Slavery?

 I do not need to sit here and explain to you why slavery is wrong, nor can I explain to you why slavery is right. I will just sit here and repeat to you what some of my classmates points were for illustrating to the class, why slavery is moral or why it is immoral.

    First up on the pro-slavery aspect we have Samuel Morse. He states that slavery is supported by the bible, and that it would be a sin to oppose such a thing. Now Andrew Jackson, on the other hand, took it in a more economical fashion. He says that slavery is fueling the nation, and that taking it away could lead to a depression. Basically, he uses it to keep him rich and in the elite class. Thomas Jefferson was on the fence about slavery, but on his pro-slavery side, he illustrated that whites are more superior, but he also wanted to reform slavery and treat the slaves better. Finally in a political turn, Henry Clay supported slavery in order to keep his political position, but morally he was against it. In the end, it seems as though most pro-slavery people supported it for selfish reasons, instead of thinking from the other side.

    On the opposing side, there were several individuals who were on the anti-slavery side. For example, Fredrick Douglass, who was a slave himself, retells of how slaves were treated awfully. He tells that masters had mental and physical control over their slaves, and that they did not educate them. John Brown witnessed a 12 year old black boy being beaten, and was so bothered by it that he killed several slavery supporters in retaliation. Once Thomas Jefferson switched, he realized that black people should be included in "all men are created equal." Another important figure in the battle of pro versus anti slavery was Benjamin Franklin. He had once owned slaves before, like Jefferson, but realized that it violates humans rights and exploits those individuals. As you can see there are several people, even if they did not at first, that support the belief that black people should be free and should be able to be their own person.

In conclusion, I am not here to decide for you which side of history you should be on; I am here to give you the facts, and to let you make your own decisions. Just try to imagine if the shoe was on the other foot.