Individualism, Freedom, And Ethnocentrism - 848 Words

Three major American ideals that we have studied are individualism, freedom, and ethnocentrism. Slavery has challenged these ideals one way or another. Slavery is present in Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Fitzhugh, Douglass, and Dew. These pieces of literature focus on slavery. The idea of individualism states that the individual is very important and following one’s conscience and heart is the more important aspect. Henry David Thoreau speaks about individualism in his section titled Civil Disobedience (Thoreau, Civil Disobedience). The concept of individualism is challenged in Fitzhugh’s Sociology for the South. A quote to illustrate this is â€Å"He would become an insufferable burden to society. Society has the right to prevent this, and can only do so by subjecting him to domestic slavery† (Fitzhugh, Sociology for the South). No matter what the man or woman does, they will be a burden to society and will become a slave. They can’t follow their conscience o r heart because they always must obey their masters, they are continually under the suppression of a dominant force. This slave could be a wage slave which is a person owned by his or her job. Again, these slaves will always be kept under the hand of a master. They can never truly display or demonstrate individualism. A point of disagreement is between Fitzhugh and Stowe. Fitzhugh thought blacks needed to be slaves because they were a burden, but Stowe illustrated throughout her book that blacks are human beings that deserve to beShow MoreRelatedComparing Stereotyping And Ethnocentrism1557 Words   |  7 PagesStereotyping and ethnocentrism both have concepts that are intertwined in some type of way in society. Both concepts of stereotyping and ethnocentrism has been identified as being superior, dogmatic, bigotry, and can be harmful and hurtful to the human spirit. 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