Southern White Slaveholder Guilt :: American America History

Southern White Slaveholder immoralityGuilt is an inevitable effect of slavery. For no matter how much magniloquence and racism is poured into such a system, the simple fact remains that men and women are enslaving men and women. Regardless of how much inferior a slave trader may perceive his salves, it is obvious that his property looks similar, has similar needs, and has similar feelings. on that story is thus the required comparison of situations the slaveholder is free, the slave is in bondage-certainly a position that the slaveholder would find just about disagreeable. So there is no doubt that any slaveholder with any measure of hu humanity within himself would feel viciousness. And in fact, as the differentiate is considered-including the pro-slavery propaganda-the reality of southern guilt is overwhelmingly obvious. The guilt is seen in their words, both private and public, uncovered in the pro-slavery diatribes, and understandable in their humanity. Before this dis cussion of guilt in slaveholders begins, it is necessary to first define how we will define guilt. Certainly if a man says he is guilt-stricken with conviction we can take this as adequate evidence of his guilt. However, certainly not everyone takes this direct an approach. James Oakes makes a good point in recognizing that guilt is not always starkly obvious. Guilt is the crossway of a deeply rooted psychological ambivalence that impels the individual to discharge in ways that violate fundamental norms even as they fill up basic desires (Oakes 120). In other words, guilt creates such inner convulsion that a guilty man will deviate from normal behavior. In this case, we will have to show two things first, a slaveholder is committing pestiferous action at laws (to himself or his family) that show he is in mental distress, and second, that these actions are a result of his status as a slaveholder. It is obvious that we cannot prove the latter(prenominal) point, but we can show i t is the most probable situation for his guilt. Finally, if a slaveholder is making pains above and beyond law and custom, it is most likely that these actions are to alleviate feelings of guilt. This is because we may assume any turn over actions taken by any man are usually taken because he assumes they will benefit him in some manner. And if such an action is costly (money-wise), then it must have some allure in terms of personal happiness. So to show guilt, we will set onwards examples of open confessions of guilt, deviant behavior, and uncommonly good treatment of slaves.