Founding Fathers Influence On Slavery In The United States

How did a country that was founded on the idea of freedom become a place where people’s freedom was rejected and where a person was not even thought of as a whole person? Slavery, although it is a terrible part of the history of the United States that we cannot get rid of, was justified by some Founding Fathers and philosophical thinkers. It is seen in some readings that the thinkers who had such a great influence on the forming of our country, actually thought of slavery as something that was okay. These views and ideas may have influenced some of the Founding Fathers to support slavery, and may have helped lead some to even participate in slavery.
Slavery has always been around, although it was not always as prominent as it was in the early
years of our country. Even in biblical times slavery is seen when the Israelites were enslaved by the Egyptians. During the times of slavery, if you grew up around it and did not know anything else, you probably would not think there is a problem with it. It would become something that was just part of your everyday life. This kind of thinking is what lead to slavery becoming such an issue in the country, and what lead to the separation of the north and south during the civil war. The north could see what was wrong with slavery and why it should be stopped, but the south believing like the Founding Fathers, did not think that there was a problem with their way of life. Part of that thinking is influenced by ideas that happened way before our country was even a thought.
Saint Augustine wrote that Slavery was something that had to happen because of all the sin in the world. He felt that the world has to have slavery because of the “fall of man” and because of the sins that were committed, especially in the Old Testament by Noah. Because of the sins committed by man it causes men to naturally fall to slavery under another man. He also goes on to say that slavery does not happen because of laws, but it happens as a result of our sins. This theme that slavery is a natural occurrence because of different circumstances, is a common theme between ideas of philosophers on slavery.
Aristotle is typically seen as the philosophical thinker who had the most influence on the Founding Fathers and their beliefs.
He points out that slavery is a natural thing that occurs, he even goes on to talk about master-slave as a typical relationship. He mentions that some people are born to be slaves, while others were born to be natural rulers over those slaves. He justified this by saying that those who were meant to be slaves did not have the ability to think properly for themselves, therefore they needed masters to tell them what to do. This justification is just one of many that were made to make slavery seem like it was okay and just.
Out of all the Founding Fathers Jefferson and Washington were probably the most famous for owning slaves. Jefferson himself owned 225 slaves, but was known to talk like he did not support slavery. His actions of owning slaves are the opposite of the beliefs he was trying to portray. Washington was also known for having slaves. The accounts of how he treated his slaves did vary depending on who it was from, but it is known that he did give out harsh punishments to his
slaves.
When Washington moved to Mount Vernon he was technically in the north and had to abide by the laws there, including the laws about slavery. The Gradual Abolition Act had been passed in Pennsylvania in 1780. This act said that slaves older than 28 were to be freed, along with slaves who had moved there and lived there for more than six months. While living there he found a loophole to get out of having to free his slaves after they were there for six months. He would have his wife take the slaves off their property, and outside the state borders every six months. When they did this the six month time frame to free slaves would go back to zero and he could, legally, keep all the slaves that were in his possession no matter their age. When George died he had 317 slaves at mount Vernon.
It is said that in his will, Washington said that his slaves were to be freed. Although knowing that Washington asked that his slaves be freed once he died may bring up theories that he really was not supportive of slavery, seeing the trouble he went to to find loopholes to keep his slaves once at Mount Vernon, how young he was when he started owning slaves, and reports of how he treated slaves tells us that he did in fact support slavery. Washington first owned slaves at the age of eleven, when he inherited his father’s when his father died. As he got older he gained more, especially once he married his wife Martha Custis. She brought with her many slaves from her deceased first husband. There are also accounts of slaves attempting to escape Mount Vernon. With these attempted excapings it shows that the possible punishment for being caught seemed more appealing than staying and working. If Washington did not support slavery would he treat his slaves so bad that it was worth the risks to try and escape?
The Declaration of Independence is clearly contrary to the idea of slavery as seen when Thomas Jefferson, wrote that “all men are created equal.” The way that Jefferson and the other white men thought of slaves gave them a loophole to get out of following that part of the Declaration of Independence with slaves. In their minds slaves were inferior, unable to think properly, and, in some cases, not even considered whole men. It is seen later in 1787 with the ⅗ Compromise that slaves were not considered to be a whole person, they were only counted as being ⅗ of a person. When the Declaration of Independence was being written they had this same mindset, so they could appear good with their words, but in the end they were still supporting slavery and allowing the whites to get away with it.
The idea that slaves were not a whole person, and that they were not able to make decisions for themselves can be traced back directly to the ideas of Aristotle.
He says that slaves could not make their own decisions to live their own lives, which justifies the idea of owning slaves. Slaves, not being able to think for themselves, also backs up his idea that some people were naturally born to be slaves. If someone is not able to think and fulfill their life on their own, that justified making them a slave in his mind. This idea may even be seen as a way of making owning slaves look like the good and right thing to do, making it look like slave owners were helping these “inferior” people be able to
live.
The Founding Fathers and even some philosophers continued to find little loopholes in order to make their actions seem acceptable, and possibly even the right thing to do. The Founding Fathers were able to take the ideas of philosophers, especially Aristotle, and use them as justifications to make their actions seem rational. They would try and use their words and writings to make them seem not as bad, but the key to succeeding in that was finding these loopholes that still allowed for slavery, despite all the laws about freedom and equality. As seen with Washington they used loopholes to keep their own slaves, not just to make them seem better to the people of the country. The words and documents created by the Founding Fathers try to cover up the slavery that was such a huge part of many of their lives, but there is evidence that can show that their actions to not agree with the words they put on paper. There was a lot of loopholes and deceitful ways of thinking that allowed them to participate in this dark, shameful past of our country. With a little research it can be seen that although the Founding Fathers seem to be all for equality with the ways they went about creating the founding documents, they were indeed participants in the ways that caused so much controversy and damage within our young country.