The Same Old Propaganda

The following are a series of arguments constructed by the apologists for slavery to attack the Abolitionists:

* Slavery is part of God's plan. Had God wanted it otherwise, He would not have allowed slavery. Besides, enslavement is punishment for the sinful sons of Ham. The opponents of slavery are against the Will of God.

* Slavery is rooted in the natural order by which the strong dominate the weak. Opponents of slavery are against the Laws of Nature.

* The Masters are there to help the slaves. Who will feed them, clothe them, lift them out of savagery if not the Masters? Opponents of slavery are heartless enemies of the poor slaves.

* Slaves are the private property of the Masters. Freeing them entails a massive theft of this property. Opponents of slavery are the enemies of property and are thus dangerous communists.

* The slaves were fine until these outside agitators came along stuffing their ignorant heads full of foolish ideas. They used to love Ol' Massa, but now the slave cabins are full of bad talk. Opponents of slavery are just trouble makers.

* What do those Abolitionists know about slaves? They don't live here. They are a bunch of fuzzy minded, upper class intellectuals, who have no idea what plantation life is like. Opponents of slavery are naive and foolish dreamers.

* Abolitionists don't really care about slavery. They just want an issue to make themselves look important, start a political career, or sell books and lecture tickets. Opponents of slavery are just in it for what they can get out of it.

(These are paraphrases of actual statements used by supporters of slavery in the 18^th and 19^th Century.)

Virtually every attack on human progress from the time of the Abolitionist Movement till this very moment has been constructed using variations on these 7 arguments. The fact that our enemies are using 220 year old arguments, statements designed to maintain slavery says it all.