African Slaves and Noble Savages

From the lectures in class we learned about the origins of slavery. We also learned Africans were subjected to slavery in their own countries. Even though there was slavery going on in Africa, it differed greatly from they type of slavery happening in the Americas. We learned that slaves in Africa had more independence than slaves in America and that they only worked to pay off debt or because they were taken captives from other tribes during battle. With this in mind, I believe that Hugh Jones’, author of “They That Are Born There Talk Good English,” was wrong in saying that African slaves had it much easier in America than in Africa.

We also learned from the lectures that the natives were viewed in two different ways. They were either seen as noble savages or ignoble savages. The noble savage was seen as uncorrupted by the influences of civilization. I thought it was interesting that noble savages were favored among the colonists because according to them the ignoble savages were violent killers. The colonists liked the fact that some of the natives were not corrupt; however, the colonists forced their laws and ways of life onto the natives, and as a result of this, made them become corrupt by civilization.