The word "enslaved" has become the preferred term for people found in that
status on the same theory as the term "undocumented aliens" has become the
preferred term over "illegal aliens." Human beings are inherently neither
"illegal" nor "slaves." Human beings are sometimes classed as being
"illegal" or as "slaves." In either case that is deliberate action of an
outside agency and has no bearing on the inherent quality of that person.
Therefore, the term "enslaved" is considered to be more accurate than the
term "slave."

It works linguistically. And, in fact, this argument is the cornerstone of
the Supreme Court decision related to the Africans captured on the slave
ship Amistad. The US Supreme court eventually freed the Africans who
revolted against the crew of the Amistad on the theory that since they were
never legally "enslaved" that they were free men and could not be forced
into slavery in a free state.
nburlkoff

-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf
Of Deb Fuller
Sent: Wednesday, November 05, 2003 11:00 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: "Enslaved"

Hi all,

I've been visiting other historic sites as of late and have noticed the use
of
the word "enslaved African-Americans" instead of just "slaves". Is this some
new PC thing going on? How does using the words "enslaved" differ from
"slaves". In addition, if the slaves were recently arrived from Africa,
aren't
they technically just "African" and not really American yet?

Newspeak is truly upon us...

Deb

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