Labor of every species is disreputable, because performed mostly by slaves; the general aspect of the country marks the curse of a wasteful, idle, reckless population, who have no interest in the soil, and care not how much it is impoverished.
Tompkins criticizes the societal perception of labor in a slaveholding society, highlighting its negative consequences.
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They would be scourged, driven by violence from the State, and might be considered fortunate should they escape with their lives.
I never mean, unless some particular circumstance should compel me, to possess another slave by purchase, it being my first wish to see some plan adopted by which slavery in this country may be abolished by law.
Thomas Jefferson tells us that man is an imitative animal; therefore, if the assertion of the gentleman from Mississippi be correct, we must wonder why slaveholders do not relieve themselves of their negroes, that they may become equally…
I repeat again, that it would rejoice my very soul that every one of my fellow beings were emancipated.
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