Heather Warner
Oct. 23, 2000
Economics in Film
(Economics 100 (02))
Professor Gabriel
An unfortunate part of
history and labor involves European, American, and African slave
traders engaging in the lucrative trade in humans. The movies,
A Respectable Trade and Amistad show two slightly
different slants to the same evil side of the concept of slavery.
They point to an all too realistically gruesome picture of this
despicable economic system. Although slavery contains some similarities
to capitalism, it contains in it many differences as well, making
it a distinct system from others that have existed.
Slavery. The term and all
that it embodies inspires revulsion, anger, and sadness. The history
of this nation is intertwined with slavery-as many things are
the result of African-American sweat and blood-(brought to these
shores in slave ships). The institution of slavery had a significant
impact on this society's institutions, such as the family, and
on its social thought, law, and economy.
Slavery was a form of dependent
labor that can be differentiated from other forms by the fact
that in any society the general consensus is that it was considered
to be the most degrading and most sever. It can be characterized
by a relationship that was founded on the notion of dominance
and power. To mention briefly, humans have created other forms
of dependent labor as well: serfdom, indentured labor, and peonage.
However these are not the same as slavery. A "serf"
was usually subject to the law, and thus had some rights of his
or her own. A serf was also usually bound to the land in comparison
to the slave who was usually bound to his master and thus had
to live where the master told him to and could be sold whenever
the master wanted to sell them for money. The serf also usually
owned his grain, livestock, implements, etc… but the slave
owned nothing-usually not even his or her clothes. The lord's
interference with the serf over marriage and reproduction to form
a family was much less than the owner's (master's) interference
with the slave. Furthermore, serfs often had to pay taxes, serve
in the army, etc… whereas slaves were usually exempt from
such things since they were considered to be chattel.
An "indentured servant"
was a person who borrowed money and thus usually "voluntarily"
agreed to work off the debt during a specific time period. While
working off the debt they essentially became a servant, to those
from whom they had borrowed money, for a specific period of time.
Although contracts varied, sometimes they specified that the servants,
when set free, were to be set free with some money, or a plot
of land, or even a spouse. In contrast, if slaves were set free
they simply had to hope for the generosity of their owners to
prevail in any shape or form-which it often did not.
"Peons" were another
group of laborers. They were people that were either forced to
work off debts or they were people who were criminals. They did
not have any prespecified length of time to work. Instead they
simply had to work until their debts had been paid off. (Encyclopedia
Britannica)
Seeing what slavery is not,
one must then ask, what is "slavery?" A Basic definition
is one which states that,
Frances (and others) demonstrate
this concept of slaves as property numerous times throughout A
Respectable Trade not only in the actions that they display
but even more directly in many of the things that they say. Frances
says, "Moses I know that you're our property, but I hope
that you don't think ill of us." The status of property can
also be further demonstrated with the quotation from Josiah when
he says, "If anyone else runs I'll sell you on the docs like
a barrel of sugar." Furthermore, all the slaves that he purchased
were made to wear metal bands around their necks with the words
"Josiah Cole" on them, signifying who they belonged
to-who's property they were.
In all reality, there is no
complete consensus as to the definition of a slave or what slavery
entailed-but rather there is merely general agreement over some
common characteristics. Slavery was often justified by stating
that it helped to civilize "savage Africans." In A
Respectable Trade the first step taken in this direction was
with the naming of the slaves. Furthermore, making the slaves
more civil was the primary task assigned to Frances. Josiah married
Frances for economic purposes, but also for the purpose of teaching
and civilizing the slaves and giving them lessons in conduct and
good manners, so that they could then eventually be sold for a
profit as domestic house slaves.
In Amistad many held
the opinion that slavery was interwoven into society and to get
rid of it would be to destroy humans…to take away life's
blood. Calahoon apparently said at one point, "There has
never existed a civilized society in which one segment did not
thrive upon the labor of another…Slavery has always been
with us and it isn't sinful, it's natural and inevitable…"
Slavery was not (and is not)
unique to any one particular type of economy. It has existed for
a long time in all various types of economies. It is interesting
to note that slavery did exist as far back as in the "Ancient
World." Some say that there is evidence that slavery actually
existed as early as the 4th millennium BC. Slavery also lasted
into the "Middle Ages" and then into the discovery of
the "New World" in the 15th Century. In fact, this discovery
of the "New World" created huge demand for human labor,
and when European slave ships first appeared along the African
coast, chiefs often met the ships at the shore and bartered human
wealth in exchange for weapons, ammunition, metal, liquor, cloth,
etc… ("Slavery.") Although slavery seems to have
been present everywhere, it appears to have been most especially
important in the development of the Western civilization and the
Islamic civilization. (Encyclopedia Britannica)
A rather simplified description
of slavery is that it is the ownership, dominance and exploitation
of one human being by another. The owner extracted work or services
without pay and could deny the slave freedom of activity and mobility.
Slaves were primarily used for personal and domestic service-even
going so far as to include their use in concubinage. In A
Respectable Trade one of the black woman slaves is raped
by Sir Charles. In Amistad we are shown, at one point,
white crewmen forcing themselves all over the black women slaves
during the voyage.
Generally the owner was responsible
only for providing minimal food, shelter, and clothing for their
slaves. Oftentimes slaves lived in shabby, one-roomed cabins if
they were on plantations, or else in a vacant room of the main
house. They often slept on the cold, dirt floors since no beds
were provided for them. (S. Trey) In A Respectable Trade
this is shown as the slaves are at first kept in the cold basement
and forced to sleep on the hard, bare floor, while clad in chains
and shivering all through the night. In Amistad, while
imprisoned during the process of the trial, their sleeping conditions
are bad as well-having to sleep on the floor.
The owners were able to separate
members of the slave family and could permit or deny marriages
as they saw fit. Remember, the slave was regarded as an article
of property (chattel) and could be sold or given away whenever
the owner wanted to. (Encyclopedia Britannica) Josiah sells Ruth
without even blinking and eye in A Respectable Trade. Once
Matthew is recaptured Josiah also eventually sells him too. All
that matters to Josiah is that a profit be made. Slaves did not
have the "luxury" of falling under the jurisdiction
of laws that protect citizens and could thus be exploited very
easily, as the movies vividly demonstrate.
Furthermore, because the slave
was considered to be a piece of property, he belonged to someone
else and could be considered as moveable or immovable property-whatever
the owner desired. Slaves had very few rights, and could be, and
usually were, abused. Legally slaves often had no kin, and thus
no relatives could stand up for them or take revenge for them.
The slave was seen as an outsider and thus his rights to participate
in political decision making or other social activities were few
to none. The product of the slave's labor was claimed by his owner.
In other words, we can see how slavery was a form of dependent
labor and that the slave himself or herself was deprived of personal
liberty. Another idea to keep in mind is that slavery was almost
always involuntary. (Encyclopedia Britannica)
This being said one might
wonder, if slavery was involuntary then how could slaves be obtained?
There were plenty of ways in which to gather slaves for labor.
They could, for example, be captured in war. However, the majority
were kidnapped against their will, and then because of being kidnapped
many eventually were born into slavery simply because their parents
had the misfortunes of being captured. Still others were occasionally
enslaved as a form of punishment for crime or debt, some others
were sold into slavery by their parents, and interestingly enough,
occasionally it occurred as a form of self-sale (in hopes of escaping
destitution and someday obtaining an elite position). (Encyclopedia
Britannica)
Slavery itself, as well as
the voyage to the United States and elsewhere was brutal at best.
In general there were "Three Passages into Slavery."
First, "The Slave Factories," the Africans were somehow
brought into the system (for example they were captured). Then
they were tied together so that they could not escape. They were
examined for health, overall fitness, and strength. Then they
might be branded so that they were easily identified as being
slaves. In A Respectable Trade it is mentioned that once
put to work on a plantation they would have their tongues pieced
so that they were easily recognizable. Amistad shows the
loading process, before the long voyage, explicitly. The slaves
had chains and ropes all over their bodies: hands, feet, necks.
They were loaded onto the ships at gunpoint, and were sprayed
with cold water, while being whipped, beaten, and kicked so that
they would move faster.
The next part "The Full
Passage" was filled with stench, disease, and death. This
was when slaves were locked together and packed very closely,
still with chains around their hands, feet, and necks. Amistad
shows how the slaves were made to lie on their backs or stomachs
close to one another. If the slaves were lucky they were fed a
spoonful of food a day during the journey. One way to pack slaves
was "loose packing" where the captain did not fill his
entire ship with slaves, and thus fewer slaves died. However,
as many did, slaves could also be packed with the method of "tight
packing." The captain would fill the entire ship with slaves
and many died. This type of packing was demonstrated in A Respectable
Trade when Josiah tells one man that he wanted a "tight
pack" of 600 on the ship the Rose, even though the Rose could
really only hold 300 slaves. But again, all that Josiah was ultimately
concerned with was making a big profit. Someone described the
situation of slave ships in the movie as, "Packed so tight
they couldn't breath. Could not have gotten a rat between them.
They were shitting and puking…"
It wasn't uncommon for there
to be a 50% mortality rate during the passage from Africa. Oftentimes,
slaves who were too ill to survive the trip to America were thrown
overboard to drown, or simply to lighten to ship's load, or due
to a lack of food availability. This is demonstrated in A Respectable
Trade when Moses (Mehuru) is talking about the voyage to Bristol
and he mentions that a woman and her dead child were thrown overboard.
It is also demonstrated in Amistad when huge piles of heavy
rocks are thrown overboard with the chains of slaves attached
to them-thus pulling the slaves into the depths of the ocean waters
and drowning them. On soil slaves were treated horribly as well
as punished for "disobedience." Apparently the treatment
and punishment ranged from whipping and branding to chopping hands
off and even burning the slaves alive. (Robinson)
The third part of the "passage
into slavery" was "the slave auction." After surviving
the long voyage slaves were lined up and auctioned off. This was
perhaps the most difficult part of all for the slaves as it was
where the families were separated. The buyers of course had no
problems with any of this because they merely saw the slaves as
"products" and property that was meant to be bought
and sold. (G, Brianne) In Amistad this is shown when the
Portuguese vessel, Tecora, bought slaves at an auction at the
Lombosko slave fortress to bring to Havana, Cuba where they were
reauctioned to the owners of "La Amistad." To the owners,
the slaves were headons, savages, etc… at best. In exchange
for the sale of these slaves that had been taken from Africa,
Britains would receive such manufactured goods as fur, sugar,
and rum. Yet even though families were separated and torn apart,
and their lives as they knew them were ruined, they amazingly
enough seemed to find ways to cope and survive. For example, their
music and drumbeats helped to keep their spirits "high"
and "unbroken," helped to demonstrate their humanness,
and helped to keep parts of their culture alive. This is demonstrated
in both movies. In Amistad they chant on the sailing ship,
and when they are later imprisoned, they again sing and dance
on several occasions. In A Respectable Trade, they sing
and dance in the kitchen (later Frances wants to learn the steps),
and while traveling in the wagon to "escape" to London
they again sing.
Despite the various methods
and means of obtaining individuals for slavery, it is interesting
and most important to keep in mind that in order for slavery to
flourish and continue to exist, "social differentiation or
stratification was essential, as well as an economic surplus."
In other words, since slaves were "consumption" goods
(that had to be maintained) and not just productive assets who
generated income for their owners, a surplus of capital had to
be present to be able to afford the slaves and still make a profit.
The owners often only owned slaves when they expected to earn
an economic gain from them. Many times slavery was present and
existed when there was a labor shortage. Free land and open resources
were also considered "prerequisites" for slavery to
exist-otherwise nonslaves could be employed for a lower cost and
thus a bigger profit obtained by the owners. And finally, some
form of centralized government usually had to exist to enforce
slave laws. (Encyclopedia Britannica)
This being said, there were
a few various "forms" that slavery could take. One type
is know as "household, patriarchal, or domestic" slavery.
Slaves of this sort served the primary function of being servants
to their owners in their homes, or wherever else the owner might
be. Oftentimes the slaves served as a status symbol for their
owners, where much of the rich owner's surplus was spent on the
purchase of slaves. (Encyclopedia Britannica) It was this form
of slavery, domestic slavery, that was present in A Respectable
Trade. For Josiah, profit was the motive for having slaves,
but it was also important to him in terms of his status in society.
He was trying to "come up" in status and fit in with
the other wealthy families.
The other form that slavery
took was that of "productive" slavery. In this type
of slavery, slavery existed to produce marketable commodities
in mines or on plantations. (This form of slavery was discussed
a lot in Amistad). Wealthy, white plantation owners limited
their concern to the economic issues that related to their slaves.
For example, they were concerned with how much the slaves cost,
how long the slaves would live, how many children the slaves would
have, how much food had to be allocated for the slaves, and so
on. ("Understanding Slavery:…") The owners only
concerned themselves with the needs of the slaves to the point
that they would not die, and thus cause the owners to lose money.
In A Respectable Trade this is demonstrated by Sarah's
anger at the presence of Doctor Hadley. Not only is Sarah upset
that yet another slave has died (and more money been lost) but
she was upset that they now had to pay for an expense that she
did not believe was at all necessary or justified.
No matter the form of slavery
used, slavery in general flourished for many years. It has been
estimated that eventually 600 to 650 thousand slaves arrived in
America against their will. Furthermore, this gruesome trade saw
as many as 17 million slaves being exported to North Africa, the
Middle East and countries on the coast of the Indian Ocean. At
least 5 million African slaves were exported via the Red Sea,
East Africa, and to other parts of the world. At least 12 million
slaves were exported from Africa to North America, South America
and the West Indies. Perhaps 4 million Africans died in wars that
were caused by slave trading and in forced marches. Tragically,
about "50% of those originally captured in Africa died either
in transit or while being prepared for servitude." (Robinson)
Despite these enormous, horrible,
depressing statistics, however, this certainly does not mean that
slaves were passive and merely allowed themselves to be captured,
or that once they were captured they remained obedient and "idle."
"Passive resistance" was one form of "protest"
that the slaves used. It is less violent than "active resistance"
which was also used by slaves. The actions of passive resistance
ranged from sabotage, refusing to work, and even just singing.
In fact, refusing to work, was a very common form of resistance.
There was essentially no incentive to work, other than to save
one's life; and many slaves reached a point where life no longer
had any meaning-thus this proved to be difficult for the slave
owners to overcome.
Some African captives resisted
enslavement by fleeing the forts that they were originally held
in. There were also those who ran away from their owners once
they were bought. In A Respectable Trade Matthew ran away
twice, unfortunately being recaptured both times. Moses (Mehuru)
demonstrated a type of passive resistance when he emphasized that
his real name was not Moses, but was Mehuru.
Other slaves mutinied on board
slave trading vessels in hopes of preventing their sale. This
type of resistance is demonstrated in the gruesomely violent opening
scene of Amistad when one slave is able to get free, helps
free the others, and then all of the slaves attack and kill all
but two of the white men on board the ship, La Amistad. (Unfortunately,
the slaves are later recaptured).
Slaves even went so far as
to kill themselves. In Amistad this is demonstrated when
a women with her baby, allows herself to fall over the edge of
the ship and into the ocean. In A Respectable Trade, one
of the woman slaves kills herself in the basement. It would appear
that many slaves preferred death over a life of enslavement.
It was stated that most slaves engaged in passive resistance,
Others were more aggressive and took part in the active resistance,
Yet in all reality, can you really blame them for doing this?
Certainly not.
The end of slavery in Britain
was due to the birth of the Industrial Revolution and slavery
becoming obsolete because of this. It was realized that fortunes
could be made in manufacturing. However, even with the existence
of this new type of "system," worker conditions were
not seen to be much better than the conditions of those experienced
by slaves. Unfortunately, trafficking in humans isn't behind us
yet. There is evidence that slavery still exists today, which
many of us (and I must admit, including me) are not really aware
of. Many tend to think that the system of slavery is a thing of
the past, but it does not seem to be that way. A fairly recent
article states that,
Another article reports that,
Horrible as all of this is, slavery (or at least conditions very similar to slavery) still seems to perpetuate and exist today, and much more must still be done to put a stop to the activities and the type of labor which it seems to support and promote.
Cho, Hae Jung. Salas, Angelica. "Trafficking in Humans
Isn't Behind Us Yet." Los
Angeles Times. February 11, 2000. http://www.trafficked-women.org/latimes.html
Encyclopedia Britannica. "Slavery."
Wysiwyg://35http://www.britannica.com/b…16,117527+1+109538,00.html?query=
slavery
G, Brianne. B, Scott. M, Lindsay. "The Three Passages
into Slavery."
http://www.benjaminschool.com/hagy1/webpages/three_passages_into_slavery.htm
McCormick, Erin. Zamora, Jim Herron. "Slave Trade Still
Alive in U.S." San Francisco
Examiner. February 14, 2000. http://www.trafficked-women.org/examiner.html
Robinson, B. A. "A Brief History of the 'Peculiar Institution:'
Slavery in North
America." 2000. http://www.religioustolerance.org/slavery.htm
"Slavery." http://www.usbol.com/ctjournal/Slavery2.html
S. Trey. "Treatment of Slaves."
http://www.benjaminschool.com/hagy/webpages/life_on_a_plantation.htm
"Understanding Slavery: The Lives of Eighteenth Century
African-Americans."
http://www.sciway.net/hist/chicora/slavery18-1.html