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Thomas Paine’s ‘African Slavery in America’
Chattel slavery did not have to happen in America
No man or woman is perfect. And no so called founding father or even those on the periphery of this American experiment when it was created are close to perfect either. There is a lot of bad we never talk about.
But some tried to be better and deserve an occasion hat tip.
Thomas Paine, the man often called ‘Citizen Paine’ now, is in that group.
Paine wrote an essay in 1775 (he was a prolific writer, famous for his pamphlets including the best seller, Common Sense calling for revolution for freedom from the Brits) called “African Slavery.” It gets little play in our educational system. This is because Paine was right and America, which elected to keep the institution and justify it with religious dogma and ideological wickedness, was wrong.
Right off in the essay, Paine refers to the “Americans” seeking to maintain and support the enslavement of African people as “wretches.” While he also calls them “Christians,” he refers to the African slavery they are perpetuating as a “savage practice,” something that is “contrary to the light of nature, to every principle of justice and humanity…”
