The White Man's Burden essay

A detailed Summary of The White Man's Burden essay

The origins of slavery can be said to have come from economic need, however according to Winthrop D. Jordan's The White Man's Burden, this only constituted for part of the reason. Slavery began solely as an economic necessity in British America in the 1600 and 1700's. Over time however, the reason for human oppression became hatred toward men of different beliefs, appearance and practices.

In Jordan's book, he explains European's first encounters with the Africans. They were described at first with words associated with "black." Dirty, soiled, foul and with malignant purposes. The man of Africa was seen as very peculiar to the white man and due to the mindset of the time, they were seen as dark or evil, simply because the color of their skin. At first, the difference was seen as just that, a difference. However, as Jordan explains, this changes over time. As more and more encounters with the Africans occurred, the English began to view the Black men with hatred. Their "apelike" appearance and savage behavior seemed to convince the British that the Africans were more like animals than humans, like animals, some Europeans felt that the Africans should be captured and exploited. The enslavem

ent of the Negroes in the West Indies was the reason slavery was brought into New England.

Economically, the need for slavery was present in the early colonization of America. Tobacco farming was a very stringent, labor-intensive business and the need for high numbers of workers presented itself early in America's history. However, the oppression of the Negro slaves in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries was due to the lack of the White men's acceptance of Africans. Their many differences seemed to convince the colonists of the lack of humanity in the slaves. In conclusion, the need for slavery in the early British-American colonies and the oppression of the Black people was not solely an economic outcome, yet there would not be one without the other.

Although the initial need for slavery was due to economic reasons, the harsh conditions forced on the Africans in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were not however. The "Great Chain of Being" was one of the many reasons that show the utilization of Black slaves was not exclusively for economic reasons. On the same note, it was perceived throughout the colonies that the African males had a certain sexual difference that made the Anglo men feel inferior Africans, would demean the White men and present a huge problem in their need for control. The fact that some would castrate male slaves

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 920
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English