Racial Equality and the Abolition of Slavery in France

1395 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Abolition of slavery

Racial Equality and the Abolition of Slavery in France

When Abbé Sièyes wondered, "What is the Third Estate [or are slaves]? Nothing. What has it [have they] been until now in the political order? Nothing. What does it [do they] want? To be become something…" (65), he could have just as easily spoken of slave's misery rather than the Third Estate's plight. While, his scope was limited, his pains were not. Following their first revolution, the French National Assembly helped to change the world. Enlightened, they saw, they defined, they tried to ease all of mankind's suffering. Finally, the term man began to transcend color. If man has rights, they must apply to all men. And thus, the concept of racial equality is born. I will argue in order to achieve this end, and to prove the necessity of racial equality, Enlightened thinkers exposed flaws in current social philosophy, demonstrated the logical conclusions of their progress, and finally addressed the implications of abolition.

Marquis de Condorcet was an outspoken advocate for all forms of human rights-religious, gender, political and especially racial. In his "Dedicatory Epistle to the Negro Slaves" he writes:

My Friends,

Although I am not the same color as you, I have always regarded you as my brothers. Nature formed us with the same spirit, the same reason, the same virtues as whites…Your tyrants will reproach me…indeed, nothing is more common than the maxims of humanity and justice… Reducing a man to slavery…[takes] from the slave not only all forms of property but also the ability to acquire it… (56).

Condorcet employs the technique of de/humanizing his subjects to display the arbitrary nature of slavery. Moderates, slaves, and whites-anyone could achieve slave status under these random means. Society needs to prevent subordination. The white Condorcet speaks almost in apostrophe; the style of his introduction greatly resembles an ode. Addressing the slaves in this manner gives even more deference to the lowly slaves. Similarly, the slaves have been elevated to "My Friends," further humanizing their cause. Although Condorcet was a well-respected member of the National Assembly, he relates to the slaves how "he is not one of the them." The ordered diction again serves to equate a white man to a slave. This segment's tone lacks both condescension and sarcasm. He nearly supplicates to the slaves for their quintessence. His friends-the blacks-are his brethren. If he shares spirit, virtues, and reasons with slaves, what is to distinguish them?

Show More
Related

  • Myne Owne Ground Summary

    901 Words  | 2 Pages

    They argue that the accruing of property by figures such as Johnson meant that they literally did not think of themselves as living within a racist society, and that, despite the decline of this freedom, it is a mistake to consider their opinions as an “aberration” in a narrative of inevitable racial exploitation (Breen & Innes, 112). Rather, they claim that to understand such people as such an aberration inevitably leads to a situation in which the real equality of their freedom is

    Read More

  • Blacks Passing as White in "The Garies and their Friends" by Frank J. Webb

    1268 Words  | 3 Pages

    I must tell you…if you should settle down here, you’ll have to be either one thing or other—white or colored. Either you must live exclusively amongst colored people, or go to the whites and remain with them. But to do the latter, you must bear in mind that it must never be known that you have a drop of African blood in your veins, or you would be shunned as if you were a pestilence; no matter how fair in complexion or how white you may be.

    Read More

  • Autobiography of the Imprisoned Peon

    869 Words  | 2 Pages

    ... the “Autobiography of the Imprisoned Peon.” He said, “…we had sold ourselves into slavery-and what could we do about it? The white folks had all the courts, all the guns, all the hounds, all the railroads, all the telegraph wires, all the newspapers, all the money, and nearly all the land-and we had only our ignorance, our poverty and our empty hands” (25). Keep in mind that this doesn’t just apply to whites oppressing other races. This applies to everyone that has control and the people they are discriminating against. With the vision of society being composed of a certain race and class and the determination of making the vision a reality, those who don’t meet the expectations may be forced to pay simply because of who they are or what their social status is.

    Read More

  • How Revolutionary Was The American Revolution?

    886 Words  | 2 Pages

    The American Revolution was a “light at the end of the tunnel” for slaves, or at least some. African Americans played a huge part in the war for both sides. Lord Dunmore, a governor of Virginia, promised freedom to any slave that enlisted into the British army. Colonists’ previously denied enlistment to African American’s because of the response of the South, but hesitantly changed their minds in fear of slaves rebelling against them. The north had become to despise slavery and wanted it gone. On the contrary, the booming cash crops of the south were making huge profits for landowners, making slavery widely popular. After the war, slaves began to petition the government for their freedom using the ideas of the Declaration of Independence,” including the idea of natural rights and the notion that government rested on the consent of the governed.” (Keene 122). The north began to fr...

    Read More

  • Slavery During the Enlightenment and the Frech Revolution

    457 Words  | 1 Pages

    There were many views on the issue of slavery during the Enlightenment and the French Revolution, and the resolution of slavery affected. economics, politics, and social order. The slave trade triangle between Europe, West Africa, and the Indies. great effect on European economics during this time. The only way for this elaborate trade triangle to work is if there were black Africans available for export to the Indies as slaves.

    Read More

  • The British Petroleum Oil Spill and Lack of Response

    1465 Words  | 3 Pages

    Last year, news spread of an oil spill off the Gulf Coast. These events occur periodically and usually register much media attention. As British Petroleum (BP) executives could not shut off the crude oil or prevent the damage it caused, people took notice. Millions of dollars in tourism, commerce and sales were lost. Thousands of wildlife acres and ecosystems were also compromised. There were more questions than answers.

    Read More

  • Filibuster

    1822 Words  | 4 Pages

    The filibuster has come very far in its origin. The tern filibuster originally was someone that went around reeking havoc on people, most commonly pirates. In the middle of the nineteenth century many of these groups of people organized in the U.S. and went into Central America and the West Indies and started revolutions. These people became known in English as filibusters which was derived from the Spanish filibustero. In the early nineteenth century a senator named John Randolph from Virginia got in the habit of making long speeches on the Senate floor. The Senators soon got fed up with these long and irrelevant speeches and voted to give all right to the presiding officer to deal with such problems. This is when it gets interesting because in 1872 Schuyler Colfax, the Vice President, ruled that "under the practice of the Senate the presiding officer could not restrain a Senator in remarks which the Senate considers pertinent to the pending issue". This tactic soon became widely used in the Senate and was compared to military adventurers, or filibusterers. People began to say that a Senator was filibustering.(An Illustrated Approach)

    Read More

  • Slavery as the Cause of the American Civil War

    1746 Words  | 4 Pages

    Slavery was the core of the North and South’s conflict. Slavery has existed in the New World since the seventeenth century prior to it being exclusive to race. During those times there were few social and political concerns about slavery. Initially, slaves were considered indentured servants who will eventually be set free after paying their debt(s) to the owner. In some cases, the owners were African with white servants. However, over time the slavery became exclusive to Africans and was no limited to a specific timeframe, but life. In addition, the treatment of slaves worsens from the Atlantic Slave trade to th...

    Read More

  • Fredrick Douglass Argumentative Analysis

    856 Words  | 2 Pages

    [Slaves] seemed to think that the greatness of their master was transferable to themselves” (Douglass 867). Consequently, slaves start to identify with their master rather than with other slaves by becoming prejudiced of other slaves whose masters were not as wealthy or as nice as theirs, thereby falling into the traps of the white in which slaves start to lose their

    Read More

  • How The Colorado River Basin

    889 Words  | 2 Pages

    ... upon solution to water access disagreements, social and political powers must be willing to compromise since the risks associated with disagreements regarding water allocation may be too great. As stated by Shiyyab (2004), “If sustained over a period of time, these problems will directly affect social harmony, domestic stability and eventually, regional peace.” (p. 30). Investments must be made by industry as well as local and national governments for purification of wastewater so that clean water, when needed, will be available. The necessity of obtaining water is a fundamental human right and,

    Read More

  • How Is Slavery Important To The Development Of Slavery?

    1505 Words  | 4 Pages

    many of them could prosper in their servitude and work their way to freedom where they had “legal near-equality”, this indicated that status as a slave could change even though race could not. As evidence, Berlin gave the example of “Antonio a Negro” who not only secured his own freedom but that of his posterity, who went on to profit and eventually possess slaves themselves (Berlin, p.38) and the fact that in the enclaves which creoles initially inhabited “Both Europeans and Africans held slaves…” (Berlin, p.26). However Berlin state...

    Read More

  • Speedo or Tyr Through The Water

    690 Words  | 2 Pages

    Essentially every swimmer’s goal upon entering a race is to get a P.R., or a personal record. However, preparation for success begins long before the buzzer signals the beginning of the race. There are many factors that affect a swimmer’s time, ranging from body hair to pool temperature. In fact, a swimmer’s swimsuit can also affect his or her time. Because swimsuits can be such an important variable, swimmers look for specific qualities in their swimsuits: speed, comfort, and durability. A “fast” swimsuit is a swimsuit that has minimal drag; in other words, a skin-tight swimsuit. However, considering that competition swimsuits are always made with the intention of having as little drag as possible, the real dilemma comes down to whether comfort or durability is more important. In my experience, as a swimmer myself, I have noticed that you can never get a perfect balanc...

    Read More

  • Essay On Filibuster

    1502 Words  | 4 Pages

    A little of the history of the filibuster is that we already know that the filibuster in early years was that basically everyone could filibuster and have an unlimited debate on a legislation the party did not want to pass, even though is that party knew they will still lose. The evolution of the filibuster has been big in its expansion as starting with a new rule in 1917 that "senator adopted Rule 22, at the arguing of the President Woodrow Wilson, that allowed the Senate to end a

    Read More

  • Physics of Swimming

    1869 Words  | 4 Pages

    The study of physics and fluid dynamics in swimming has been a field of increasing interest for study in the past few decades among swimming coaches and enthusiasts. Despite the long history of research, the understanding of how to move the human body effectively through the water is still in its infancy. Competitive swimmers and their coaches of all levels are constantly striving for ways to improve their stroke technique and overall performance. The research and performances of today's swimmers are continuously disproving the beliefs of the past. Like in all sports, a better understanding of physics is enabling the world class swimmers to accomplish times never before thought possible. This was displayed on the grandest of scales in the 2000 Olympics when Ian Thorpe, Inge De Bruijn, Pieter Van Den Hoogenband and a number of other swimmers broke a total of twelve world records and numerous Olympic and national records.

    Read More

  • Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Case Study

    1498 Words  | 3 Pages

    According to an online article from Thought Company, the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill polluted the waters of Prince William Sound, coated more than a thousand miles of pristine coastline and killed hundreds of thousands of birds, fish, and animals. This crisis has become a symbol of human-caused environmental disasters all over the world. Many years after the accident, and despite billions of dollars spent on cleanup efforts, crude oil can still be found under the rocks and sand on the beaches of southwest Alaska, and the effects of the spill are still apparent in the lasting damage done to many native species. (West, 2017) This specific incident was a major crisis that acted as a prodrome for the oil industry. For the purpose of this assignment it is important that we take a look at the details of this event. From there, we will look at how Exxon handled the

    Read More

More about Racial Equality and the Abolition of Slavery in France

Open Document