The Great Republican Experiment In The United States

The United States of America was deemed The Great Republican Experiment due to the uniqueness of government and societal structure compared to other nations of the time. Like any scientific experiment there must be a certain level of trial and error before progress can be made. One of this nation’s greatest errors was the institution of slavery. It was a vile practice that dehumanized people and caused unwarranted pain and suffering to the enslaved. This error in our history is particularly difficult to forgive because of the number of people who defended slavery to the end. These very people were the ones to call their land, The United States of America, a “free” country and in their very Constitution declared that all men are created equal.
Many slave owners thought of themselves as providers to their slaves and viewed their enslavement as a benefit to all involved. A large number of these southern elites truly believed that their slaves were living happy lives and were the better end of the deal. Southerners defined themselves as being genteel and civilized, but many northerners viewed them as greedy capitalists. However, most northerners were not willing to risk the fracture of the Union because they too had prejudices against blacks. Thomas Jefferson wrote about blacks being inferior and even had a theory that blacks and whites were different species. In Thomas Jefferson’s book Notes on the State of Virginia he wrote “I advance it therefore as a suspicion only, that the blacks, whether originally a distinct race, or made distinct by time and circumstances, are inferior to the whites in the endowments both of body and mind.” This sort of thinking made it easier for anti-abolitionists to justify their position. As long as the public perceived slaves as less than human nothing could be done to stop it. These discriminatory themes continue after the abolition of slavery and can even be felt today. Racism is a very complex issue because how deep the history of it
It took a brave soul to attend an abolitionist meeting like the one that took place in Boston on October 21, 1835. The members of the Female Anti-Slavery society and William Garrison were examples of the bravery it took to go against the grain of popular opinion. The attendees of that meeting risked their lives that day and made themselves targets. Garrison’s position was especially dangerous because a reward had been offered by southerners for his capture and execution. These types of bounties on abolitionists were commonplace and discouraged people to join the fight for abolition. It is a completely rational response to not get involved because of the dangers of the fight. There are always those willing to lay the foundation for progress no matter the cost. William Garrison was one of those people who paved the way for future abolitionists to take a stand. However, this delay of action due to fear allows continued mistreatment of human beings in the country for many more years. When that fear is finally overcome, then the abolitionists began to really have an impact on the future of the