery was supported is because it made the owners enormous amounts of money, but when it came to freeing them it could only be done by war. If the Slaves succeeded in rebelling against the slave owners others could have been encouraged to change the order of classes. B. Evidence Used: 1.
Conclusion. In conclusion, slavery has left a lasting impact on modern society, influencing economic disparities, systemic inequalities, and intergenerational trauma. The effects of slavery can be seen in the racial wealth gap, disparities in education and healthcare, systemic racism, and intergenerational trauma that continue to affect Black ...
Slavery and the Civil War Essay. During the period of 1820-1860, the life of white and black people in the South depended on developing the Institute of slavery which shaped not only social but also economic life of the region. The Institute of slavery was primarily for the Southern states, and this feature helped to distinguish the South from ...
In 1858, Abraham Lincoln, a rising figure in the newly born Republican Party, declared the United States a "house divided" between slavery and freedom. In late 1859, militant abolitionist John Brown alarmed the South when he attempted to liberate slaves by taking over a federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia.
Slavery in American History Essay. Slavery refers to a situation whereby individuals are considered to be belongings and are merchandised. In the American history, slaves were used as workforce by the colonizers in their tobacco, cotton and other agricultural activities. The slaves were also used in development of economic actions such as ...
HIST 2320 - African American History from Slavery to Freedom. This guide is intended as a point to departure for research in history. You will find search strategies and writing resources to help guide you through your HIST 2320 writing project. ... The thesis statement is one or two sentences that states the main idea of a writing assignment ...
Here are a few sample thesis statements that might work for you: 1. President Lincoln strongly opposed slavery within any part of the United States. 2. President Lincoln believed slavery must be ...
Slavery Thesis Statement Examples - Free download as PDF File (.pdf), Text File (.txt) or read online for free. This document discusses developing a thesis statement on the complex topic of slavery. It notes that crafting a slavery thesis requires navigating vast historical context and understanding nuances. A strong thesis offers a clear, supported argument rather than just a statement of fact.
Formulating a Thesis Statement. A strong essay on slavery should be centered around a clear, concise thesis statement. This statement should present a specific angle or argument about slavery. For example, you might focus on the economic reasons behind the transatlantic slave trade, the psychological effects of slavery on individuals and ...
Learn how to write a clear and concise thesis statement for your essay or research paper. Follow four simple steps: start with a question, write your initial answer, develop your answer, and refine your thesis statement.
Find 100 slavery research paper topics organized into 10 categories, covering ancient, medieval, Islamic, and modern periods. Explore the history, impact, and legacies of slavery through in-depth insights and perspectives.
7 Sun Pinghua and Yan Xie, "Human Trafficking and Sex Slavery in the Modern World," Albany Government Law Review 7, no. 1 (2014): 93. 8 Diana Wong, ڙThe Rumor of Trafficking,ښ in Illicit Flows and Criminal Things: States, Borders, and the Other Side of Globalization. eds. Willem van Schendel and Itty Abraham. 69,
Have each student write a thesis statement to the prompt: Explain how attitudes toward African slavery changed from the Founding Era (c. 1780) to the mid-nineteenth century (c. 1840). You may solicit volunteers to share their thesis and workshop several using the following questions, or have students share with a partner and provide feedback on ...
Thesis Statement Thesis statement unclear or irrelevant to focus question Thesis statement valid and pertains to focus question Thesis statement shows valid, ... • Society believed slavery was a moral responsibility of the white American • The founders feared abolition would hinder the foundation of a unified nation .
Examine the various ways enslaved men and women resisted the conditions of slavery by analyzing primary source excerpts dating from c. 1780 to 1850. Systematically analyze primary sources by answering comprehension questions for each document. Write a thesis statement that responds to a document-based question prompt.
Introduction. Slavery had many negative effects on the enslaved people as discussed by Douglass in the book, "Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass" and McPherson in the book, "What they fought for 1861-1865".Reflecting on the life of Douglass Frederick and written in prose form, the narrative defines the thoughts of the author on various aspects of slavery from the social ...
Thesis: Because the United States was primarily in disagreements over states' rights, the contentious issue of slavery and the election of Abraham Lincoln boiled over and inevitably started the Civil War. Introduction: The 1850s was a tempestuous time full of events, conflicts, compromises, and, most importantly, people who pushed the United States into a better society.
Thesis Statement On Slavery. • A. Hook: Slavery is the most horrible thing to do to a child. Slavery is people making kids do what they want them to do no matter what. Slavery started when they brought the first american colony to the united states. Slavery was practiced through the american colonies in the 17th and 18th centuries.
In recent years interest in the issues of slavery and human trafficking has converged with the emergence of the concept of 'modern slavery'. This thesis seeks to address the complex phenomenon of 'modern slavery' and analyse the effect it has on legislative responses to slavery and human trafficking, with a particular focus on the Modern Slavery Act 2015. It begins by locating the ...
Essay about slavery history. From the earliest times, according to the thesis statement about slavery, the slave was legally defined as a commodity that the owner could sell, buy, give away or exchange for a debt, without the slave being able to exercise any right or personal or legal objection. Most of the time there are ethnic differences ...
Slavery is an inhumane and dehumanizing practice that strips individuals of their fundamental rights and freedoms. It is a blatant violation of human dignity and must be fought against at all costs. ... Thesis statements can be overwhelming, but try and think of it more as an answer to a question. What might someone ask when it comes to slavery ...
Since October 2020, members of the Yale and Slavery Research Project have conducted intensive research to provide a clearer and more comprehensive understanding of the university's past. The Research Project included faculty, staff, students, and New Haven community members, and it was led by David W. Blight, Sterling Professor of History and ...
2. Policies in relation to slavery and human trafficking. Next, state that you've created policies to tackle slavery and human trafficking. You can describe those policies in broad terms, but don't need to go into depth. (Because policies are subject to change - so, if altered, you'd need to rewrite your statement.)
Central to both sets of arguments is his thesis that all humans are slaves of God. Christian nationalists who claim Augustine's authority fail to appreciate this. They typically embrace the triumphalism, materialism, and imperialism he criticized, ignore the slavery he endorsed, and wink and nod towards the religious coercion he advocated.