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- Herausgeber: Booksell-Verlag
- Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
- Sprache: Englisch
In "Slavery," William Ellery Channing presents a compelling and deeply philosophical examination of the moral, social, and political implications of human bondage. Channing's eloquent prose and rigorous reasoning reflect the transcendentalist ideals of 19th-century America, emphasizing individual conscience and the inherent dignity of all people. The work is interlaced with theological reflections, drawing on his Unitarian beliefs, and advocates passionately for abolition while situating the discourse within the broader narrative of human rights and ethics. Through his blend of personal conviction and scholarly inquiry, Channing illuminates the dehumanizing effects of slavery on both the enslaved and the enslaver, making a powerful appeal to the nation's conscience. William Ellery Channing (1780-1842) was a prominent Unitarian minister and an influential figure in the abolitionist movement. His upbringing in a religiously progressive environment nurtured his reformist spirit, leading him to address urgent moral issues of his time, including slavery. Channing'Äôs intimate understanding of social injustices, coupled with his commitment to articulate a theological perspective that championed equality and empathy, informed the urgent call to action in this seminal work. "Slavery" is an essential read for anyone seeking to understand the moral foundations of abolitionist thought and the philosophical arguments against oppression. Channing'Äôs accessible yet profound insights continue to resonate, making this book not just a historical document, but a vital commentary on the ongoing struggle for human rights and dignity. In this enriched edition, we have carefully created added value for your reading experience: - A succinct Introduction situates the work's timeless appeal and themes. - The Synopsis outlines the central plot, highlighting key developments without spoiling critical twists. - A detailed Historical Context immerses you in the era's events and influences that shaped the writing. - A thorough Analysis dissects symbols, motifs, and character arcs to unearth underlying meanings. - Reflection questions prompt you to engage personally with the work's messages, connecting them to modern life. - Hand‐picked Memorable Quotes shine a spotlight on moments of literary brilliance. - Interactive footnotes clarify unusual references, historical allusions, and archaic phrases for an effortless, more informed read.
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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019
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Slavery
Table of Contents
Introduction
A society that proclaims human dignity while permitting human ownership exposes a moral contradiction that demands a clear, public reckoning.
Slavery by William Ellery Channing is a work of moral and religious argument written in the nineteenth century, during the era when slavery was a central political and ethical controversy in the United States. It belongs to the tradition of reform literature and public theology rather than to fiction, and it addresses the institution of slavery as a pressing contemporary question. Channing writes as a minister and public intellectual, seeking to speak to fellow citizens and believers about what they owe to one another under conscience, faith, and law.
The book’s premise is straightforward: Channing examines slavery as a system and asks what it does to the enslaved, the enslaver, and the moral health of the broader community. The reading experience is that of a sustained essay, built from carefully staged claims, ethical distinctions, and appeals to shared principles. The voice is deliberate and admonitory without being merely denunciatory, aiming to persuade as much as to rebuke. Readers encounter a methodical progression of reasoning intended to move from basic moral intuitions toward unavoidable conclusions about responsibility.
Channing’s style relies less on narrative than on analysis, frequently pausing to define terms and clarify the kind of judgment he believes a reader must make. The tone is earnest and exhortative, grounded in religious sensibility but directed to public life, so that spiritual convictions are translated into civic implications. He addresses likely objections and attempts to keep the argument within the bounds of disciplined moral reasoning rather than partisan excitement. This makes the work feel at once historical and unexpectedly contemporary, because it models how a conscience-based critique can be presented to a divided public.
A central theme is the inviolability of the human person, treated not as an abstract ideal but as the starting point for evaluating institutions and laws. From that foundation, the book examines how power can corrupt both private character and public norms when it is organized to deny another’s agency. Channing also presses the question of complicity: what is owed by those who benefit indirectly, remain silent, or accept gradual accommodation to clear injustice. Throughout, the text emphasizes moral accountability, insisting that ethical judgment cannot be delegated entirely to custom, economic interest, or political convenience.
The work also explores the relationship between religion and social ethics, challenging readers to consider whether faith is being used to illuminate wrongdoing or to excuse it. Channing’s approach underscores the tension between moral law and legal permission, and it probes how language can soften brutality by making domination appear ordinary. He is attentive to the social consequences of treating any group as property, including the distortion of family life, education, and civic equality. Even when the argument is rooted in its own time, it invites reflection on how institutions shape conscience and how moral reforms require both inner conviction and outward action.
Slavery still matters because it demonstrates a rigorous attempt to confront systemic injustice with principled reasoning aimed at persuasion rather than mere outrage. For contemporary readers, the book offers a case study in moral argument under conditions of polarization, showing how to connect individual dignity to public policy and collective responsibility. It also helps clarify how ethical discourse can be compromised when comfort and interest are at stake, a pattern that recurs in debates about inequality and human rights. Reading Channing today is less about antiquarian curiosity than about practicing moral clarity, learning how a society’s ideals must be tested against its institutions.
Synopsis
William Ellery Channing’s Slavery is a nineteenth-century abolitionist tract that sets out to examine slavery as a moral, religious, and civic problem rather than as a merely economic arrangement. Channing frames his purpose as a careful inquiry aimed at persuading readers who may be attached to the institution by habit, interest, or inherited opinion. He sketches the public controversy surrounding slavery and signals a method grounded in conscience, Christian ethics, and the political ideals Americans profess. From the outset, the central question is how a society claiming liberty can justify human bondage.
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Channing proceeds by defining what slavery entails in lived reality: the legal reduction of a person to property and the systematic subjection of will, labor, and family life to another’s control. He emphasizes that the wrong is not limited to occasional cruelty but is embedded in the ordinary workings of the system, which relies on coercion and denies fundamental rights. This focus shifts the debate from individual character to institutional structure. By stressing the gap between paternalistic descriptions and slavery’s legal essence, he sets up a critique that targets the institution’s foundations rather than its abuses alone.
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He then develops a religious and ethical argument, treating every person as endowed with moral agency and responsibility that cannot rightly be owned or managed by another. Channing invokes Christian duties—justice, benevolence, and respect for human dignity—to argue that bondage conflicts with the spiritual ends of life. He explores how slavery distorts both enslaved and enslaver by encouraging fear, domination, and moral complacency. The tract’s conflict is framed as one of conscience: whether believers can reconcile faith with a social order that systematically denies persons the means to cultivate virtue and self-command.
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Alongside moral reasoning, Channing addresses political principles associated with republican government, law, and natural rights. He considers how slavery sits uneasily with constitutional ideals and the legitimacy of authority, emphasizing that power over others must be justified by the equal moral standing of those governed. He probes the social consequences of treating humans as property: the effects on labor, civic participation, education, and public morality. Without reducing everything to policy mechanics, he insists that political stability and national character are inseparable from justice, and that a free society cannot indefinitely compartmentalize freedom at home and bondage within its borders.
Historical Context
William Ellery Channing’s Slavery (1835) emerged in the United States during the early republic’s most intense sectional conflict over human bondage. By the 1830s, slavery was entrenched in the South’s plantation economy and protected by state law and federal compromises, while Northern states had largely ended slavery through gradual emancipation. National institutions—Congress, federal courts, and the postal system—became arenas for disputes over abolitionist speech and Southern security. Channing, a leading Boston Unitarian minister, addressed a literate Northern public shaped by print culture, revivals, and reform societies.
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Channing’s Slavery (1835) emerged in the United States during the early republic’s most intense sectional conflict over human bondage. By the 1830s, slavery was entrenched in the South’s plantation economy and protected by state law and federal compromises, while Northern states had largely ended slavery through gradual emancipation. National institutions—Congress, federal courts, and the postal system—became arenas for disputes over abolitionist speech and Southern security. Channing, a leading Boston Unitarian minister, addressed a literate Northern public shaped by print culture, revivals, and reform societies.
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The work was written after the rise of immediatist abolitionism. In 1831 William Lloyd Garrison began publishing The Liberator in Boston, and in 1833 activists formed the American Anti-Slavery Society in Philadelphia, expanding petition campaigns and mass circulation of antislavery tracts. Southern states responded with censorship, prosecutions, and extralegal violence; in 1835, Charleston officials seized abolitionist mail, and mobs in several cities attacked antislavery speakers and presses. These clashes made slavery not only a Southern institution but a national political crisis, testing constitutional liberties and public order.
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Within Congress, abolitionist petitions prompted a major procedural battle. In 1836 the House of Representatives adopted the first “gag rule” to table antislavery petitions without discussion, reflecting anxiety that debate might destabilize the Union. Earlier, the Missouri Compromise of 1820 had attempted to manage slavery’s expansion, but westward growth and new territories kept the issue alive. Channing wrote in the shadow of these struggles, when many Northern leaders sought to preserve national harmony by discouraging agitation. His address therefore engages a political environment wary of moral critique that could intensify sectional division.
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