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Reparations for slavery is a proposal by some in the United States that some type of compensation should be provided to the descendants of enslaved people, in consideration of the labor provided for free over several centuries, without which (it is argued) the United States would never have attained its wealth and global power. This compensation has been proposed in a variety of forms, from individual monetary payments to community-based improvement schemes related to health and education. The idea remains highly controversial and no broad consensus exists as to how it would be implemented. Image File history File links AmericaAfrica. ... An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black) is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... African American history is the portion of American history that specifically discusses the African American or Black American ethnic group in the United States. ... The Atlantic slave trade, also known as the transatlantic slave trade, was the trade of African people supplied to the colonies of the New World that occurred in and around the Atlantic Ocean. ... The word Maafa (also known as the African Holocaust or Holocaust of Enslavement) is derived from a Kiswahili word meaning disaster, terrible occurrence or great tragedy. ... Slavery in the United States began soon after English colonists first settled Virginia and lasted until the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. ... Military history of African Americans is that of African Americans in the United States since the arrival of the first black slaves in 1619 to the present day. ... Manifestations Slavery Racial profiling Lynching Hate speech Hate crime Genocide (examples) Ethnocide Ethnic cleansing Pogrom Race war Religious persecution Gay bashing Blood libel Paternalism Police brutality Movements Policies Discriminatory Race / Religion / Sex segregation Apartheid Redlining Internment Anti-discriminatory Emancipation Civil rights Desegregation Integration Equal opportunity Counter-discriminatory Affirmative action Racial... For the automotive term, see redline. ... American Civil Rights Movement redirects here. ... see African studies for the study of African culture and history in Africa. ... In the United States, African American culture or Black culture includes the various cultural traditions of African American communities. ... African American studies, or Black studies, is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to the study of the history, culture, and politics of African Americans. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... African American neighborhoods or black neighborhoods are types of ethnic enclaves found in many cities in the United States. ... In the United States, Historically black colleges and universities (HBCU) are colleges or universities that were established before 1964 with the intention of serving the African American community. ... Kwanzaa (or Kwaanza) is a week-long Pan-African festival primarily honoring African-American heritage. ... African American art is a broad term describing the visual arts of the American black community. ... This is a list of museums about, or otherwise focused on African Americans. ... African American dances in the vernacular tradition (academically known as African American vernacular dance) are those dances which have developed within African American communities in everyday spaces, rather than in dance studios, schools or companies. ... The Color Purple by Alice Walker African American literature is the body of literature produced in the United States by writers of African descent. ... An African American man gives a piano lesson to a young African American woman, in 1899 or 1900, in Georgia, USA. Photograph from a collection of W.E.B. DuBois. ... The term black church or African American church refers to predominantly African American Christian churches that minister to black communities in the United States. ... Black theology is theology from the perspective of the African diaspora - any people or ethnic population forced or induced to leave their traditional homelands. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... The Nation of Islam (NOI) is a religious and social/political organization founded in the United States by Wallace Fard Muhammad in 1930 with the self-proclaimed goal of resurrecting the spiritual, mental, social, economic condition of the black man and woman of America and belief that God will bring... Black Hebrew Israelites (also Black Hebrews, African Hebrew Israelites, and Hebrew Israelites) are groups of people of African ancestry situated mostly in the United States who claim to be descendants of the ancient Israelites. ... Pan-Africanism is a term which can have two separate, but related meanings. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Black Power is a movement among Black people throughout the world, especially those in the United States. ... Black Capitalism is a name for a movement among African Americans to build wealth through the ownership and development of businesses. ... For the Nas song called Black Republican, see Hip Hop Is Dead. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... The Black Panther Party (originally called the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) was an African-American organization established to promote civil rights and self-defense. ... Garveyism is an aspect of Black Nationalism which takes its source from the works, words and deeds of UNIA-ACL founder Marcus Garvey. ... The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP, generally pronounced as EN Double AY SEE PEE) is one of the oldest and most influential civil rights organizations in the United States. ... The Southern Christian Leadership Conference Logo. ... “CORE” redirects here. ... The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (or SNCC, pronounced snick) was one of the principle organizations of the American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. ... National Urban League Logo The National Urban League (NUL) is a nonpartisan civil rights organization based in New York City that advocates on behalf of African Americans and against racial discrimination in the United States. ... The Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) is a non-profit organization founded in Chicago, Illinois, in 1915 as The Association for the Study of Negro Life and History by Carter G. Woodson and Jesse E. Moorland. ... United Negro College Fund logo The United Negro College Fund (UNCF) is a Fairfax, Virginia-based American philanthropic organization that fundraises college tuition money for African-American students and general scholarship funds for 39 historically black colleges and universities. ... National Black Chamber of Commerce The National Black Chamber of Commerce, (NBCC), was “incorporated in March of 1993, in Washington D.C.” The organizations mission is “To economically empower and sustain African American communities, through the process of entrepreneurship and capitalistic activity within the United States and via interaction with... Not to be confused with National Panhellenic Conference. ... The Links, Incorporated is an exclusive non-profit organization based upon the ideals of combining friendship and community service and was was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on November 9, 1946, from a group of ladies known as the Philadelphia Club to have focuses on civic, cultural, and educational endeavors[1... The National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) was founded in 1935 by Mary McLeod Bethune, child of slave parents, distinguished educator and government consultant. ... Part of the History of baseball in the United States series. ... The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) is a college athletic conference made up of historically black colleges in the southeastern United States. ... logo of Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) is a College athletic conference consisting of historically black colleges located in the southern United States. ... The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) is a collegiate athletic conference which consists of historically black colleges in the southeastern United States. ... The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) is a college athletic conference made up of historically black universities in the southern United States. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... The Gullah language (Sea Island Creole English, Geechee) is a creole language spoken by the Gullah people (also called Geechees), an African American population living on the Sea Islands and the coastal region of the U.S. states of South Carolina and Georgia. ... Louisiana Creole (Créole Louisiane and Kourí-Viní, as it is known in and near St. ... Note: This page or section contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ... Notable African-Americans or Black Americans // List of African American writers List of African American nonfiction writers List of composers of African descent African Americans in the United States Congress (includes a long list) List of African American Republicans List of civil rights leaders List of African American abolitionists List... African-Americans are a demographic minority in the United States. ... This is a list of landmark legislation, court decisions, executive orders, and proclamations in the United States significantly affecting African Americans. ... This is an alphabetical list of African-American-related topics: Contents: Top - 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A African American African American contemporary issues African American culture... This is a list of articles that are related to African and black people. ... Slave redirects here. ...

^[1][2].

U.S. Historical context

The arguments surrounding reparations are based on the formal discussion about reparations and actual land reparations received by African-Americans which were later taken away. In 1865, after the Confederate States of America were defeated in the American Civil War, General William Tecumseh Sherman issued Special Field Orders, No. 15 to solve problems caused by the masses of refugees, a temporary plan granting each freed family forty acres of tillable land in the sea islands and around Charleston, South Carolina for the exclusive use of black people who had been enslaved. The army also had a number of unneeded mules which were given to settlers. Around 40,000 freed slaves were settled on 400,000 acres (1,600 km²) in Georgia and South Carolina. However, President Andrew Johnson reversed the order after Lincoln was assassinated and the land was returned to its previous owners. In 1867, Thaddeus Stevens sponsored a bill for the redistribution of land to African Americans, but it was not passed. Year 1865 (MDCCLXV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Motto Deo Vindice (Latin: Under God, Our Vindicator) Anthem (none official) God Save the South (unofficial) The Bonnie Blue Flag (unofficial) Dixie (unofficial)  States that seceded under CSA control  States and territories claimed by CSA without formal secession and/or control Capital Montgomery, Alabama (until May 29, 1861) Richmond, Virginia... Combatants United States of America (Union) Confederate States of America (Confederacy) Commanders Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee Strength 2,200,000 1,064,000 Casualties 110,000 killed in action, 360,000 total dead, 275,200 wounded 93,000 killed in action, 258,000 total... Portrait of William Tecumseh Sherman by Mathew Brady William Tecumseh Sherman (February 8, 1820 – February 14, 1891) was an American soldier, businessman, and author. ... Special Field Orders, No. ... For other persons of the same name, see Andrew Johnson (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Abraham Lincoln (disambiguation). ... Year 1867 (MDCCCLXVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Thaddeus Stevens (April 4, 1792 – August 11, 1868), was one of the most powerful members of the United States House of Representatives, representing the state of Pennsylvania. ...

Reconstruction came to an end in 1877 without the issue of reparations having been addressed. Thereafter, a deliberate movement of regression and oppression arose in southern states. Jim Crow laws passed in some southeastern states to reinforce the existing inequality that slavery had produced. In addition white extremist organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan engaged in a massive campaign of intimidation throughout the Southeast in order to keep African-Americans in their prescribed social place. For decades this assumed inequality and injustice was ruled on in court decisions and debated in public discourse. 1877 (MDCCCLXXVII) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Manifestations Slavery Racial profiling Lynching Hate speech Hate crime Genocide (examples) Ethnocide Ethnic cleansing Pogrom Race war Religious persecution Gay bashing Blood libel Paternalism Police brutality Movements Policies Discriminatory Race / Religion / Sex segregation Apartheid Redlining Internment Anti-discriminatory Emancipation Civil rights Desegregation Integration Equal opportunity Counter-discriminatory Affirmative action Racial... Members of the second Ku Klux Klan at a rally during the 1920s. ...

Reparation for slavery in what is now the United States is a complicated and complex issue. Any proposal for reparations must take into account the role of the, then relatively newly formed, United States Government in the importation and enslavement of Africans and that of the older and established European countries that created the colonies in which slavery was legal; as well as their efforts to stop the trade in slaves. It must also consider if and how much modern Americans have benefited from the importation and enslavement of Africans since the end of the slave trade in 1865. Contrary to popular belief, some in the Northern states were as complicit in the slave trade as the Southern states. New England merchants profited from the importation of slaves, while Southern planters profited from the continued enslavement of Africans. In a 2007 column in The New York Times, historian Eric Foner writes: United States Government redirects here. ... Slavery in the United States began soon after English colonists first settled Virginia and lasted until the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. ... For colonies not part of the 13 colonies see European colonization of the Americas or British colonization of the Americas. ... Regional definitions vary from source to source. ... Historic Southern United States. ... The New York Times is a daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed internationally. ... Eric Foner (born February 7, 1943 in New York City) is an American historian. ...

[In] the Colonial era, Southern planters regularly purchased imported slaves, and merchants in New York and New England profited handsomely from the trade.
The American Revolution threw the slave trade and slavery itself into crisis. In the run-up to war, Congress banned the importation of slaves as part of a broader nonimportation policy. During the War of Independence, tens of thousands of slaves escaped to British lines. Many accompanied the British out of the country when peace arrived.
Inspired by the ideals of the Revolution, most of the newly independent American states banned the slave trade. But importation resumed to South Carolina and Georgia, which had been occupied by the British during the war and lost the largest number of slaves.
The slave trade was a major source of disagreement at the Constitutional Convention of 1787. South Carolina’s delegates were determined to protect slavery, and they had a powerful impact on the final document. They originated the three-fifths clause (giving the South extra representation in Congress by counting part of its slave population) and threatened disunion if the slave trade were banned, as other states demanded.
The result was a compromise barring Congress from prohibiting the importation of slaves until 1808. Some Anti-Federalists, as opponents of ratification were called, cited the slave trade clause as a reason why the Constitution should be rejected, claiming it brought shame upon the new nation....
As slavery expanded into the Deep South, a flourishing internal slave trade replaced importation from Africa. Between 1808 and 1860, the economies of older states like Virginia came increasingly to rely on the sale of slaves to the cotton fields of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. But demand far outstripped supply, and the price of slaves rose inexorably, placing ownership outside the reach of poorer Southerners.^[3]

Thus, reparations for slavery in the United States must be viewed against a background of class (who benefited), race, nationality, and societal values circa 1600-1900, versus societal values of 2008 in the Western Hemisphere.

Proposals for reparations

United States Government

Some proposals have called for direct payments from the U.S. government. The question of who if any should receive such payments, who should pay them and in what amount, has been highly controversial^[4][5], since the United States Census does not track descent from slaves or slave owners and relies on self-reported racial categories. Since all slaves have died and the statute of limitations has long expired no court has seriously supported these direct reparations. The United States Census is a decennial census mandated by the United States Constitution. ... A statute of limitations is a statute in a common law legal system that sets forth the maximum period of time, after certain events, that legal proceedings based on those events may be initiated. ...

Various estimates have been given if such payments were to be made. Harper’s Magazine has created an estimate that the total of reparations due is over 100 trillion dollars, based on 222,505,049 hours of forced labor between 1619 and 1865, with a compounded interest of 6%^[6]. Should all or part of this amount be paid to the descendants of slaves in the United States, the current U.S. government would only pay a fraction of that cost, since it has been in existence only since 1789. Events May 13 - Dutch statesman Johan van Oldenbarnevelt is executed in The Hague after having been accused of treason. ... Year 1865 (MDCCLXV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Year 1789 (MDCCLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ...

Ex-colonial governments

The full cost of slavery reparations prior to 1776 would have to be borne by the governments of the European countries (Spain, the United Kingdom, France, and Portugal, primarily) who governed North America at that time. One additional problem is that the governments in power in the 1600s and 1700s in Europe are not still in power now. France, for example, has gone through several forms of government since it was last a colonial power in North America. It would be difficult, if not impossible, to hold the current French government liable for the enslavement of Africans that previous governments encouraged and benefited from between the 1600s up to the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Many inventions and institutions are created, including Hans Lippershey with the telescope (1608, used by Galileo the next year), the newspaper Avisa Relation oder Zeitung in Augsburg, and Cornelius Drebbel with the thermostat (1609). ... Events and trends The Bonneville Slide blocks the Columbia River near the site of present-day Cascade Locks, Oregon with a land bridge 200 feet (60 m) high. ... The Louisiana Purchase (French: Vente de la Louisiane) was the acquisition by the United States of America of 828,000 square miles (2,140,000 km²) of French territory (Louisiana) in 1803. ... 1803 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...

Private institutions

Private institutions and corporations were also involved in slavery. On March 8, 2000, Reuters News Service reported that Deadria Farmer-Paellmann, a law school graduate, initiated a one-woman campaign making a historic demand for restitution and apologies from modern companies that played a direct role in enslaving Africans. Aetna Inc. was her first target because of their practice of writing life insurance policies on the lives of enslaved Africans with slave owners as the beneficiaries. In response to Farmer-Paellmann's demand, Aetna Inc. issued an unprecedented public apology, and the "corporate restitution movement" was born. Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... Aetna, Inc. ...

By 2002, nine lawsuits were filed around the country coordinated by Farmer-Paellmann and the Restitution Study Group -- a New York non-profit. The litigation included 20 plaintiffs demanding restitution from 20 companies from the banking, insurance, textile, railroad, and tobacco industries. The cases were consolidated under 28 U.S.C. § 1407 to multidistrict litigation in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The litigation included 20 plaintiffs demanding restitution from 20 companies from the banking, insurance, textile, railroad, and tobacco industries. The district court dismissed the lawsuits with prejudice, and the claimants appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Also see: 2002 (number). ... Title 28 is the portion of the United States Code (federal statutory law) that governs the Federal Judicial System. ... The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation is a special body within the United States federal court system, established by Congress in 1968, that has the power to transfer similar pending lawsuits brought in multiple districts to a single judge in a single jurisdiction. ... The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois is the Federal district court whose jurisdiction is comprised of the following counties, divided into two divisions: The eastern division: Cook, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, La Salle, Lake, and Will counties. ... In law, the phrase without prejudice means that a claim, lawsuit, or proceeding has been brought to a temporary end but that no legal rights or privileges have been determined, waived, or lost by the result. ... The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the courts in the following districts: Central District of Illinois Northern District of Illinois Southern District of Illinois Northern District of Indiana Southern District of Indiana Eastern District of Wisconsin Western District...

On December 13, 2006, that Court, in an opinion written by Judge Richard Posner, modified the district court's judgment to be a dismissal without prejudice, affirmed the majority of the district court's judgment, and reversed the portion of the district court's judgment dismissing the plaintiffs' consumer protection claims, remanding the case for further proceedings consistent with its opinion [1]. Thus, the plaintiffs may bring the lawsuit again, but must clear considerable procedural and substantive hurdles first: Richard Allen Posner (born January 11, 1939, in New York City) is currently a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. ... Consumer protection is a form of government regulation which protects the interests of consumers. ... A prisoner who is denied, refused or unable to meet the conditions of bail, or who is unable to post bail, may be held in a prison on remand until their criminal trial. ... Civil procedure is the body of law that sets out the process that courts will follow when hearing cases of a civil nature (a civil action, as opposed to a criminal action). ...

If one or more of the defendants violated a state law by transporting slaves in 1850, and the plaintiffs can establish standing to sue, prove the violation despite its antiquity, establish that the law was intended to provide a remedy (either directly or by providing the basis for a common law action for conspiracy, conversion, or restitution) to lawfully enslaved persons or their descendants, identify their ancestors, quantify damages incurred, and persuade the court to toll the statute of limitations, there would be no further obstacle to the grant of relief.^[7]

In October 2000, California passed a Slavery Era Disclosure Law requiring insurance companies doing business there to report on their role in slavery. The disclosure legislation, introduced by Senator Tom Hayden, is the prototype for similar laws passed in 12 states around the United States. Disclosure means the giving out of information, either voluntarily or to be in compliance with legal regulations or workplace rules. ... Tom Hayden outside the 2004 Democratic National Convention Thomas Emmett Tom Hayden (born December 11, 1939) is an American social and political activist and politician, most famous for his involvement in the anti-war and civil rights movements of the 1960s. ...

The NAACP has called for more of such legislation at local and corporate levels. It quotes Dennis C. Hayes, CEO of the NAACP, as saying, "Absolutely, we will be pursuing reparations from companies that have historical ties to slavery and engaging all parties to come to the table."^[8] Brown University, whose namesake family was involved in the slave trade, has also established a committee to explore the issue of reparations. In February 2007, Brown University announced a set of responses^[9] to its Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice. ^[10] While in 1995 the Southern Baptist Convention apologized for the "sins" of racism, including slavery. ^[11] The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), is one of the oldest and most influential hate organizations in the United States. ... Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is the job of having the ultimate executive responsibility or authority within an organization or corporation. ... Brown University is a private university located in Providence, Rhode Island. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... Year 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday. ... The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is a United States-based Christian denomination that consists of numerous agencies including six seminaries, two mission boards and a variety of other organizations such as: the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention, which can act for the SBC ad interim between annual meetings...

In December of 2005, a boycott was called by a coalition of reparations groups under the sponsorship of the Restitution Study Group. The boycott targets the student loan products of banks deemed complicit in slavery -- particularly those identified in the Farmer-Paellmann litigation. As part of the boycott students are asked to choose from other banks to finance their student loans."^[12] Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Look up Boycott in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

In 2005, JP Morgan Chase and Wachovia both apologized^[13][14] for their connections to slavery. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. ... For Moravian settlements in North Carolina, see Wachovia, North Carolina. ...

Land

These proposals would deed public lands in the South to black people who can prove they are descended from slaves. Supporters state^{[citation needed]} that through the development of this land these descendants would gain a stake in wider society, which would cause positive sociological effects throughout the African-American community. In all modern states, some land is held by central or local governments. ...

Social services

A number of supporters for reparations advocate that compensation should be in the form of community rehabilitation and not payments to individual descendants^[15]. Chicago city council woman (Alderman) Dorothy Tillman made the argument that reparations for slavery should not take the form of money paid directly to anyone. She said that increased funding for restaurants, movie theaters, and restrooms in the black community could be used as a form of reparations^{[citation needed]}. For other uses, see Chicago (disambiguation). ... Dorothy J. Tillman (born May 12, 1947) is a Chicago alderman for the 3rd Ward (map). ...

Arguments for reparations

Accumulated wealth

Supporters of reparations say that if emancipated slaves had been allowed to possess and retain the profits of their labor, their descendants might now control a much larger share of American social and monetary wealth. Not only did the freedmen and -women not receive a share of these profits, but they were stripped of the small amounts of compensation paid to some of them during Reconstruction. The wealth of the United States, they say, was greatly enhanced by the exploitation of Black slave labor.^[16] According to this view, reparations would be valuable primarily as a way of correcting modern economic imbalance. poop. ...

Precedents

Under the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, signed into law by President Ronald Reagan, the U.S. government apologized for Japanese American internment during World War II and provided reparations of $20,000 to each survivor, to compensate for loss of property and liberty during that period. For many years, Native American tribes have received compensation for lands ceded to the United States by them in various treaties. Other countries have also opted to pay reparations for past grievances, (see Holocaust reparations). The Civil Liberties Act of 1988 granted reparations to Japanese Americans who had been interned by the United States government during World War II. Each internee was granted $20,000 in compensation. ... Residents of Japanese ancestry waiting in line for the bus that will transport them to an internment camp. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... A treaty is a binding agreement under international law concluded by subjects of international law, namely states and international organizations. ... This page is a candidate to be copied to Wiktionary. ...

Arguments against reparations

Relocation of injustice

The principal argument against reparations is that their cost would not be imposed upon the perpetrators of slavery who were a very small percentage of society with 4.8% of southern whites (only 1.4% of all whites in the country), nor confined to those who can be shown to be the specific indirect beneficiaries of slavery, but would simply be indiscriminately borne by taxpayers per se. Those making this argument often add that the descendants of white abolitionists and soldiers in the Union Army might be taxed to fund reparations despite the sacrifices their ancestors already made to end slavery. It is further noted that, while slavery prevailed, the principal indirect beneficiaries of American slavery were Europeans, who took possession of expropriated labor in the form of reduced pricing of American agricultural exports^{[citation needed]}. This article is about slavery. ... The 21st Michigan Infantry, a company of Shermans veterans. ...

In the case of Public Lands, European colonizers wiped out or forcibly removed ^[17] many Southeastern Native American tribes. One argument against reparations is that in assigning public lands to African-Americans for the enslavement of their ancestors, a greater and further wrong would be committed against the Southeastern Native Americans who have ancestral claims and treaty rights to that same land. This article is about the people indigenous to the United States and their history after European contact, chiefly in what is now the United States. ...

From 1814 to 1824, Jackson was instrumental in negotiating nine out of eleven treaties which divested the southern tribes of their eastern lands in exchange for lands in the west. The tribes agreed to the treaties for strategic reasons. They wanted to appease the government in the hopes of retaining some of their land, and they wanted to protect themselves from white harassment. As a result of the treaties, the United States gained control over three-quarters of Alabama and Florida, as well as parts of Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, Kentucky and North Carolina. This was a period of voluntary Indian migration, however, and only a small number of Creeks, Cherokee and Choctaws actually moved to the new lands. (From: Indian Remove 1814-1858.)

In addition, several historians have made important contributions to the global understanding of the African side of the Atlantic slave trade. By arguing that African merchants determined the assemblage of trade goods accepted in exchange for slaves, many historians argue for African agency and ultimately a shared responsibility for the slave trade.^[18] The Atlantic slave trade, also known as the transatlantic slave trade, was the trade of African people supplied to the colonies of the New World that occurred in and around the Atlantic Ocean. ...

Identification of victims and of levels of victimization

Identification of actual descendants of slaves would be an enormous undertaking, because such descent is not simply identical with present racial self-identification. And levels of actual victimization would be impossible to identify; had freed slaves been given their recoverable damages, they may have followed different patterns of marriage and of reproduction, and in some cases would not have made their offspring the sole or even principal heirs to their estates. (Opponents of reparations refer to the lost wealth of slaves as “dissipated”, not in the sense of simply having ceased to exist, but in the sense of being untraceable and transmitted elsewhere.)

Comparative utility

It has been argued that reparations for slavery cannot be justified on the basis that slave descendants are subjectively worse off as a result of slavery, because it has been suggested that they are better off than they would have been in Africa if the slave trade had never happened.

In "Up From Slavery," former slave Booker T. Washington wrote, Up From Slavery is the 1901 autobiography of Booker T. Washington detailing his slow and steady rise from a slave child during the Civil War, to the difficulties and obstacles he overcame to get an education at the new Hampton University, to his work establishing vocational schools (most notably the... Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856 – November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author and leader of the African American community. ...

I have long since ceased to cherish any spirit of bitterness against the Southern white people on account of the enslavement of my race. No one section of our country was wholly responsible for its introduction... Having once got its tentacles fastened on to the economic and social life of the Republic, it was no easy matter for the country to relieve itself of the institution. Then, when we rid ourselves of prejudice, or racial feeling, and look facts in the face, we must acknowledge that, notwithstanding the cruelty and moral wrong of slavery, the ten million Negroes inhabiting this country, who themselves or whose ancestors went through the school of American slavery, are in a stronger and more hopeful condition, materially, intellectually, morally, and religiously, than is true of an equal number of black people in any other portion of the globe. ...This I say, not to justify slavery -- on the other hand, I condemn it as an institution, as we all know that in America it was established for selfish and financial reasons, and not from a missionary motive -- but to call attention to a fact, and to show how Providence so often uses men and institutions to accomplish a purpose. When persons ask me in these days how, in the midst of what sometimes seem hopelessly discouraging conditions, I can have such faith in the future of my race in this country, I remind them of the wilderness through which and out of which, a good Providence has already led us. [2]

Neoconservative commentator David Horowitz writes, In theology, Divine Providence, or simply Providence, is the sovereignty, superintendence, or agency of God over events in peoples lives and throughout history. ... Neoconservatism describes several distinct political ideologies which are considered new forms of conservatism. ... David Horowitz is an American conservative writer and activist. ...

The claim for reparations is premised on the false assumption that only whites have benefited from slavery. If slave labor created wealth for Americans, then obviously it has created wealth for black Americans as well, including the descendants of slaves. The GNP of black America is so large that it makes the African-American community the 10th most prosperous "nation" in the world. American blacks on average enjoy per capita incomes in the range of twenty to fifty times that of blacks living in any of the African nations from which they were taken. (From Ten Reasons Why Reparations for Blacks is a Bad Idea for Blacks - and Racist Too)

Measures of national income and output are used in economics to estimate the value of goods and services produced in an economy. ... Per capita income means how much each individual receives, in monetary terms, of the yearly income generated in their country. ...

Legal argument against reparations

Many legal experts point to the fact that slavery was not illegal in the United States^[19] prior to the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (ratified in 1865). Thus, there is no legal foundation for compensating the descendants of slaves for the crime against their ancestors when, in strictly legal terms, no crime was committed. Chattel slavery is now considered by many to be highly immoral in the United States, but perfectly legal at the time. However, opponents of this legal argument contend that such was the case in Nazi Germany, whereby the activities of the Nazis were legal under German law; however unlike slavery, the German activities were precedented by the Allied Powers following WWI, which could not rule against the German government then due to lack of precedent-- but could do so afterward following WWII on the basis of this established WWI precedent. Amendment XIII in the National Archives The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution officially abolished, and continues to prohibit slavery and, with limited exceptions (those convicted of a crime), prohibits involuntary servitude. ... Year 1865 (MDCCLXV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ...

Other legal experts point to the fact that the current U.S. government did not exist prior to June 21, 1788 when the United States Constitution was ratified. Therefore, the U.S. government inherited the institution of slavery, and cannot be held legally liable for the enslavement of Africans by Europeans prior to that time. Figuring out who was enslaved by whom in order to fairly apply reparations from the U.S. Government only to those who were enslaved under U.S. laws, would be an impossible task. 1788 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Wikisource has original text related to this article: The United States Constitution The United States Constitution is the supreme law of the United States of America. ...

Some areas of the South had communities of freedman, such as existed in Savannah, Charleston and New Orleans, while in the North, for example, former slaves lived as freedman both before and after the creation of the United States in 1788. For example, in 1667 Dutch colonists freed some of their slaves and gave them property in what is now Manhattan^[20][21]. The descendants of Groote and Christina Manuell -- two of those freed slaves -- can trace their family's history as freedman back to the child of Groote and Christina, Nicolas Manuell, whom they consider their family's first freeborn African-American. In 1712, the British, then in control of New York, prohibited blacks from inheriting land, effectively ending property ownership for this family. While this is only one example out of thousands of enslaved persons, it does mean that not all slavery reparations can be determined by racial self-identification alone; reparations would have to include a determination of the free or slave status of one's African-American ancestors, as well as when and by whom they were enslaved and denied rights such as property ownership. Because of slavery, the original African heritage has been blended with the American experience, the same as it has been for generations of immigrants from other countries. For this reason, determining a "fair share" of reparations would be an impossible task.

The most effective legal argument against reparations for slavery from a legal (as opposed to a moral standpoint) is that the statute of limitations for filing lawsuits has long since passed. Thus, courts are prohibited from granting relief. This has been used effectively in several suits, including In re African American Slave Descendants, which dismissed a high-profile suit against a number of businesses with ties to slavery. Perhaps the most cogent argument against reparations (though this is not a legal argument) is that few African-Americans are of "pure" African blood since the offspring of the original slaves were occasionally the progeny of Caucasian masters.

Reparations could cause increased racism

Anti-reparations advocates argue reparations payments based on race alone would be perceived by nearly everyone forced to make payments as a monstrous injustice, embittering many and inevitably setting back race relations. Apologetic feelings many whites hold because of slavery and past civil rights injustices would, to a significant extent, be replaced by anger. Civil rights or positive rights are those legal rights retained by citizens and protected by the government. ...

The Libertarian Party, among other groups and individuals, has suggested that reparations would make racism worse: The Libertarian Party is a United States political party founded on December 11, 1971. ...

A renewed demand by African-Americans for slavery reparations should be rejected because such payments would only increase racial hostility... (From press release)

A leading work against reparations is David Horowitz, Uncivil Wars: The Controversy Over Reparations for Slavery (2002). Other works that discuss problems with reparations, although they are sympathetic in some ways to it, include John Torpey, Making Whole What Has Been Smashed: On Reparations Politics (2006) and Alfred Brophy, Reparations Pro and Con (2006).

References

Eric Foner (born February 7, 1943 in New York City) is an American historian. ... is the 364th day of the year (365th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... The New York Times is a daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed internationally. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 364th day of the year (365th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Cotton (disambiguation). ... A Watt steam engine, the steam engine that propelled the Industrial Revolution in Britain and the world. ...

External links

• The Legal Basis of the Claim for Slavery Reparations - Anthony Gifford, American Bar Association, Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities.
• Slavery Reparations: A Misguided Movement - Professor Peter H. Schuck, Yale Law School, JURIST Guest Columnist
• Reparations for Slavery - lesson plan for high school students, by the Constitutional Rights Foundation. Offers arguments for and against reparations from one of the links.
• Commission to Study Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act -- A bill introduced by Congressman John Conyers, Jr. every year since 1989, which has not yet passed.
• Apology and Reparations for Slavery -- Legal articles that argue for and against reparations, compiled by law professor Vernellia R. Randall, University of Dayton.
• National Coalition Of Blacks for Reparations in America (N'COBRA)
• Posner and Vermeule (2003) - An overall review of legal and ethical arguments relating to reparations.
• Indian Removal Act - The Library of Congress' site on the Indian Removal Act of 1830.
• Slavery Reparations Information Center - Links to articles for and against reparations compiled and maintained by the National Leadership Network of Black Conservatives
• Making Amends Debate Continues Over Reparations for U.S. Slavery - National Public Radio, August 27, 2001.
• Reparations for Slavery: a Reader - a collection of essays on the topic of reparations for slavery.
• BANISHED site for Independent Lens on PBS

Airing weekly on PBS and distributed by ITVS, the Emmy award-winning series Independent Lens is like an independent film festival in your living room. ... Not to be confused with Public Broadcasting Services in Malta. ...

See also

• History of slavery in the world
• History of slavery in the United States
• Slavery reparation scam
• Liberia
• 40 acres and a mule
• Global justice

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