Egorov P.E.

The notions of “slavery” and “freedom” in the political and philosophical concepts of abolitionists and theorists of the old American South. Pp. 82–92.

UDC 94(73)

DOI 10.37724/RSU.2025.88.3.008

 

Abstract. The article analyzes the political and philosophical concepts of abolitionists and theorists of the old American South. It identifies the main mythologems that emerged in the United States in the first half of the 19th century. Special attention is given to the concepts of “slavery” and “freedom,” their conceptual, figurative, and axiological layers. We conclude that the theme of slavery served as a unifying principle for the discussion between abolitionists and supporters of the “special institution” of the South. The following issues were at the center of the debate: the role of slavery in history, the dichotomy between “barbarism and civilization,” the sources of political power in society, Christianity, women’s rights, black people’s rights, and racial differences. The author examines the set of principles, beliefs, and ideals of supporters and opponents of slavery: morality, ethics, religion, culture, and traditions that shaped the two different value systems. The conclusion is that Southern theorists saw “slavery” as a system that could bring barbarians into civilization and prove care for the “weak”; “freedom” as “chaos,” barbarism, a “savage state,” and a lack of culture. Abolitionists understood “slavery” as a cruel system of oppression of one person by another, and “freedom” as the main value of a person, given by God, “a golden prize won with blood.”

 

Keywords: slavery, freedom, abolitionism, theorists of the old American South, barbarism, civilization, evangelism.

 

Bibliography

 

 

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