White Man's Burden Summary

The institution of slavery was part of a significant portion of American history, along with human history. Additionally, it is also one of the greatest human tragedies of the New World and the United States. The White Man's Burden: Historical Origins of Racism in the United States was written by Winthrop D. Jordan and tells the history of racism in the United States. The author discusses the very origins of racism and the nature of slavery within the United States through the attitudes of the white slave owners. In the book, the author addresses the problem of slavery through the negative stereotypes, racist laws, and the paradox of Thomas Jefferson.

The African slave lost their humanity from the very moment they boarded the European slave

ship. When they arrived in the New World, they were forced into labor. Even a slave’s unborn child would be cursed into the institution of slavery since “slaves born in the New World had no experience or direct knowledge of what is was like to live as free people” The African slave has been a victim of negative stereotypes throughout the history of the United States. The foundation of this negative stereotype originates from the idea that the African slave is an untamed beast, which ultimately makes the African inferior to the white European, hence the term “white over black”. As a matter of fact, the African slave was even viewed to be of an inferior intellect by one of the founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson. The reason why these negative stereotypes continued throughout the New World was because “the planters were neither treating nor regarding their slaves as human beings.” The African slave would be denied his own right to humanity. Moreover, instead of treating them as human beings, slave owners “handled Negroes the same way men in England handled beasts, herding and examining and buying; as with any other animals which were products of commerce.” Slave men were expected to work like animals in the plantation fields while slave women were expected to breed new slaves like animals. The stereotype was that the African was an untamed animal that was to be dominated by the white man. Those born from miscegenation were even subject to the harsh treatment of slavery. It creates a hierarchy where white men are at the top and Africans are at the bottom. The very definition of “black” in the dictionary can be seen as another example of the numerous sources of negative stereotypes. During this time period, the Oxford English Dictionary defined “black” as “deeply stained with dirt; soiled, dirty, foul…Having dark or deadly purposes, malignant; pertaining to or involving death, deadly; rible, wicked…Indicating disgrace, censure, liability to punishment, etc.” The very definition found in the dictionary at this time was based on the idea that the African was inferior to the white man. The opposite of black was white. In addition, the definition itself was also racist and contributed to the negative stereotype that the African was inhuman, and if the African was inhuman, then he or she was to be treated inhumanly by the white man.
With the institution of slavery enacted within the original thirteen American colonies and the United States, a set of laws would be needed to punish the African slave.

During this time period, “no English colony remained without laws dealing specifically with the governance of Negroes.” Specific pieces of legislation would be passed within the English colonies that were ultimately based on the if one was a slave or free. However, with these slave laws enacted, the laws “told the white man, not the Negro, what he must do. It was the white man who was required to punish.” Overall, it was the slave owner who had the responsibility to punish the slave. For the white slave owner, “absolute control became a major priority, and slaves were subject to severe discipline.” Since the African slave was a living tool for the slave owner, he or she was not deemed to be human, which meant that a series of inhumane punishments could be sanctioned upon the African slave. Moreover, these laws were enacted so that the white man would remain in control at all times, hence white over black. Due to the fact that the African slave was not deemed a human being by the white man, the laws and punishments that were passed were inhuman as well. For example, in the English colonies of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Virginia, the enslaved African man could be punished by being castrated for sexual aggression. Moreover, was Sally Hemings the sexual aggressor or was Thomas Jefferson the sexual

aggressor? It is an oddity that these laws strictly applied to the African slave and not to the white slave owner for similar crimes. After the infamous Stono Rebellion in the colony of South Carolina in 1739, a set of laws were enacted; these laws were known as the South Carolina Slave Code of 1740. The laws claimed that a slave should be executed if they are caught outside a plantation without being escorted by a white man or master. In addition, the slave owner could be punished for educating the slave. Similar laws like these regarding slavery could be found in many of the American colonies. Furthermore, it appears that these laws had racism encoded in them from the very moment that these laws were passed in the English/American colonies. Ultimately, the purpose of these laws was to ensure the complete dominance of the white man over the black man, not just by physical force, but also through legislative force.
Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence in 1776, was one of the founding fathers of the United States, and even served two terms as the third President of the United States of America. While Jefferson contributed a lot to the creation of the United States, he was also a slave owner. Furthermore, it raises the question that how could someone like Thomas Jefferson say “we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal” and still promote the institution of slavery? While he believed that all men were created equal, it seems as if it only applied to certain men, specifically the white man. This is where Winthrop D. Jordan indicates the paradox of Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson once argued that “ancient slavery was more harsh than America’s.” Thomas Jefferson had similar views with the ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle, who claimed that the slave is a slave by nature. Similar to the ancient Greeks, the English would enslave those who were different from them, in this instance, slavery in the New World based upon race. However, was slavery harsher in the ancient world than it was in the America’s? The laws mentioned earlier would contradict Jefferson’s claim because slaves were inhumanely punished. In addition, the New World was founded as a slave society, unlike the ancient world. During his time, Thomas Jefferson was one of the leading figures of the American Revolution; however, was this war for independence for the American colonists or for the white American colonists? It appears that the war for independence was ultimately fought to only benefit the dominance of the white man over the African, since freedom belongs to the white man and for the white man only. However, Thomas Jefferson believed that the Native American as an equal and “was by no means inferior to the white man.” If Jefferson saw the Native American as an equal to the white man, then why not the African? Instead, Jefferson had views similar to the negative stereotypes mentioned earlier and felt that “Negroes to be sexually more animal—hence the gratuitous intrusion of the manlike ape.” Similar to other American colonists, Thomas Jefferson also feared the outbreak of a slave rebellion. His fear of a slave revolt grew after a violent African rebellion in St. Domingo. Moreover, instead of ending slavery during his time as the third President of the United States, Jefferson would continue it. Therefore, by continuing the institution of slavery, Jefferson proved that all men were ultimately not created equal, hence the paradox of Thomas Jefferson.
Slavery itself is a problem.

Slavery is the idea and practice that one person is inferior to another. What made the institution of slavery in America significantly different from previous institutions was that “slavery developed as an institution based upon race.” Slavery based upon race is what made slavery an issue within the United States, in fact, it was a race issue. In addition, “to know whether certain men possessed natural rights one had only to inquire whether they were human beings.” Slaves were not even viewed as human beings; instead, they were dehumanized and were viewed as property or animals. During this era of slavery in the New World, many African slaves would prefer to die than live a life of forced servitude to the white man. Moreover, the problem of slavery was that an African born in the United States never knew what freedom was. According to Winthrop D. Jordan, “the concept of Negro slavery there was neither borrowed from foreigners, nor extracted from books, nor invented out of whole cloth, nor extrapolated from servitude, nor generated by English reaction to Negroes as such, nor necessitated by the exigencies of the New World. Not any one of these made the Negro a slave, but all.” American colonists fought a long and bloody war for independence that both white men and black men fought together, but it only seemed to serve the white man’s independence to continue their complete dominance over the African slave. The white man must carry a heavy

burden. While slavery ended with the implementation of the Thirteenth Amendment, the issue of white over black would continue throughout American history. Furthermore, while slavery ended in 1865, racism would not end, in fact, it would continue into the twentieth century and even into the twenty-first century.
In the end, Winthrop D. Jordan is able to analyze the problem of slavery through the negative stereotypes, racist laws, and the paradox of Thomas Jefferson. Ultimately, Winthrop D. Jordan wrote The White Man's Burden: Historical Origins of Racism in the United States to explain the origins of racism in the United States. In addition, the author wanted the reader to have an understanding that “white American attitudes toward black have done a great deal to shape and condition American responses to other racial minorities.” In conclusion, the problem of slavery was that slavery was a white over black issue and that it was a white man’s burden.