Examining the Economical and Ethical Debates free essay sample

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Aloud Quinoa has been heavily analyzed and critiqued ever since it was published in London in 1789. Disputes over Quinoas Narrative include debates over his actual birthplace, the consistency of his factual information, his sanity, and even whether Quinoa was the legitimate author of the book. All of these issues can be used to disprove Quinoas story as being true (or not entirely true), thus diminishing the usefulness and effectiveness of his book as a backbone of the abolition movement.Slavery had become an extremely lucrative business for slave-owners and such, and essentially brought many countries to power through its successful business due to the free labor as well as through the slave trade. However, Aloud Quinoa strongly opposed the institution of slavery by proclaiming that slavery was immoral, unjust, unethical, and that Africans must not be oppressed because they should be seen as equals to Europeans. We will write a custom essay sample on Examining the Economical and Ethical Debates or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page He also refuted the notion that slavery could be justified economically, as he modeled an economic theory justifying an economic and immemorial boost that would develop with the abolition of slavery. Consequently, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Aloud Quinoa was seen as a monumental threat to the pro-slavery movement, causing those opposing the anti-slavery movement to initiate false condemnations in order to protect their profits and economic gains. Quinoas narrative provided a first-hand documentation of a real slaves life long struggle and quest to abolish slavery. He recounts the misery of the middle passage by saying, with the loathsomeness of the stench, and crying together, I became so sick that Owe wished for the last friend, death, to relieve me (68). He exposes the horrors, inhumanity, and immortality that slavery and the slave trade instigated from a rare perspective. His experience as a slave even went so far as to cause him to wish to die, rather than continue living as a slave. Due to his background as an ex-slave, the trauma and despicable experiences that he conveys in his book are able to connect with readers on a far more emotional and personal level than other pamphlets of the time.Quinoa illustrates his views by giving examples of his constant oppression as he dinettes many slaves being tortured: I was often a witness to cruelties of every kind, which were exercised on my unhappy fellow slaves(107). Slaves were not seen as equals and were commonly beaten and abused, as Equation continues saying l have seen a negro beaten till some of his bones were broken, for even letting a pot boil over Driving the poor creatures to despair, and making them seek refuge in death(1 09). Quinoa lived through these horrible brutalities, and makes an imperative emphasis In his book to prove that slavery was extremely inhumane and unacceptable through his own experiences as well as witnessing the experiences of others. In essence, Quinoas story of frustration and oppression is a small example of the frustration, persecution, and repulsions that hundreds of thousands of slaves had been dealing with for hundreds of years while vying for a chance of freedom.He says that he hopes that his book will serve as a lesson of morality and religion, which will help people become better and wiser (p. 255) upon reading it. Additionally, Quinoa was convinced that ending slavery and the slave trade would actually result in economic and commercial rookeries for both Britain and Africa. He says, When you make men slaves you deprive them of half their virtue.. . You stupefy them with stripes, and think it necessary to keep them in a state of ignorance; and yet you assert that they are incapable of learning(11 3).Quinoa points out that the reason that Europeans viewed Africans as unequal and unable to sustain any kind of structured civilization, culture, and economy stemmed from the fact that African slaves were never given a chance to be educated, enlightened, or even think for themselves. Their potential was essentially smothered by the oppression, racism, and brutality that came with slavery and the slave trade. Not only were the African peoples being ;sated, but so was the African land as a continent with potential for prosperity and commercial growth.He says, l doubt it not, if a system of commerce was established in Africa, the demand for manufacturers would most rapidly augment, as the native inhabitants will insensibly adopt to the British fashions, manners, customers, He proposed that if given an equal and fair chance, the African people and entry of Africa as a whole would open up an entirely new and prosperous market to trade and commerce with Britain. He asserts that a market in Africa would be just as successful as the newly developed market in Britain and that Africa is full of hidden treasures. .. Laundry, enterprise, mining. TTS lays open to an endless field of commerce to the British manufacturers and merchant adventurer. .. The abolition of slavery would do a universal good(213). Quinoa recognized that his economic proposal of a potentially successful arrest and culture in Africa in a free world was totally and diametrically opposite of what some interested people assert,(213) as many people opposed his moral and economic stance. The institution of slavery was incredibly profitable and lucrative to a large number of merchants, slave owners, plantation owners, farmers, and investors.Slavery provided free labor which meant that no wages needed to be paid to the slaves, resulting in monumental profit margins for those who used slaves to produce goods, such as sugar, cotton, or tea to be sold and traded in the market. The use of laves had become a necessary evil for survival for many plantation owners and farmers who depended on slaves to bring about profits to their business in order to provide for their families and to ultimately survive. The abolition of slavery from this perspective would cause a destruction of a structured economy and commerce in Britain which was rooted and upheld by slavery. If slaves were taken away from this production process, it was feared that the economy would crash and that chaos would ensue. Those who were in power and relied on slaves needed a counterargument against Equations abolition event, so they resorted to finding and pinpointing any possible flaw in his book in order to support their anti-abolition stance in the face of adversity and pressure.It was a money-driven and selfish attempt to protect the stability and profits that slavery provided to those who owned slaves (or those who benefited from the use of them). Therefore, I feel that the arguments and criticisms against the book should be discredited for the most part, thus making the book a legitimate source and a useful anti-slavery tool. Additionally, even if the arguments against the legitimacy and truthfulness of he book w ere rightfully justified I still would agree with Quinoas theories and visions of abolition.Though slavery was prosperous and beneficial to some, it was absolutely immoral and unethical and the abolition of slavery would allow for prosperity to an enormously larger amount of people due to the emergence of a new market in a country that was twice as large as Europe. Africans would obviously benefit economically, socially, morally, and ethically and the Europeans would be still be subject to increased commercial interests and economical gains as well.