Slavery
The issue of has been touched upon often in the course of history. The institution of was addressed by French intellectuals during the Enlightenment. Later, during the French Revolution, the National Assembly issued the Declaration of the Rights of Man, which declared the equality of all men. Issues were raised concerning the application of this statement to the French colonies in the West Indies, which used slaves to work the land. As they had different interests in mind, the philosophes, slave owners, and political leaders took opposing views on the interpretation of universal equality. Many of the philosophes, the leaders of the Enlightenment, were against . They held that ...
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fact that the Christian religion was fundamentally opposed to Black but employed it anyway in order to work the plantations that financed their countries. All in all, those influenced by the ideals of the Enlightenment, equality, liberty, the right to dignity, tended to oppose the idea of .
Differing from the philosophes, the political leaders and property owners tended to see as an element that supported the economy. These people believed that if and the slave trade were to be abolished, the French would lose their colonies, commerce would collapse and as a result the merchant marine, agriculture and the arts would decline. Their worries were somewhat merited; by 1792 French ships were delivering up to 38,000 slaves and this trade brought in 200 million livres a year. These people had economic incentives to support , however others were simply ignorant. One man, Raynal, said that white people were incapable of working in the hot sun and blacks were much better ...
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Slavery. (2007, June 22). Retrieved May 21, 2025, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Slavery/66831
"Slavery." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 22 Jun. 2007. Web. 21 May. 2025. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Slavery/66831>
"Slavery." Essayworld.com. June 22, 2007. Accessed May 21, 2025. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Slavery/66831.
"Slavery." Essayworld.com. June 22, 2007. Accessed May 21, 2025. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Slavery/66831.
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