A chicken's egg is round, soft, white, and extremely delicate. The egg holds within it the power and necessary components to manifest a healthy, able-bodied creature. The egg might be weak in the sense that its structure is fragile, however, the strength of the life inside is overwhelming. Prejudice holds with it an omnipotent strength as it is hatched in the privacy of the weak minded. The power of prejudice is quite strong in comparison to the force of slavery. In order for slavery to prevail as an institution, physical force is necessary, whereas no such force is needed to sustain ideas of prejudice. Since the mind is stronger than might, prejudice has had a longer lasting affect on American life, whereas slavery has drawn to a close with the legislation of the 15th Amendment to the Constitution under the United States central government. When a physical catalyst is added then to the power of racial prejudice, such epochs as slavery result. Carl Degler presents such!

a theory in his article, "Slavery and Race Prejudice," which provides a critique of Mary and Oscar Handlins', "Origins of the Southern Labor System." A close examination of Degler's critique clarifies th

In the eyes of Degler, the start of slavery in the seventeenth century, derived from prejudice. Prejudice is caused by that which is unclear or out of context. Therefore the color, creed, or religion of an individual or group of people when taken out of the integrated normality of others, are feared because of difference. Degler best described his thesis behind his argument when he states, "instead of slavery being the root of the discrimination visited upon the Negro in America, slavery was itself molded by the early colonists' discrimination against the outlander"10. Therefore, the institution of slavery itself perpetuated the existence of this racial prejudice, but was not the base needed for the existence of slavery. The strength of the belief in racial prejudice, however, is more powerful a force than the physical attributes of slavery ever could be. That is why prejudice remains today. The Handlins' argument proves the fact that, yes, slavery had many economic ad!

4Carl Degler, "Slavery and the Genesis of American Race Prejudice." Comparative Studies in Society and History, II (1959): 52

With the founding of the New World (North America), there was a prejudice against Africans from first contact due to skin color. Degler asserts, "The Englishmen's treatment of another dark-skinned [people]...further supports the argument that a special and inferior status was accorded the Negro virtually from the first arrival."4 The means of slavery came about from a pre-existing notion as to inferiority of the Africans themselves prior to the ideals of indentureship. The African was not judged by personality, but placed into physical inequality based on the principles of race difference. Degler exclaims, "The colonists of the early seventeenth century were well aware of a distinction between indentured servitude and slavery...English colonists had for learning of a different treatment for Negroes from that for white servants"5. Not only were the blacks enslaved to make the colonies' economy better, but once t

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1369
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)