Slavery And Freedom: The American Paradox By Edmund S. Morgan

In the article, Slavery and Freedom: The American Paradox by Edmund S. Morgan, he begins explaining the impacts and the role of slavery in American history. Morgan suggests that the impact of slavery should not be over looked. The central idea of this article is focused around liberty and equality being joined by slavery throughout history. These contradictory ideas were developing independently at an identical period of time. Morgan expounds upon this idea.

Along with the contradicting ideas, this article identifies contradicting figures such as Washington, Madison, and Jefferson. These men were firm believers in freedom and equality but yet they possessed slaves. This example supports Morgan’s thesis because it is a perfect example of the

point he is making. In one hand, the rise of liberty and equality then in the other, the rise of slavery. He specifically points out Jefferson and his idea of independent freedom. This freedom that he spoke and strived for being fed by slaves. He could not release his slaves until all his debt had disappeared. This idea ties back to Morgan’s point through Jefferson’s efforts for financial freedom from debt. He could not give slaves their freedom because he needed to be free of his debts first. Therefore, the idea of equality and slavery existed at the same time, as Morgan said.
This article introduces another point with the early Virginia settlement’s idea of slave labor. They bought slaves for cheap labor and treated them fairly. Then, as Morgan states, the laws of service were extended and punishment was put into place for wrong doings. These laws were set to keep slaves from freedom for as long as possible in order to reduce public issues. The article says, slaves are needed for proper development. If Africans were not there, the amount of English servants would not have been sufficient. All these details tie into Morgan’s statement, he talked about them keeping the rights of the English and obliterating the rights of the Africans. This idea also confirms the overall point of this article, liberty and equality existing at the same time as slavery.
After reading the article several times, I have concluded my opinion about this piece. The proof of Morgan’s main idea satisfied me because most of his points tied back to his ideas at the beginning of the article. His proof was in depth and well laid out. The evidence he provided represented the point he aimed to make. I was pleased with Morgan’s thesis along with the proof and layout of the article.