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Bigmack

(8,020 posts)

3. I used to tell my students...

Reply to kpete (Original post)

Sun Apr 27, 2014, 01:16 PM

Apr 2014

... that the slaveholders would hire Irishmen to do the really dangerous stuff. No big loss. Slaves were worth money. Irishmen weren't.

Smart masters didn't abuse their slaves. Well, too badly, anyway, since it reduced their value.

I made sure to point out that the obvious mistreatment of slaves was the worst part, but the most insidious part of slavery was it's measurement of human beings on an economic scale. A field hand was worth so much, but a house slave was worth more. Money, that is.

... and the psychological damage...? No money involved, so according to the monetary value system, no harm done. Right?

... and the damage to families...? Since they were only cattle... and cattle don't have families...no harm done. Right?

My students got the full picture.

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Highlight:

For any neo-confederate acquaintance who may wonder aloud if slavery was so bad after all.... [View all] kpete Apr 2014 OP

Further educational material. Skidmore Apr 2014 #1

k/r Dawson Leery Apr 2014 #2

I used to tell my students... Bigmack Apr 2014 #3

Most of us were convinced as very very young children... How is it we create deniers of history-- hlthe2b Apr 2014 #4

I still gasp for air when I think of Howard Zinn's description of how many slaves Hoyt Apr 2014 #5