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PaperclipPerfector  2yr ago (text post)   28986 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of September 25, 2023

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Wait a minute. Most of the "sparsely-populated, effectively undefended land" in the US is prairie, mountains, deserts etc., which is all unsuited for chattel slavery. On a different note, Brazil also has enormous quantities of sparsely-populated, effectively undefended land as well, and much more African slaves were trafficked there than to North America, and yet slavery ended there peacefully.

I understand that we can make all sorts of arguments on how US history could have turned out much worse this particular way or that particular way. But I think the important point to make in this context is that hundreds of thousands of war dead could have been spared.

and much more African slaves were trafficked there than to North America, and yet slavery ended there peacefully.

A higher flow doesn't necessarily mean a higher stock if they were dying as fast as they were imported. The US census records 4 million slaves in 1860, while this shows only 700,000 freed in Brazil's abolition.

Most of the "sparsely-populated, effectively undefended land" in the US is prairie, mountains, deserts etc., which is all unsuited for chattel slavery.

Why? Not enough cash-crop/resource value in the land?

On a different note, Brazil also has enormous quantities of sparsely-populated, effectively undefended land as well, and much more African slaves were trafficked there than to North America, and yet slavery ended there peacefully.

A fair counter-point. On the other hand, was brazil's approach and attitude toward Africans at all similar to that of America? It's hard to imagine American culture, north or south, producing Ham's Redemption.

But I think the important point to make in this context is that hundreds of thousands of war dead could have been spared.

And those lives spared are trading off directly against the millions continuing to live and die in bondage, with a good many of those spared being the very people benefiting from and enforcing that bondage. It's not obvious that the tradeoff would be worth it.

Not enough cash-crop/resource value in the land?

Yes.

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