Verified answer

Absolutely Not! To benefit from the work of another who has no freedom is reprehensible. It certainly has happened throughout history, but it was not right nor could it ever be justified.

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This is an opinion question, so your teacher is most likely looking for your perception and not a "right or wrong" answer. (I'm a history teacher, in case you were wondering.)

However, just to answer your question... My opinion is that although the contributions of slave labor in creating America are vast, it does not negate the immorality of denying a human being their freedom.

To answer in your own words, make a list of the "benefits" and "negatives" and think about which you think is more important. Then, in your homework, tell why you think your perspective is correct.

*Side note* I answered this from the American perspective, as I just finished teaching the Civil War. If your question is about modern slavery, or ancient Egyptian slavery, etc., you can approach finding an answer in the same way, but your answer will naturally be different than my short answer above.

Well, isn't that comparing apples and oranges? It seems to me that the benefits accrue to the owners, and the negative fall to the slaves, so how can they be compared?

Unless you are positing that a person could derive some benefit by being a slave. I don't know what that would be; being taken from a third world country to a more developed nation, so that if one ever gains ones freedom one would be in a better place? Or maybe getting far away from the people who originally sold you into slavery? Certainly you wouldn't argue that one received a better education or care or opportunities by becoming a slave, would you?

So, I go back to my original point, the benefits and negative aspects you are talking about cannot be compared because they are experienced by different people.

OK...the answer is......

No. In order for the benefits of slavery to out way the negative aspects you have to take a blind eye to the inhumanity and degradation of owning another human being. Even if you treat the slave as kindly as you would your own children the fact is that you are forcing another human into confinement for their entire life against there will. Free will is what humanity is about. Doing away with free will is saying a slave is an animal and that lowers the the slave owner to being "Inhuman" or loosing their own "Humanity".

NO!

The ruling group may benefit, the slave never does. Indentured servitude comes closest to slavery IMO of being a benefit for both person who agrees to do the work and the person providing the work.

In the animal world, one could make an argument for positives on both sides in some relationships. Ants/aphids would be an example.

There is no place in any modern society for slaves. Besides being a violation of the rights of the slaves, free workers are far more productive than slaves.

I would say only in ancient societies, under certain circumstances, a society as a whole may have benefited from slavery if it lead to prosperity and stability.

No.

Aside from all the moral and ethical problems that trump any supposed justification, the economic value is not there:

For every slave, one must have an overseer. You wind up getting work of one done by two. But, you say, I can have one overseer for every group of slaves, ah ha! Well, the natural tipping point has always turned out to be that if you have more than one slave per overseer, eventually there is a rebellion that is successful.

Are you supposed to answer this from the perspective of a slave owner or a slave?

I think it's a no brainer myself. Just put a big fat "No" and you can't go wrong

Intelligent slave can do your homework and house work. Is advantage, no?

Never.