Slavery and Reparations - An American Debate

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SLAVERY AND REPARATIONS

AN AMERICAN DEBATE

SOME KEY LINKS AND DOCUMENTS

Imperialism is as old as history. Conquest, genocide and slavery are hardly new events. Thus, the conquest of North America by Europeans was hardly a unique event. The use of slavery to build a great economy and forcible repatriation of the local inhabitants into concentration camps and small "reservations" all had precedents in history.

What was unique, however, about American imperialism in the last 300 years was the level of deceit and hypocrisy that accompanied it. All these war crimes were disguised as some sort of effort to promote "freedom" and "democracy".

You cannot live a lie, and you cannot build a viable future by means of delusions about your past. These articles help people see how America (like so many other large empires) was built on ruthless policies of power politics and racial imperialism. Indeed, Hitler saw the conquest of the American west as an inspiration for his plans for conquering Russia. See our report on this. Hopefully, we shall move to a world where these facts are accepted for the realities that they are.

In terms of sheer brutality, the origins of modern American power are among the grimmest actions in world history. We do not have an opinion about whether reparations should be paid to blacks and native Americans. However, it is ludicrous to deny the importance of slave labor in helping to create America as a world imperial power.

The economic facts are documented in expert analysis of scholars like Joe Feagin. The concept of reparations for black Americans is not some fringe, exotic idea but was actually part of bill passed by both houses of Congress in 1866 (but vetoed by President Andrew Johnson).

In today's America leaders such as Congressman John Conyers and Randal Robinson have brought up the issue of reparations. Contrary to claims of critics, few are talking about mailing checks to African Americans. However, the issue of a debt is a relevant subject of debate in the allocation of national resources. The US government budget and tax system contains billions and billions of dollars of special privileges for all sort of interests.

The structure of wealth in today's America is a direct result of the structure of past actions of the American government. The question of an unpaid debt is a relevant subject of debate.

We simply ask people to read some of the material here and make up their own minds.

NOTE: BRIEF STATEMENT OF PUBLICATIONS PRINCIPLES

The World Future Fund serves as a source of documentary material, reading lists and internet links from different points of view that we believe have historical significance. The publication of this material is in no way whatsoever an endorsement of these viewpoints by the World Future Fund, unless explicitly stated by us. For a more detailed statement of our publications standards click here.

THE ECONOMICS OF SLAVERY IN THE U.S. • PAST PROPOSALS FOR REPARATIONS

THE PROPOSED CONYERS COMMISSION (H.R. 40)

SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES • RECONSTRUCTION AND JIM CROW

REPARATIONS ADVOCACY ORGANIZATIONS • MUSEUMS

THE ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES OF SLAVERY IN THE U.S.
YESTERDAY & TODAY

Documenting the Financial Benefits of Slavery to America
Joe Feagin, Professor of Sociology and President of the American Sociological Association, documents how the U.S. benefited for centuries from the enslavement of and discrimination against black Americans. Feagin estimates that the financial compensation due to black America from their "stolen labor" runs between $5 and $24 trillion.

Pew Center Report on the Wealth in Hispanic (and Black) Households PDF File
A detailed analysis of the ongoing, long-term, crippling inequities in wealth between
Latinos, Blacks, and Whites in American society.

Wealth of a White Nation
An article from Black Commentator by Glen Ford and Peter Gamble, which cites the Pew Center Report above in making a
detailed case for the economic viability of and moral justification for reparations.

The Homestead Act: Our Earliest National Asset Policy PDF File
An article by Trina Williams which demonstrates that a) white Americans benefited from huge financial gains as a result of the U.S. Government's Homestead Act of 1862 (amounting to one of history's largest federal subsidies) and b) that, in contrast, black Americans received practically nothing.

Understanding Mobility in America PDF File
A fascinating essay by Tom Hertz of the Center for American Progress which documents growing economic hardship in the United States.
One of Hertz' most important findings is that intergenerational economic mobility in the U.S. is lower than in many European countries.

Sociologist Joe Feagin on the Web
A Review of Randall Robinson's Case for Reparations for Afro-Americans
The Economic Cost of Slaveholding
The Microeconomic Analysis of Slavery
The Rise of African Slavery in the Americas
The Economics of Slavery
Statistics: Economics and Slavery
The Economic Viability of Slavery

Significant Dates in History of Black Land Loss

PAST PROPOSALS FOR REPARATIONS

Contrary to current conventional wisdom, the United States Government did take seriously the idea of reparations after the Civil War. It was a fundamental part of General Sherman's plan for rebuilding the South and was a part of a bill passed by both houses of Congress.

GENERAL SHERMAN'S ORDER NUMBER 15, 1865

"The islands from Charleston, south, the abandoned rice fields along the rivers for thirty miles back from the sea, and the country bordering the St. Johns river, Florida, are reserved and set apart for the settlement of the negroes now made free by the acts of war and the proclamation of the President of the United States. ... Whenever three respectable negroes, heads of families, shall desire to settle on land, and shall have selected for that purpose an island or a locality clearly defined, within the limits above designated, the Inspector of Settlements and Plantations will himself, or by such subordinate officer as he may appoint, give them a license to settle such island or district, and afford them such assistance as he can to enable them to establish a peaceable agricultural settlement. The three parties named will subdivide the land, under the supervision of the Inspector, among themselves and such others as may choose to settle near them, so that each family shall have a plot of not more than (40) forty acres of tillable ground, and when it borders on some water channel, with not more than 800 feet water front, in the possession of which land the military authorities will afford them protection, until such time as they can protect themselves, or until Congress shall regulate their title." -- Special Field Orders No. 15, General William. T. Sherman, Savannah, GA, January 16, 1865

Note: Sherman's field order was later rescinded by President Andrew Johnson, rendering it null and void.

SENATE BILL S. 60, PASSED BY BOTH HOUSES OF CONGRESS

"... The President is hereby authorized to reserve from sale or from settlement ... and to set apart for the use of freedmen and loyal refugees, male or female, unoccupied public lands in Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and Arkansas, not exceeding in all three millions of acres of good land; and the Commissioner, under the direction of the President, shall cause the same from time to time to be allotted and assigned, in parcels not exceeding forty acres each, to the loyal refugees and freedmen, who shall be protected in the use and enjoyment thereof." -- Senate Bill S.60, January 30, 1866

Note: This legislation was vetoed by President Andrew Johnson. A second bill establishing the Freedmen's Bureau was later passed, but without the land grant provisions. The promise of a mule to Black farmers was never made in either this legislation or in Sherman's field order above.

"... To each male person who is the head of a family, forty acres; to each adult male, whether the head of a family or not, forty acres, to each widow who is the head of a family, forty acres-to be held by them." -- Reparations Bill for the African Slaves Held in the United States (H.R. 29), Introduced March 11, 1867

Note: This bill, introduced by Thaddeus Stevens, was never passed by the U.S. Congress. It would have made the land provisions in General Sherman's Special Field Orders No. 15 federal law.

Historical Background

40 Acres and A Mule
The History of 40 Acres and a Mule

History of The Freedmen's Bureau
The Freedmen's Bureau Online
"The Freedmen's Bureau" by W.E.B. DuBois
The Freedmen's Bureau: Documents and Speeches

THE PROPOSED CONYERS COMMISSION (H.R. 40)

In November 1989, Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich) introduced legislation into the House calling for the creation of a committee to study the issue to study the societal effects of slavery in the U.S. This bill (originally H.R. 3745, now H.R. 40), Conyers wrote, was intended "To acknowledge the fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality, and inhumanity of slavery in the United States and the 13 American colonies between 1619 and 1865 and to establish a commission to examine the institution of slavery, subsequent de jure and de facto racial and economic discrimination against African Americans, and the impact of these forces on living African Americans, to make recommendations to the Congress on appropriate remedies, and for other purposes." The bill was referred to committee and never saw the light of day. Conyers has re-introduced the bill every congressional session since 1989. It has never made it out of committee regardless of whether or not the House has been controlled by either Democrats or Republicans.

Commission to Study Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act (H.R. 40) Nov. 1989

News from John Conyers on the Proposed Reparations Commission

The Case for Reparations: TransAfrica Forum with John Conyers and Randall Robinson

Congressional Black Caucus Forum on Reparations PDF File

SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES

Background

WFF Report: Christianity and Slavery

The Slave Trade
Slavery: A General History
African Holocaust
Maafa: The African-American Holocaust
The Maafa
A Chronology of Slavery: 1619-Present
PBS: Africans in America
From Slavery to Freedom
Harper's Weekly Reports on Black America