Russia and the United States preserved the institutions of forced labor and personal bondage longer than many other countries. The problems around their corrupting influence on the moral and intellectual condition of both slaves and masters were raised in the debates that preceded the abolition of both institutions in the two countries. For various reasons, including censorship and self-censorship by participants in these discussions, many aspects of the negative influence of slavery were examined through the experience of the other country: in Russia using the US as an example, and in the US - using the Russian Empire. Regardless of the substantial difference in the socioeconomic and legal positions of the slave and the serf, the obvious similarity of the two institutions influenced the formation of shared images of Russia and America for a long time. Even after the abolition of slavery and serfdom, these images served as an argument in domestic political debates in both countries and long remained a subject for reflection in both societies.

Serfdom Polemics Slavery Russia USA

[No Keywords available]