slavery

The French Revolution and the ending of slavery

When did slavery end? Intellectual historian Zeev Sternhell makes the following observation: “But it is above all the French Revolution that is overlooked. Slavery was in fact abolished by the French Revolution. The slaves, like the Jews, were liberated, and for the first time in history, all men living within the frontiers of a single […]

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Jeffrey Hummel on Slavery as Economic “Deadweight Loss” [Atlas Intellectuals]

In this unit of the Atlas Intellectuals course on Slavery: Was slavery economically negative, not only for the slaves but the slaveowners and/or slave societies in general? Two broad positions have dominated the history of economic thought with respect to chattel slavery. A Fine coverage in Jeffrey Hummel on Slavery as Economic “Deadweight Loss”. Jeffrey

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Stephen Hicks, “The Stain of Slavery” [Atlas Intellectuals]

In this week of the Atlas Intellectuals course on Slavery we feature Stephen Hicks’s Open College Podcast on “The Stain of Slavery.” Topics: The decline of slavery as a moral achievement // History: slavery practiced everywhere before modernity // The internal African slave society and trades // The Atlantic trade and where the slaves went

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Frederick Douglass, “To My Old Master” [Atlas Intellectuals]

In this week of the Atlas Intellectualls course on Slavery we cover Frederick Douglass’s “To My Old Master.” Douglass had escaped slavery and become a leader of the abolitionist movement by the time he wrote this 1848 public letter to Thomas Auld—on the anniversary of his escape. Douglass describes his experiences as a slave, his

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William Wilberforce on the Abolition of Slave Trade [Atlas Intellectuals]

In this week of the Atlas Intellectuals course on Slavery we cover the great William Wilberforce on the Abolition of Slave Trade. Wilberforce (1759-1833) was a British statesman, Anglican, and the leading force behind the 1807 abolition of the slave trade and the 1833 abolition of slavery in Great Britain. “The Slave Trade is the

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Anti-Slavery in the Americas: A Primer [Atlas Intellectuals]

In this week of the Atlas Intellectuals course on Slavery we feature Stephen Hicks’s analysis of slavery’s history: Anti-Slavery in the Americas: A Primer. The first two points: Before Columbus’s Atlantic crossing, slavery had long been practiced by every major culture in the world, with the likely exception of Australia. Virtually no individuals known to

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