Frederick Douglass: Slavery Money Making

Posted by admin on Sunday, July 16, 2017

Frederick Douglass Money Quote saying the American slave-trade in the 1850’s was continued by some entirely due to profit motive and regardless of human suffering it caused. Frederick Douglass said:
 

 

“Money is the measure of morality, and the success or failure of slavery, as a money-making system, determines with many whether the thing is virtuous, or villainous, and whether it should be maintained or abolished” — Frederick Douglass

 

 

criticizing the view that the morality of slavery was determined primarily by whether it was financially profitable or “a money-making system.” By pointing out that many people judged slavery based on “whether the thing is virtuous, or villainous” depending on its economic success or failure, Douglass appears to be arguing that the humanity and basic rights of enslaved people were being ignored or treated as secondary to financial interests.

His quote suggests that the abolitionist cause needed to make the moral argument that slavery was an evil institution regardless of any money it produced, and that people’s worth should not be measured merely by their economic value.

Birthday: c. February 1817 – Death: February 20, 1895

Categories: fairness Tagged:frederick douglassmoney-makingslavery