The greater and original evil is considering the slave as property

[T]he question was seriously discussed, Whether the slave is more profitable to the owner, if well fed, well clothed, and worked lightly, or if made the most of at once, and exhausted in some eight years. The decision was in favor of the last alternative. That decision will perhaps make many shudder. But, to my mind, this is not the chief evil. The greater and original evil is considering the slave as property; if he is only property, and my property, then I have some right to ask, how I may make that property most available.
~ Andrew Reed (1835)