http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=00104175%28195910%292%3A1%3C49%3ASATGOA%3E2.0.CO%3B21

Edmund Morgan, "Slavery and Freedom: The American Paradox" Journal of American History, 59 (1972), 5-29.

http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=00218723%28197206%2959%3A1%3C5%3ASAFTAP%3E2.0.CO%3B2-K

For instructions on how to retrieve the essays on JSTOR see sylabus or below.

The Problem:

      Perhaps more than any other institution, African-American slavery shaped the formative years of American life and, even after its demise in a bloody civil war, continued to determine much of the course of American history. Slavery stood at the center of the American economy and American politics, and influenced the development of American attitudes and patterns of social relations--not simply between blacks and whites but among black people and among white people--from the most public to the most intimate.

     Not surprisingly, the origins of chattel bondage have been of great concern to historians of the American people, and to the people themselves. Numerous studies explaining the origins of what white Americans came to call their "peculiar institution" have been published, many during the last generation. Also, not surprisingly, scholars have disagreed profoundly as to why slavery came into being. But the debate, for the most part, has not turned on the issue of facts. Indeed, "the facts" of the case are relatively few and generally agreed upon. The issue has turned instead on how the facts are understood and interpreted. You have been asked to read three interpretive studies of the origins of American slavery. All present more or less the same facts interpreted in different ways. You are asked first to consider these facts, the lectures on the subject, your discussions in class, and any readings of your own. In so doing, consider the following questions:

These questions are posed not to be answered in part or in total--but to give you a means to think about the issues involved.

     1. What did English people think of Africans in the early seventeenth century? How did their attitudes affect their first confrontations with African people? Do "attitudes" determine action? What is the relationship between "racism" and discrimination?

      2. When did the first black people arrive in English mainland North America? What was their status? How were they treated? How were they treated compared to white laborers?

      3. What was the status of white laborers in England and in English mainland North America during the seventeenth century? How were they treated? How were they treated in comparison to black laborers?

     4. What was the nature of the relationship between black laborers and white laborers in seventeenth-century English mainland North America? Did this relationship change over time?

      5. Englishmen and Africans did not always confront each other in the same setting. How do regional differences--the West Indies, New England, the Chesapeake, and lowcountry South Carolina and Georgia---influence race relations in the seventeenth century?

     6. When did slavery receive legal sanction on English mainland North America? Why was this legislation passed? How did this legislation affect the status of black people? What is the relationship between law and social reality?

     7. Is it possible to write a history of slavery and not read America's subsequent racial conflict into it?

     8. In writing the history of slavery, what are the real facts, how do we know them, how can we separate fact and interpretation on this emotional subject?

Again, these questions are not to be answered in whole or part in your essay; they serve only as a study guide.

Write:

Having considered the issues involved, write an essay of approximately five but no more than ten double-spaced typewritten pages explaining why slavery came to English mainland North America. As always, economy of language and felicity of expression count. Your papers are due in lecture October 4 in class.

Be on notice:

Regarding absence and lateness: the following proclamation is issued:

Whereas it may come to pass that one or more individuals, whether through dilatoriness, dereliction, irresponsibility, or chutzpah, may seek respite and surcease from escritorial demands through procrastination, delay, and downright evasion;

And whereas this unhappy happenstance contributes mightily to malfeasance on the part of parties of the second part (i.e.,students, the instructed, YOU) and irascibility on the part of us (i.e., US);

Be it therefore known, understood, apprehended, and comprehended:

That all assignments must reach your TA, or be tendered to the Department Receptionist, on or by the exact hour announced in class, and that failure to comply with this wholesome and most generous regulation shall result in the assignment forfeiting one half letter grade for each day for which it is tardy, "one day" being defined as a 24-hour period commencing at the announced hour on which the assignment is due; and that the aforementioned reduction in grade shall continue for each succeeding day of delay until either the assignment shall be remitted or its value shrunk unto nothingness. And let all acknowledge that the responsibility for our receiving papers deposited surreptitio (i.e., in my mailbox or under his or her door), whether timely or belated, resides with the aforementioned second-part parties (i.e., you again), hence onus for the miscarriage of such items falls upon the writer's head (i.e., until we clutch your scribbles to our breasts, I assume you have not turned them in, all protestations to the contrary notwithstanding).

Be it nevertheless affirmed:

That the greater part of justice residing in mercy, it may behoove us acting entirely through our gracious prerogative, to award an extension in meritorious cases, such sufferances being granted only upon consultation with us, in which case a negotiated due date shall be proclaimed; it being perfectly well understood that failure to observe this new deadline shall result in the immediate and irreversible failure of the assignment (i.e., an "F"), its value being accounted as a null set and less than that of a vile mote. And be it further noted that routine disruptions to routine (i.e., lack of sleep occasioned by pink terps dancing on the ceiling of your dorm) do not conduce to mercy, but that severe dislocations brought on by Acts of God (exceedingly traumatic events to the body and/or soul, such as having the earth swallow one up on the way to delivering the assignment) perpetrated either on oneself or on one's loving kindred, do.

And we wish to trumpet forth:

That our purpose in declaiming said proclamation, is not essentially to terminate the wanton flouting of didactic intentions, but to encourage our beloved students to consult with us, and apprehend us of their difficulties aforehand (i.e., talk to me, baby), so that the cruel axe of the executioner fall not upon their Grade Point Average or stipend, and smite them with a vengeance.

FINALLY: While some folks find the reading a burden, others want more. Although you are not required to do additional reading for this paper, there are many other articles and books on the origins of slavery. You are welcome to read them and employ them in your paper, but you may NOT substitute them for any of the above.

Here is a short bibliography of useful studies of the origins of slavery in the U.S.

     For some more general theoretical accounts of the origins of slavery (not necessarily on mainland English North America) see E. D. Domar, "The Causes of Slavery or Serfdom: A Hypothesis," Journal of Economic History, 30 (1970), 12-32; Stanley L. Engerman, "Some Considerations Relating to Property Rights in Man," Journal of Economic History, 33 (1973), 43-65; Philip D. Curtin, "Epidemiology and the Slave Trade," Political Science Quarterly, 83 (1968), 190-216. David B. Davis, The Problems of Slavery in Western Culture; and Orlando Patterson, Slavery and Social Death. The above are just a sampling of a very large literature.

GOOD LUCK.

Oh yes: J-STOR (The JSTORR links can be found above)

J-STOR FOR ARTICLES ON THE WEB

The articles by the Handlins, Degler, and Morgan on the origins of slavery can be found electronically J-STOR. Here are two ways to get to J-STOR.

One: To use J-STOR, go to http://www.lib.umd.edu;click on "Databases"; go to “J”; the database J-STOR by searching for it alphabetically by author and title. Citations are on your syllabus Note you are search historical journals, so check that box.
Or go directly to J-STOR by 1. Go to http://www.jstor.org/; Hit "enter JSTOR.”; Click on "Search JSTOR."; Fill in the author, title, and date box according to the article you would like to search. Citations are on your syllabus; Click on "search."; Click on "article" to read the piece. You can also download the article to a disk or print it.

Plagiarism:

There are few intellectual offenses more serious than plagiarism—defined in the University’s Honor Code as “intentionally or knowingly representing the words or ideas of another as one's own in any academic exercise.” in academic and professional contexts.

Plagiarizing the work of another will mean an automatic failure in this course, probably an XF on your transcript ("failure due to academic dishonesty"), and may mean dismissal from the University. If you have any doubts as to what exactly plagiarism is please do see University’s Honor Code. http://www.shc.umd.edu/code.html#introduction.`