A Sketch of a Negro Code. Edmund Burke and the Regulation of Slavery
by Serena Vantin
pp. 316- Issue 11 (6,1) – January-June 2019 ISSN (online): 2539/2239 ISSN (print): 2389-8232 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.14718/SoftPower.2019.6.1.15
Abstract
This paper analyses Edmund Burke’s view of slavery, focusing in particular on his Sketch of a Negro Code and its legal background. Two forces in tension will be identified: the first one takes imperial economic necessities seriously, within a concept of a legal order based on an “organic” premise; the second one leads to a view of moral equality between human beings that does not exclude black people.