two questions about Slavery in the US
 

Question 1: If you were given the power to alter history and make it so that the US never used slavery would you? why or why not?

Question 2: How different would the US be today if slavery had never been used?
Things to cover:
Race relations
economic affects
role of blacks in America
Africa and carribean nations
the South
the North
polictics and the parties
sports

Stipulation: I want only to cover the slavery of blacks and not things like indentured servents or other forms.

Re: two questions about Slavery in the US
 

Love it or hate it... slavery is what helped establish us as an economic powerhouse.

Our ability to cheaply harvest goods helped fuel our industrial revolution.

It sucks... but the truth is that our country wouldn't be nearly as strong if it wasn't for slavery.

Without slavery... all the other issues become a pointless argument. If we didn't import Africans... I don't think there would be nearly the population of Blacks in the U.S. that there is right now.

Possibly, if they weren't slaves, many blacks would have come to America around the same time the Irish did... but I don't think it would be in such great numbers.

P.S. - we would not be an Olympic power-house if not for slavery. We selectively breed great athletes for darn near 110 year.

Re: two questions about Slavery in the US
 

[ QUOTE ]
Question 2: How different would the US be today if slavery had never been used?
Things to cover:
Race relations
economic affects
role of blacks in America
Africa and carribean nations
the South
the North
polictics and the parties
sports

[/ QUOTE ]

Should only take about twenty years of even superficial research to come close to adequately answering this...so let me be the first to bid adieu to whoever tries to tackle this. See you in 2025.

Re: two questions about Slavery in the US
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Question 2: How different would the US be today if slavery had never been used?
Things to cover:
Race relations
economic affects
role of blacks in America
Africa and carribean nations
the South
the North
polictics and the parties
sports

[/ QUOTE ]

Should only take about twenty years of even superficial research to come close to adequately answering this...so let me be the first to bid adieu to whoever tries to tackle this. See you in 2025.

[/ QUOTE ]

Best guesses will work.

Re: two questions about Slavery in the US
 

I concur... I tried to nip it in the bud...

Re: two questions about Slavery in the US
 

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Question 2: How different would the US be today if slavery had never been used?

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Your questions imply we have quit using slavery -- I don't believe we have. It's now a position that the enslaved can work out of, or educate themselves out of -- that's good. It's no longer a position the enslaved are born into -- that's good. But has it gone away? No. Even reading Adam Smith in 177? he understood it. He recommended freeing the slaves because it was cheaper to do so -- what we have today looks a lot like what he proposed.

Re: two questions about Slavery in the US
 

The idea that slavery was essential to the thriving of the American colonies is flawed and not true. Whatever economic system we had would have worked, because the people who were here would have done the job needed regardless of what institutions we had.

Slavery in the American colonies was an accident of history. Slavery was used by Spain, England, the Netherlands, France and others at the time, so it was adopted here. But it was not ever essential to our survival. Societies just go along with what is accepted around the world, and slavery was accepted at the time.

Some people act as if no one would ever do manual labor unless they were a slave. Clearly this is not true, and reflects the general laziness of people today than it reflects on the facts of history.

Re: two questions about Slavery in the US
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Question 2: How different would the US be today if slavery had never been used?
Things to cover:
Race relations
economic affects
role of blacks in America
Africa and carribean nations
the South
the North
polictics and the parties
sports

[/ QUOTE ]

Should only take about twenty years of even superficial research to come close to adequately answering this...so let me be the first to bid adieu to whoever tries to tackle this. See you in 2025.

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I took one look at his questions and thought the same thing.

Re: two questions about Slavery in the US
 

My professors couldn't answer this, but that doesn't mean it isn't an interesting thing to think about/discuss.

Re: two questions about Slavery in the US
 

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Question 1: If you were given the power to alter history and make it so that the US never used slavery would you? why or why not?

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i would not want to hang out w/ anyone who answered no to this question. i truly hope none of my friends would answer that way.