Custom essays on Thomas R. Dew

The slavery, according to the author of the pamphlet, has one more benefit for society as it serves for equality and democracy among its members. The black, being out of the social system, perform the lowest and most “menial” work so that the white individuals have a chance to avoid humiliating occupations and may feel equal even to the richest person of the South. The relationships between the whites are flavored with nobility, hospitality and mutual respect; the level of income or social rank does not play a slightest role when two whites meet. He emphasises the words of Edwards saying that “[t]he poorest white person seems to consider himself nearly on a level with the richest; and emboldened by this idea, approaches his employer with extended hand, and a freedom, which, in the countries of Europe, is seldom displayed” (298). It is said originally about the West Indies, but the Dew’s implication is evident, he calls on the participants of the dispute to compare the equality between the white southerners and northerners, the relationships of the former are more brotherly and intimate.
A strong, and even causal, link between slavery, on one side, and democracy and republican system, on the other, is “exposed” with the examples from the ancient history. Ancient Greece and Rome were slaveholding societies at their most glorious and luminous times, the idea of republic proper, its first successful implementations, were manifested and performed in the countries where “the slaves were more numerous than the freemen.” The first democratic communities – the Greek poleis – had slavery as an integral part of their social and political system as well.
This phenomenon is also shored up by the authority of Aristotle’s and Burk’s writings, by the examples of famous nations, such as the Spartans, Goths and Poles.It cannot but be recognized, however, than in slaveholding societies freedom were much more valued, more desired, more coveted than in the free ones where it is taken for granted.4. As it can be inferred from the previous argumentation, the insurrection of the black population of the South is virtually inconceivable in the view of the pamphleteer. The apprehensions over possible rebellion seem to Thomas Dew ungrounded, what is more, they are “morally impossible” because the blacks of the United States are civilized compared to the “savages and Koromantyn slaves.” He refutes the allegations that murders, robberies and other felonies are very widespread in the South, and the only cause for that is slavery. He points out that among all the crimes the participation of the slaves is not so high, for “the slave generally loves the master and his family; and few indeed there are, who can coldly plot the murder of men, women, and children; and if they do, there are fewer still who can have the villainy to execute” (298). This is a psychological reason of an insurgency’s a priori failure, if it could be said so.Dew recognizes the problem of the Southampton massacre, but its partial success was not due to the elaborate plot, but was determined by the “demented” fanaticism of Nat. The insurrections in St Domingo seem to be doomed to failure from their very beginning. The “calamities” in London are caused by robberies and different sorts of felony. The conclusion of Dew is that the dominant majority of murders, thefts and other crimes are not caused by the slavery. The statistical arguments claim for objectivity and impartiality, so that the whole argumentation looks is if it is the complete truth.
Further, the author goes into detailed statistical analysis of the ratio between the free and slaves and concludes that even if the latter exceed the former in number. He mentions the revolt of 1740 in South Carolina, it “was put down with the utmost ease” in spite of the fact that the slave population was three times bigger than the free white one, and that was the time when the danger was the greatest. The time when the essay was published did not seem to display the hazard equal, let alone greater, to the one mentioned above. He also turns to the figures and displays that there is no danger for the whites in the future, and in 1929 they will be even “much more secure” than then. This is a statistical reason for insurrection’s impossibility.
Thomas Dew’s vision of the issue is based on the success of insurgencies suppression of the previous times, on the presumable inability of the slaves to plot, organize and execute the rebellion against the slaveholders, on the efficiency of punitive organs and police.