England’s Out
One of the greatest ironies of the history of American slavery is the effect upon it of England stepping out of its role. The decision by England to abolish the slave trade would seem to be a significant historical turning point in American slavery. Herd mentality exists even at the national level, after all, and the natural course of things would seem to have been for America to quickly follow that lead. Ironically, the very opposite occurred. Global profiteering off American slavery expanded and served to entrench the South in unison not only against abolition, but to fight for the expansion of slave-states as America expanded.
A Bonanza of Irony
Samuel Cartwright was allegedly a doctor and professor at the Univ. of Louisiana where he claimed to be an expert on “diseases of the Negro.” The ironic dimension of these claims is further enlarged with his development of the theory that some slaves developed a certain condition he labeled drapetomania and it was only those suffering from physically diseased state of mind that ever attempted to escape to freedom. But wait, there’s more: the ultimate irony of Cartwright’s highly dubious claims is that drapeomania itself could only be developed as a result of single cause: being treated as equals by their owners. It actually does feel necessary at this point to make sure the reader fully understands that this entry is not a bizarre joke. This is true.
Pecans
Although perhaps not as well known in other parts of the country, the pecan is as much a part of white southern culture as slow talking, iced tea and college football. Ironically, this would not be so were not for a black slave. Pecan trees are not naturally suited for economic exploitation. It required the unusually elevated tree grafting expertise of a slave known only as Antoine to transform pecans into a crop only slightly less profitable than cotton.
America’s In
The irony of the effect upon the abolition of slave trafficking by the English runs deep. The part which is more political in nature (though no less economic) is not just ironic, but profoundly humiliating for America. England would actually get around to stepping out of the game until the 19th century, but the pressure to do so was already intense in 1776. So intense, in fact, that the more slavery-lenient founding fathers like Thomas Jefferson saw the writing on the wall: if England abolish slavery, the colonies would be expected to follow. There was simply too much money on the line and so the American Revolution was launched—not in any small part—as a way to ensure the money made with slave labor continued to flow freely.
Racism without Race
Of course, the singularly defining irony of the history of slavery in America is that it is directly responsible for creating racism. The justifications for racial prejudice is steeped in the long tradition of belief that genetic differences account for race and that allowing themselves to become and remain slaves is clear evidence that blacks are inferior to whites, except that, genetically speaking, there is no such thing as race. And so the history of America is defined by persistent and pervasive racism even though technically it is impossible to be prejudiced toward or discriminate against something which does not exist.
