# would ya? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 30, 2000, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-ya/31281 "2000-08-30T01:30:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![craiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@craiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/craiger)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-ya/31281/1 "2000-08-30T01:30:17Z")
if slavery were legal how much do you think one would cost in today’s dollars? as much as a car? if you could afford one, would you buy one? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Ed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Just\_Ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Ed)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-ya/31281/2 "2000-08-30T01:38:27Z")
> [@](#): > > if slavery were legal how much do you think one would cost The cost? - the morality of society. Seems a bit steep. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-ya/31281/3 "2000-08-30T02:02:41Z")
Are you volunteering, craiger? ---
**Author:** ![Road\_Rash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@Road\_Rash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Road_Rash)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-ya/31281/4 "2000-08-30T03:15:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by craiger \* > \*\*if slavery were legal how much do you think one would cost in today’s dollars? as much as a car? > if you could afford one, would you buy one? > \*\* It would cost quite a bit. They weren’t cheap in the good ole antebellum days. A prime slave could cost a few thousand bucks in 19th century. Then comes the maintenance. You gotta feed them. You gotta house them. And you gotta deal with the fact that you have a bunch of strong ass workers who are not particularly happy in their situation. Escapes were common. Mutinees were less common but happened. Slavery ended in the northern half of the U.S. largely because of economic reasons. When the slave gets old, you are still responible for maintaining him. Slaves cost more than cheap Irish immigrants. Really! Plantation owners would hire Irish workers to do dangerous work and keep the slaves in the cotton or tobacco fields, which is where they were most profitable. Even if we had slaves today, they would still cost more than immigrant workers. ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-ya/31281/5 "2000-08-30T03:54:08Z")
Back in the 1850s I think slaves cost on the order of $2000, though I don’t have anything but my history teacher to back me up on that one. However, $2000 then . . . $200 for a car in 1920. $20,000 for a car today. At LEAST $200,000 for a slave, IMNSHOEO. Plus your dignity. And a bunch of other stuff money can’t replace. ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-ya/31281/6 "2000-08-30T04:29:07Z")
The posters at the museum said $800 for a good worker, some skills. These were from missouri not long before the civil war IIRC. The cost of owning a person without his or her ongoing willing consent is the owner’s own soul and humanity. However, many are quite willing to give that up for any convenience. I for one am glad that slavery in the Unite States was abolished. We have enough problems. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-ya/31281/7 "2000-08-30T08:36:11Z")
> [@](#): > > if slavery were legal how much do you think one would cost in today’s dollars? as much as a car? That’s been answered, but I just want to add… just like only the wealthy owned a lot of slaves back before emancipation, only the wealthy would own a lot of slaves now, I think. However, in this increasingly-technical world, they wouldn’t be used in many of todays more profitable fields. > [@](#): > > if you could afford one, would you buy one? No, I wouldn’t. Even if I wasn’t raised with the ethical and moral teachings that it’s a no-no to enslave someone else, I probably wouldn’t. Desire for a simple life, and all (well, sort of). Interesting idea… I’m pretty sure everyone here would have big-time qualms about owning someone else. What about sentient androids? Suppose we get a bunch of C-3PO’s running around… would you have moral objections to “buying” a protocol droid? Or maybe that’s a question for MPSIMS or IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-ya/31281/8 "2000-08-30T08:38:25Z")
Um, no, I wouldn’t. And the other part of this? Not only did they have to buy the slaves, they had to feed and clothe them at least minimally if they wanted to keep their investment. So the initial cost was not the sole financial output. ---
**Author:** ![dewt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9dc877/32.png) [@dewt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dewt)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-ya/31281/9 "2000-08-30T10:45:21Z")
Sure I’d buy one, if I could afford one, but then I’d probably let the poor guy/gal go. Hey, I said I could buy one. I never said I could keep one. Actually, I’d be the guy running around kidnapping slavers and selling them. heheheheheheh ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-ya/31281/10 "2000-08-30T10:51:31Z")
Slavery is an ethical abomination. ---
**Author:** ![Gilligan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Gilligan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gilligan)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-ya/31281/11 "2000-08-30T11:34:46Z")
Wouldn’t. But I have a question about the cost of slaves historically. Slaves weren’t allowed to be imported after some date, I can’t remember the date. Could that be part of the reason for the high cost? If slavery were legal today, would slaves brought in from countries with high populations be much cheaper? ---
**Author:** ![Sterra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8c91f0/32.png) [@Sterra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sterra)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-ya/31281/12 "2000-08-31T00:28:59Z")
Or just take all the cubans who float over as slaves… free slaves. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-ya/31281/13 "2000-08-31T01:09:28Z")
cooldude wrote: [QUOTEWhen the slave gets old, you are still responible for maintaining him.[/QUOTE] Couldn’t you just throw him out and buy a new one? ---
**Author:** ![Road\_Rash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@Road\_Rash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Road_Rash)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-ya/31281/14 "2000-08-31T02:55:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Gilligan \* > \*\*Wouldn’t. But I have a question about the cost of slaves historically. Slaves weren’t allowed to be imported after some date, I can’t remember the date. Could that be part of the reason for the high cost? If slavery were legal today, would slaves brought in from countries with high populations be much cheaper? \*\* Slaves were allowed, possibly in some cases encouraged, to marry and breed. The imported slave trade continued to thrive well after 1808(?) as the 19th century “war on slaves” was about as effective as our gov’t’s current “war.” ---
**Author:** ![Road\_Rash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@Road\_Rash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Road_Rash)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-ya/31281/15 "2000-08-31T02:57:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by cooldude \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Gilligan \* > > \*\*Wouldn’t. But I have a question about the cost of slaves historically. Slaves weren’t allowed to be imported after some date, I can’t remember the date. Could that be part of the reason for the high cost? If slavery were legal today, would slaves brought in from countries with high populations be much cheaper? \*\* > > Slaves were allowed, possibly in some cases encouraged, to marry and breed. The imported slave trade continued to thrive well after 1808(?) as the 19th century “war on slaves” was about as effective as our gov’t’s current “war.” \*\* There was a 70’s movie called “Mandingo” about a breeding, bad ass slave that scared the whiteys. I need to see it again. I vaguely remember it. ---
**Author:** ![chadg033](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f04885/32.png) [@chadg033](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chadg033)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2000, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-ya/31281/16 "2000-09-01T02:15:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Asmodean \* > \*\*Or just take all the cubans who float over as slaves… free slaves. \*\* Right on! If they are going to invade our country, then we might as well make them work for thier stay. ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2000, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-ya/31281/17 "2000-09-02T10:07:34Z")
- - - You _can_ have slaves, silly: most eastern Europe prostitutes, many Arab-nation servants of all types, India used to have indentured servant-legacies; dunno if they still do or not, which African country is it- Nigeria? Slavery is basically legal- assuming you’ve greased the right palms, and you could also sort of group prison labor in here too (though some countries are far better places to be imprisoned in than others). - This is all examples of people who are forced to work regardless of their desires, and with less-than-usual legal protection against abuse. The OP didn’t actually define what constitutes a “slave”. - - - Also I recall reading that it wasn’t unheard of for the slaves’ owners to impregnate female slaves themselves, and that there were very few ethnically pure blacks to survive US slavery as a result. Dunno if it’s so or not, , , I mean, I’d bet all my money that it happened at least once, but as to how common the practice was I have no idea. - MC ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2000, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-ya/31281/18 "2000-09-03T01:09:28Z")
A Heinlein character (I don’t recall just who): > [@](#): > > I don’t believe in slavery, because it’s so demeaning. > > Not for the slaves. For the masters. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2000, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-ya/31281/19 "2000-09-03T02:11:30Z")
The cost would depend on the degree of ownership. If the master were allowed to kill his slaves, then the price would be higher. Why? Organ transplants. If a human body has, say, $500,000 worth of organs, then the price of a slave would almost certainly be higher (or maybe the price of organs would go down). Well, that’s just a thought… I don’t think that I’d buy slaves. If I DID, then I would make sure that they were treated well, though. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2000, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-ya/31281/20 "2000-09-03T03:50:55Z")
Polycarp, was it Farnham (sp?) of “Farnham’s Freehold”? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-ya/31281.md?page=2)