In Defense of Slavery As time went on many throughout the nation realized how dependent the U.S. as a whole was on slavery Many important people sought to justify and explain why slavery was allowable in America Most people viewed slavery as a “necessary evil” in one way or another, however there were different rationale for this “necessary evil”

In Defense of Slavery Justification 1:Don’t Make Me Do That We have to have slavery so there’s someone to do the hard and undesirable work in the nation Some people expanded on this view saying that much of the work done by slaves was “unfit” for whites

In Defense of Slavery Justification 2: Tiger By The Tail We want to let the slaves go, but we’re afraid of what will happen if we do, so we won’t. Some people expanded on this view to claim that blacks and whites could never coexists in the U.S. This lead to the creation of groups that called for the creation of colonies in Africa for former slaves

In Defense of Slavery Justification 3: For Their Own Good Some thought black people were so inferior that keeping them enslaved actually helps them. People claimed that the overall separation of the races through slave was even mutually beneficial

In Defense of Slavery Justification 4: Teaching and Americanizing Some believed slavery in America was teaching Africans to be better people, which will be good for them in the long run. Being exposed to things like Christianity and Democracy was viewed as a way to improve the African race as a whole.

Match The Defense We have talked about four of the major philosophies which were used to justify slavery I am now going to provide you with a quote from a famous American leader Your job will be to match the quotes with the justifications with just talked about

Roger B. Taney, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (1857) Black people are “altogether unfit to associate with the white race” and they “might justly and lawfully be reduced to slavery for [their] benefit.”

Thomas Jefferson (1820) “We have the wolf by the ear, and we can neither hold him, nor safely let him go. Justice is in one scale, and self-preservation in the other.”

James Henry Hammond, South Carolina politician (1858) “In all societies there must be a class to do the menial duties, to perform the drudgery of life.”

Robert E. Lee General of the Confederate Army (1856) “The blacks are…better off here than in Africa, morally, physically, and socially. The painful discipline they are undergoing is necessary for their further instruction as a race, and will prepare them, I hope, for better things.”

The Worst of the Worst Obviously all of these justifications are horrible and illogical What I want you to do now is to take a second to consider which of these justifications you find the most upsetting On the same sheet of paper you did the last activity write which justification you disliked the most and WHY.