this post was submitted on 20 Jul 2023
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United States | News & Politics
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I totally think it’s reasonable to tell children that slavery was beneficial to the white people willing to subjugate other members of the human species to torture, imprisonment, starvation and forced labor. It’s totally reasonable to tell children that slavery was benefiting the states that allowed for slavery. I also think it’s reasonable to teach children about the 13th amendment and how that was made as a compromise to those states in order to have a way to still legally enforce slavery upon a group of humans in order to benefit the states.
It wasn't though, even for them. It made them dumber and their society less prosperous and resilient. The North didn't win because they were morally in the right (they were), but because slavery is inherently less productive.
It made the southern states more prosperous... IF you exclude black people from the definition of people, which is what slavery did.
IF you exclude black people and also the majority of white people (i.e. everybody who wasn't a member of the planter class), you mean.
Pretty sure the south lost because of the 3:1 soldier advantage, and besides Lee the North had all the best military leaders and experience. Some say the industrial output of the north mattered more, but truth is the south had plenty of weapons but no people to use them.
There's certainly debate about that. And that's the exact discussion you want to see occuring as that's what teaches critical thinking.
So yes, you should be discussing the beneficial aspects of slavery.