РефератыИностранный языкEnEnlightenment And The Frech Revolution Essay Research

Enlightenment And The Frech Revolution Essay Research

Enlightenment And The Frech Revolution Essay, Research Paper


There were many


views of the issue of slavery during the Enlightenment and the


French Revolution, and the resolution of slavery affected


economics, politics, and social order. The slave trade


triangle between Europe, west Africa, and the Indies has a


great affect on European economics during this time. The


only way for this elaborate trade triangle to work is if there


were black Africans available for export to the Indies as


slaves. If they were not available, then the landowners in the


new world weren’t able to produce the sugar, coffee, and


tobacco for export to Europe, and the circuit broken. These


African slaves were convenient, according to Guillaume


Raynal (document 6), because they were thought to be more


comfortable working in the hot conditions of the Indies,


because they had originally come from a very hot climate in


Africa. In order to make the best use of the land, more


efficient workers would be needed, and hence the slaves.


The issue of slavery has extensive impacts on French politics


during the Enlightenment and the revolution. Many colonists


and landowners were confused over the appliance of The


Declaration of Rights of Man to slaves and blacks


(document 13). If it did apply to them then slavery would be


abolished, which (according to document 10) would cause


the colonies to loose comm

erce, essentially destroying them


because French colonists had only profits from their trade to


live on. Those who were against slavery (documents 9, 15)


used The Declaration of Rights of Man as their main source,


in that it declared equal rights to all men, not just to white


men. Slavery affected European society also in many ways.


Generally, in terms of European society, most people were


against slavery, on the grounds that African slaves were


people too, and they deserved the same basic rights


declared in The Declaration of the Rights of Man. Most


suggested the question of why blacks only were enslaved,


sighting that skin color made no difference in the person


(document 7). Others, like Voltaire, said that the luxuries


that Europe now enjoyed, like sugar, cocoa, coffee, and


tobacco, were not really sufficient to gratify the enslavement


of thousands of slaves, especially since society had survived


without these luxuries for centuries before. These documents


paint a clear picture of the effects of slavery during the


Enlightenment and during the French Revolution. Politically


and economically slavery was defended based upon the fact


that the slave trade was an essential part in the continuum of


the trade triangle. Socially, on the other hand, Europe was


generally in protest of slavery, because the luxuries they got


out of it did not gratify innocent Africans being enslaved.

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