John Samuel Harpham
Assistant professor of classics and letters and Curie Professor at the University of Oklahoma, author of The Intellectual Origins of American Slavery (Harvard University Press, 2025), specializing in early modern intellectual history and the history of slavery.
Best podcasts with John Samuel Harpham
Ranked by the Snipd community
Jan 9, 2026 • 1h 35min
John Samuel Harpham, "Intellectual Origins of American Slavery: English Ideas in the Early Modern Atlantic World" (Harvard UP, 2025)
John Samuel Harpham, an Assistant Professor of Classics and Letters, navigates the intriguing intellectual landscape surrounding the origins of American slavery. He delves into how ancient Roman laws influenced early English views on slavery, arguing that these ideas became the foundation for justifying the slave trade. Harpham discusses notable philosophers like Locke and Grotius, and explores how navigational narratives reshaped perceptions of Africa. The moral contradictions in plantation slavery and racialized justifications for slavery also feature prominently in this thought-provoking dialogue.
Jan 9, 2026 • 1h 35min
John Samuel Harpham, "Intellectual Origins of American Slavery: English Ideas in the Early Modern Atlantic World" (Harvard UP, 2025)
John Samuel Harpham, an assistant professor and author specializing in early modern intellectual history, explores the complex intellectual roots of American slavery. He delves into how English authors borrowed from Roman law to justify enslavement, framing slavery as a condition arising from war and custom. Harpham examines debates among influential thinkers like Locke and Bodin, and how these ideas influenced perceptions of African societies. He also highlights the moral paradox of a system that rationalized such inhumanity through a lens of legitimacy.
