Slavery in America: An Analysis From a Slightly Different Viewpoint.
It is undeniable that less than two hundred years ago, the United States of America was a drastically different nation, certainly quite unlike anything today's citizens have ever experienced. The most obvious difference in the nation at that time was that the ability to buy and sell human beings was widely practiced and was considered to be extremely important to aspects of the American way of life. Our constitution states that all men are created equal. At that time, however, the definition of men' was undoubtedly less broad than what it is commonly thought of as encompassing today. In this period of American history, the word men included only male citizens of Caucasian descent. For Americans in the 19th Century, the practice of slavery was a way of life. It was especially important to the economy of the nation, specifically in the agriculturally orientated southern states. When modern references are made concerning the issue of slavery, I've noticed that it has become slightly cliché in that the issue is depicted in a sympathetic tone, almost always referring to the plight of the blacks, the hardships they faced and their oppression at that time. A new approach to understanding slavery can be seen when examining it from the perspective of others, specifically white slave owners. In doing so, many new topics for interesting discussion are created as well as an entirely new angle of approach to the concept of slavery. In Celia, A Slave, by Melton A. McLaurin, a very factual and precise description of one girl's experience as a slave is chronicled. In the work, McLaurin does a good job of covering many available issues in such a broad topic. .
One of the issues mentioned as McLaurin starts off, is the economical advantage that slavery offers. The American south was extremely suitable for farming and agricultural development making it the central location for those industries.
