Agency: An Inherent Right

 The following is a posting for my American Heritage class at BYU. The assignment was to write a substantial blog post about something that relates to our class discussions. We have had several class discussions on slavery. The discussion that caught my interest the most was a comparison between agency and freedom. This posting directly relates to our class discussions. In writing this paper I realized the differences between agency and freedom and the most basic reasons why slavery is immoral.

        

         One of the greatest powers given to mankind is the ability to decide. Recently in my American Heritage class, we have been discussing slavery in America’s history. The immoral nature of the practice of enslaving another human needs no emphasis. However, it is interesting to take a deeper look at why slavery is such a cruel behavior. While many other factors contribute to this moral debauchery; at the most basic level, slavery is immoral for its implicit and total removal of an individual’s agency.

It is essential to make a distinction between freedom and agency. For members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the concept of agency is an ever-present gift that was bestowed upon all of mankind by a loving God. The purpose of having agency, or the freedom to make our own decisions while on this earth, is so that we may choose to follow a path that will lead us to liberty and eternal life, or to captivity and death. We are free to make the decisions, but the consequences are eternal in nature and therefore we accept the consequences that have always existed. Freedom, by comparison, is a legal right to act according to one’s desire. Freedom is not guaranteed to all humans based on the merit that humans are on the earth. Rather, freedom is guaranteed to those who are constituents to a government whose policy grants freedom. The laws of man restrict freedom, while agency is restricted by the consequences of God.

In this way, a person can maintain their agency when freedom is taken from them. For instance, in cases of indentured servitude in colonial America, servants maintain a God-given ability to make decisions that will affect their eternal progression. However, they agree to give up freedom for a period of time in exchange for passage to America. Slavery differs from this model not only in nature of the work and the treatment of the enslaved being, but also in the allocation of agency and freedom. A slave’s freedom is taken away from them forcibly under the laws of the government.  An indentured servant chooses to give up freedom, using their agency to remove that freedom. A slave is not given the opportunity to practice agency because their ability to decide is compromised by forces outside of their control. They become the property of their owner, thereby having no freedom whatsoever. Not only does a slave lack freedom, they also lack the ability to gain that freedom back, thereby removing their agency.

One may question whether or not it is possible to remove a person’s agency when agency is a gift given unconditionally to mankind by God. While it is true that all are born with a natural right to agency, the actions of some impair others’ ability to recognize, utilize, and maintain agency. Murder is an example of an action that removes a person’s agency, and consequently, is one of the most serious sins that can be committed. When an individual is murdered, they lose the ability to make choices in this life. Cutting a person’s agency short robs them of the gift and intentions of God.

While slavery does not hack away at a person’s tethers to this physical world in the same sense as murder does, it interferes severely with that individual’s agency. A slave, particularly one who was born into slavery, lacks not only their freedom to make decisions, but also their agency. They are literally the property of another person and therefore, are at the complete mercy of their owner’s agency. Slavery literally takes a person captive and places them in an inescapable situation.

In American history, slavery is most closely associated with the slave trade from Africa. In that situation, slaves brought to the American continent were in an unfamiliar territory, had no access to proper education, and were dependent completely upon their master. Because of this, even if they could escape, their options would be limited to a degree that would make life unlivable. In this way, a slave’s only option was to follow the will of the slaveholder. Total submission to another human being is the process of giving agency to that individual. Therefore, a slaveholder holds not only the slave’s freedom, but also their agency.

Agency is the force that gives decisions in life weight. In this way, the worth of a life can be summed up in the way that person chose to use their agency. When agency is forcibly taken from a person, that individual is no longer the master of his or her fate. Slavery is the act of stripping a person of freedom and more importantly, agency. The distinction between agency and freedom is important to note, however, in the case of slavery, both rights are withheld from the slave. Utilizing agency is one of the most important practices in this earthly life. Because of the total destruction of agency, slavery is one of the most immoral practices that man can encounter.