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In "The Devil and Tom Walker," how does Tom's refusal to become a slave trader reflect the social and moral beliefs of Washington Irving and the...

In his dealings with "Old Scratch," Tom Walker refuses to outfit a slave ship as originally requested by the Devil: "Tom resolutely refused: he was bad enough in all conscience, but the Devil himself could not tempt him to turn slave-trader." Despite being one of the home ports for slave-trading vessels in 18th century America and the first colony to recognize slavery as a legal institution, Massachusetts—especially Boston—contained a population which gradually came to view slavery with distaste.


As early as 1701, pamphlets condemning slavery appeared in New England, usually penned by Puritans who hoped to refute earlier justifications for slavery based on religious tenets. Religious arguments tended to be used both for and against slavery. Massachusetts was also the first state to ban slavery in 1783. While arguments often contained religious concerns, there were also economic and secular reasons for the condemnation of slavery. Both Benjamin Franklin and the economist Adam Smith looked at slavery as an outmoded source of labor in a free market system. Moreover, the United States Constitution seemed to champion equality, which was another argument against slavery (notwithstanding the compromise which made each slave only count as two-thirds of a person).


One of Washington Irving's biographers claims the author was never an "outspoken abolitionist," yet it seems that having as loathsome a character as Tom Walker refuse to dabble in the selling of human beings is an explicit denouncement of the institution. On the other hand, it might also be argued that since Tom really was a detestable character, his choice of usury instead of slavery marks the former trade as far worse. Indeed, in 18th-century America, usury would have been frowned upon by both religious and secular groups, while slavery was often viewed as necessary to the economic well-being of the colonies.

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