"仆人而非士兵":美国军队中奴隶制的起源,1797-1816 年

IF 0.8 2区 历史学 Q1 HISTORY
Yoav Hamdani
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引用次数: 0

摘要

摘要:本文揭示了美国作为 "奴隶制共和国 "的一个鲜为人知的方面。1816-1861 年间,美国陆军依靠成千上万的被奴役者充当军官的仆人。1816 年,国会批准了军官私人仆人的津贴、口粮和奖金,同时终止了士兵充当仆人的做法。这一立法举措有效地补贴和鼓励了军队奴隶制。本文深入探讨了导致国会将军队奴隶制制度化的政治环境和立法手段,建立了维持、资助和扩大奴役仆人数量的机制。军事奴隶制是随着美国军事和平机构的建立、官僚化和专业化而逐步发展起来的。从 1797 年到 1816 年,它在相互竞争的政策目标中不断演变,最终形成了一种长期的官僚变通办法,美其名曰 "仆役而非士兵"。面对公众对军官滥用士兵劳动力的批评,军队通过私有化和种族化的双重过程将军官的仆役 "外包 "出去,区分 "公共 "和 "私人 "服务,区分自由的白人士兵和被奴役的黑人仆役。虽然这一解决方案符合奴隶主的利益,但它是官僚应急和临时决策的产物,而不是奴隶主阴谋策划的政策。有趣的是,一个基本的偿还问题却导致了意想不到的结果,即政府资助的奴役。承认这种偶然性并不是为这些行为开脱,而是强调奴隶制往往是通过制度上的通融而不是政治或道德上的反对来 "解决 "的。因此,奴隶制直接影响了美国陆军这一国家核心机构,在其关键的形成时刻改变了军事系统。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
“Servants not Soldiers”: The Origins of Slavery in the United States Army, 1797–1816
Abstract:This article illuminates a lesser-explored aspect of the United States as a “slaveholding republic.” Between 1816–1861, the U.S. Army relied on thousands of enslaved persons who served as officers' servants. In 1816, Congress authorized allowances, rations, and bonuses for officers' private servants while putting an end to the practice of soldiers serving as servants. This legislative move effectively subsidized and incentivized military slaveholding. The paper delves into the political circumstances and legislative maneuvers that led Congress to institutionalize military slavery, establishing mechanisms to sustain, fund, and expand the number of enslaved servants. Military slavery developed gradually with the foundation, bureaucratization, and professionalization of an American military peace establishment. It evolved from 1797 to 1816 through competing policy objectives, resulting in a long-lasting bureaucratic workaround euphemistically termed "servants not soldiers." Facing public criticism over officers’ abuse of soldiers’ labor, the army “outsourced” officers’ servants through a dual process of privatization and racialization, differentiating between “public” and “private” service, between free, white soldiers and enslaved, black servants. Though serving slaveholders’ interests, the adopted solution was a product of bureaucratic contingencies and ad-hoc decision-making and not a policy orchestrated by a cabal of enslavers. Interestingly, a basic question of reimbursement led somewhere unanticipated, ending in government-sponsored enslaved servitude. Acknowledging this contingency does not excuse the actions but underscores how slavery was often "solved" through institutional accommodation rather than political or moral opposition. Thus, slavery directly impacted the U.S. Army, a central national institution, altering the military system at its pivotal, formative moments.
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来源期刊
CiteScore
0.30
自引率
0.00%
发文量
70
期刊介绍: The Journal of the Early Republic is a quarterly journal committed to publishing the best scholarship on the history and culture of the United States in the years of the early republic (1776–1861). JER is published for the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic. SHEAR membership includes an annual subscription to the journal.
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