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The US never ceases to surprise me That's so medieval and backward for a country like that

by jokoon 3y ago

stevenwoo 3y ago
If I'm not mistaken, we are the only country which has a founding document enshrining chattel slavery. Many of the issues in the USA stem from this, amendments notwithstanding - it's a stain on everything, arguments in the top legal court, the Supreme Court, frequently bring up the historicity so we are constantly enmeshed in very old and sometimes medieval thinking, i.e. recent abortion decision referenced many legal arguments that preceded modern biology or medicine.
- jokoon 3y ago
  what bothers me is that the country with the most dominant military sometimes looks like it might turn bad which would not be good for the rest of the world
- eesmith 3y ago
  Which document? I can't find where the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation or the US Constitution enshrine chattel slavery. None mention slavery directly, eg, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_and_the_United_States_Constitution https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_and_the_United_States_... says there are only indirect references. Brazil's independence from Brazil was declared in 1822 and recognized in 1825. "Slavery was legitimated as a historical institution in the Brazilian Constitution of 1824 in the right to own property." says https://oxfordre.com/latinamericanhistory/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199366439.001.0001/acrefore-9780199366439-e-861 https://oxfordre.com/latinamericanhistory/display/10.1093/ac... More specifically, just like the US Constitution does not mention slavery, https://constitutionalstudies.wisc.edu/index.php/cs/article/view/104 https://constitutionalstudies.wisc.edu/index.php/cs/article/... writes: "Given its Enlightenment inspiration and proclaimed liberal spirit the Brazilian Constitution of 1824 never explicitly employed the words slave or slavery. But it did implicitly recognize the slaveholding character of Brazilian society when it subtly confessed the inequality among men. To some extent it had to, for the far-reaching consequences of the slave-master relationship were too important to be fully ignored. The solution the constituent found was to borrow categories from Roman law.5 Article 6 of the Charta established that Brazilians were those born in Brazil, either ingenuous or freed. Ingenuous were those born free, while freed were those born slaves but manumitted (Ribas 1880, 49)." .. It seems that "masters could revoke a granted manumission in case of ingratitude." Brazil did not abolish slavery until 1888.

The US never ceases to surprise me That's so medieval and backward for a country like that

by jokoon 3y ago

The US never ceases to surprise me That's so medieval and backward for a country like that

If I'm not mistaken, we are the only country which has a founding document enshrining chattel slavery. Many of the issues in the USA stem from this, amendments notwithstanding - it's a stain on everything, arguments in the top legal court, the Supreme Court, frequently bring up the historicity so we are constantly enmeshed in very old and sometimes medieval thinking, i.e. recent abortion decision referenced many legal arguments that preceded modern biology or medicine.

jokoon 3y ago
what bothers me is that the country with the most dominant military sometimes looks like it might turn bad which would not be good for the rest of the world
eesmith 3y ago
Which document? I can't find where the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation or the US Constitution enshrine chattel slavery. None mention slavery directly, eg, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_and_the_United_States_Constitution https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_and_the_United_States_... says there are only indirect references. Brazil's independence from Brazil was declared in 1822 and recognized in 1825. "Slavery was legitimated as a historical institution in the Brazilian Constitution of 1824 in the right to own property." says https://oxfordre.com/latinamericanhistory/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199366439.001.0001/acrefore-9780199366439-e-861 https://oxfordre.com/latinamericanhistory/display/10.1093/ac... More specifically, just like the US Constitution does not mention slavery, https://constitutionalstudies.wisc.edu/index.php/cs/article/view/104 https://constitutionalstudies.wisc.edu/index.php/cs/article/... writes: "Given its Enlightenment inspiration and proclaimed liberal spirit the Brazilian Constitution of 1824 never explicitly employed the words slave or slavery. But it did implicitly recognize the slaveholding character of Brazilian society when it subtly confessed the inequality among men. To some extent it had to, for the far-reaching consequences of the slave-master relationship were too important to be fully ignored. The solution the constituent found was to borrow categories from Roman law.5 Article 6 of the Charta established that Brazilians were those born in Brazil, either ingenuous or freed. Ingenuous were those born free, while freed were those born slaves but manumitted (Ribas 1880, 49)." .. It seems that "masters could revoke a granted manumission in case of ingratitude." Brazil did not abolish slavery until 1888.