Treachery of silence: usage of pro- and anti-slavery rhetoric as a political propaganda in 18th- and 19th-century revolutions

Abstract

From the 18th century onwards, slavery held a consistent place in the Western intellectual heritage. American, Haitian and Greek Revolutionaries used the term slavery to describe their conditions under the colonial powers they were living in. According to their ideological and intellectual position, we can analyze how slavery was used in different ways. This research aims to explore how pro-slavery advocates used rhetoric linked to slavery to bolster their racial prejudices towards the Haitian revolutionaries and the Ottoman Empire. It underlines that due to their intellectual foundation, some Western intellectuals chose to retain hierarchies regarding Black individuals. On the other hand, some Western intellectuals chose to aid Greek revolutionaries due to their disenfranchised conditions under the Ottoman Empire.