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Comparing Douglas And Marx's Concept Of Property

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Both Marx and Douglas agree that there is an original concept of property that is more inclusive and positive, but society functions based a hidden idea of property that exploits other humans. For Marx, the original concept of property is positive to society as a whole and is not discriminative but inclusive. He says that man is defined by his production which enables him to contribute to people around him which makes him a species-being. However, this concept of property is corrupted when society starts to attribute value to labor. Marx claims that the capitalist idea of property corrupts man’s idea of species-being, his idea of himself as a human being. Though corrupted, Marx claims that it is possible to return to the true original idea …show more content…

They cannot ever be property. Douglass argues that the resolution for slavery is the responsibility of the church. He says to “let the religious press, the pulpit, the Sunday school, the conference meeting, the great ecclesiastical, missionary, Bible and tract associations of the land array their immense powers against slavery and slave-holding; and the whole system of crime and blood would be scattered to the winds; and that they do not do this involves them in the most awful responsibility of which the mind can conceive” (31). Douglass claims that religious authorities have “immense powers against slavery and slave-holding;” thus, if they decide to raise against this “system of crime and blood” the problem with slavery could be resolved. The Bible advocates for a system of liberty and equality where even person has the same rights and enjoys the same kind of freedom. However, the system that society is presented with is “system of crime and blood” where people held as property and are deprived of basic human rights such as liberty and dignity. The church ought to change and create a system of liberty and equality instead of a “system of crime and blood”. It is impossible to build a society based on such Christianity values, liberty and equality, with “system of crime and blood.” They indeed have “the most awful responsibility of which the mind can conceive;” however, to truly do the will of God they have raise up and stand against this “system of crime and blood” and fight for equality and liberty for

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When analyzing the history of the United States, it is nearly impossible to assess accurately without examining the history of slavery. Slavery has grown and changed alongside America since the establishment of the colonies. Beginning in 1619 Jamestown, Virginia, the slave trade increased exponentially. Although the formation of American slavery is widely accepted, historians often argue about the process in which slaves were emancipated. Ira Berlin, a distinguished history professor at the University of Maryland, added to the discussion with his novel, The Long Emancipation.

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This is against what God would want for us and the overall cost of slavery. As previously mentioned, how can a liberty loving people deny this same right to someone else? As we are all "the sons of Adam, are coheirs, and have equal right unto liberty, and all other outward comforts of life...." Sewall further uses religion to refute claims that slavery is allowed / acceptable in the Bible. "

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Auld’s misinterpretation of the passage emphasizes slave owners use of religion to reinforce their power over their slaves. Christianity rationalized the concept of buying and selling human beings, and that God approved this too. In addition, Douglass used religion as a way to fuel his abolition movement. Under Master Hugh’s, Douglass began to learn how to read and write. Once

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Douglass tells us this by saying that he believes anyone who is a slave owner cannot be a Christian. In his view, he believes being a slave owner violates the very principles of being a Christian. Auld quote he believes that the Christianity practiced by the Slave owners and the Christianity practiced by non-slave owners are two

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In the short essay “Slavery as a Mythologized Institution” Frederick Douglass works hard to debunk the mythology behind the idea of slavery. In order to do this Douglass discusses how the South in a way romanticized slavery and treated it as though it was okay because the Bible said that it was. When in reality that was not a justifiable reason to enslave African Americans, but all this did was dehumanize them. When trying to justify the act of slavery in the South, the Southerners turned to the Bible in order to do just that.

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They were forced to endure the harsher philosophies presented in bible that gave the slave owner’s their religious backing to treat their slaves in any manner that they found fitting. They only selected the passages in the bible that promoted the continuance of slavery and demanded obedience from their slaves, “ʺHe that knoweth his master’s will, and doeth it not, shall be beaten with many stripes” (Douglass 1207). The slaves were taught the Christian doctrine to reiterate their sole purpose in live was to be obedient to their owners. It was apparent to Douglass, however, that his masters hid behind their religion to secure their superiority and be reaffirm that a higher power sanctioned the atrocious acts of humiliation and cruelty, “I have said my master found religious sanction for his cruelty” (1207). This highlights the duality of the Christian doctrine where they preach kindness to all, yet still condone treating slaves as subhuman chattel.

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Slavery: Effective on Slaves and Slaveholders In Frederick Douglass’s autobiography Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Douglass recounts his life in slavery to reveal to his readers the horrors of the American slave system. To effectively inform his readers of the corrupt system, he publicizes the slaveholders’ hypocritical practice of Christianity. Although he himself is a Christian, Douglass’s narrative is a scathing commentary on the ironic role of Christian religion in the Southern slaveholding culture. Throughout his book, the author expresses and exemplifies his perspective on religion by illustrating the falseness and hypocrisy of the Southern people. To start off, Frederick Douglass suggests that the Southern people’s religion is false and insincere.

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Slavery directly violates the Christian principle that God created all humans, illustrating why slavery needs to be abolished in the United States. Currently, in the United States, black Americans are not seen as equal to white Americas; however, this idea goes against the Christian value that God created all humans to serve him. In “David Walker’s Appeal in Four Articles”, Walker states, “God made man to serve Him alone, and that man should have no other Lord or Lords but himself” (Walker, 163). In his appeal, Walker argues that the goal of the Christian faith is to serve God and no one else. This Christian belief is violated through the act of slavery.

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The enslavement of Africans and African Americans in Early America created a clear divide between the North and South. The North, primarily opponents of slavery, argued that slavery violated the basic principal of American democracy – respect for fundamental human rights. On the contrary, the South had an aristocratic understanding of democracy. Proponents of slavery also believed that the prosperity, technologies, and innovations that emerged from this institution was essential for American capitalism. Both opponents and proponents of slavery exercised principals of capitalism and democracy to justify their stance.

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That which is inhuman, cannot be divine!” (19). The “American religion” was used as “a thin vail to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages” (20) and their “prayers and hymns, your sermon and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade, and solemnity, are mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety and hypocrisy” (20). Hence, Douglass purpose was not to primarily motive to can “American religion” a lie was to emphasize the “national inconsistencies” and bring up change. Douglass also uses the same method when stating that “it [the Constitution] will be found to contain principles and purposes, entirely hostile to the existence of slavery” (38).

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He proclaims that "…While we are…living, moving, acting, thinking, planning, living in families as husbands, wives and children, and, above all, confessing and worshipping the Christian's God, and looking hopefully for life and immortality beyond the grave, we are called upon to prove that we are men!" By showing the mundanity of the slave, Douglass shows the audience that the slaves are human and therefore unable to be considered property. He forces his audience to examine their own lives and realize their similarities to the slaves and the hypocrisy of slavery. He doesn't give his audience a chance to disagree with his stance on slavery because he makes such a blunt argument. Douglass asks again, "Must I undertake to prove that the slave is a man?

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Religion and its relationship to slavery is a contradictive subject, whether it was forced upon slaves or was a form of hope and freedom is still commonly debated about to this day. However, these individuals were devoted Christians in the abolitionist movement who all

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Andre Abi Haidar PSPA 210 INTRODUCTION It is always difficult to write about and discuss Karl Marx, or more importantly the applications of Marx’s theories, due to the fact that he inspired and gave rise to many movements and revolutionaries, not all of which follow his theories to the point. Although Marx tends to be equated with Communism, it might not seem righteous to blame him for whatever shortcomings occurred when his theories were put to the test; Marx passed away well before the revolution in Russia, and he played no role in the emergence of the totalitarian regime at the time. When discussing Marx, however, Vladimir Lenin is one of the biggest highlights when it comes to studying the outcomes of Marx’s theories.

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He argues that with all the pressures of class conflict and the imbalance of capitalism there is no way that this pattern can continue without a major revolution. Marx compares capitalism to anarchy, in the sense that there is no organization within which only causes chaos. The common pattern of capitalism is a boom followed by a bust, and that bust leads to recession and social unrest. This sort of fickle economy, Marx believes, will furthermore contribute to the downfall of capitalism. This socialist revolution would, “abolish private ownership of key elements of economy and change nature of relationships from ones based on marriage and property.”

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