Preview

The Benefits of Slavery to the American Economy.

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1295 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Benefits of Slavery to the American Economy.
I am Samuel Adams, a slave holder, and a large plantation owner. I feel that I can speak for all the plantation owners in the South and say that we feel that there is nothing wrong with slavery. Being a slave owner for all 45 years of my life I have seen my plantation grow and the United States economy get more and more dependant on cotton from my plantation. Over the past 40 years the ability for me to buy slaves at auctions has made me capable of doubling by plantation size. Now I own 100 slaves, all either working the cotton gin or picking cotton in the fields. These slaves have made me and many other plantation owners in the South rich. They have also promoted westward expansion for many of my buddies. My friend James Swanson just bought a plantation out in the West easily twice the size of his plantation here in Georgia. He was able to do this because of the large amount of slaves that he has. Here in the South we provide slaves with food, clothing, and shelter; something that is not provided to the blacks in the North. Slaves are better off in the South because they have a place to live, and they have food to eat. Abolitionists have been trying to free our slaves but they have no right to do this. Owning slaves is a god given right and the Bible justifies it. It has been around for thousands of years. Slaves are not only important to the South they are needed to keep the American economy strong.

The American economy is based on the labor of the slaves; the abolishing of slavery would be devastating to the American economy, and would eliminate westward expansion. Three of the nation 's largest crops, cotton, tobacco, and rice, are profitable only because of slave labor. Such a large amount of workers are needed, that slavery is one of our only options that would not cost more than the money they we make from our cash crops themselves. Slavery is cheaper because the slaves work consistently, as opposed to laborers of the North who are in constant competition

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Defenders of slavery could also make several economic arguments. They claimed that putting an end to slavery would cause the Southern economy to completely collapse, since the agricultural production sustained by slavery was the very foundation of it. Cotton, tobacco, rice, and other crops provided almost all of the South’s income, and these crops were planted and harvested by slaves.…

    • 428 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Slavery began in America to aid in crop production, which at that time was just beginning. The first slaves were brought over to the American colony of Jamestown. These African slaves were brought over to replace servants because the slaves were cheaper, and there was a higher supply. Slavery was used over the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and they ultimately provided a foundation for our economy. The agrarian south had great conditions for farming, which caused the farming industry to go up. With inventions like the cotton gin, this economic boom solidified the importance of slavery to the south. The slave trade began, and while some slaves were treated better than others, many slaves were treated as an equivalent to the scum they scraped off the bottom of their owner's shoes.…

    • 434 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    “Direct slavery is just as much the pivot of bourgeois industry as machinery, credits etc. Without slavery you have no cotton; without cotton you have no modern industry. It is slavery that has given the colonies their value; it is the colonies that have created world trade, and it is world trade that is pre-condition of large-scale industry. Thus slavery is an economic category of the greatest importance” (Korsch 18).…

    • 1353 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Slavery in the 1700’s and 1800’s was crucial to the economy in the southern states and impacted the northern economy as well. The advancement of the cotton industry directly and indirectly influenced slavery in the South. Advancements such as the cotton gin, the increase in demand, and the increase in available land were some of the major influential changes. The cotton gin was a rather simple invention but it increased the speed at which seeds could be removed from cotton. Due to the increase in speed, the demand for cotton from the fields increased and the number of needed slaves increased.…

    • 359 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    According to the research, Slavery started and the African slaves were bought to North America in Virginia in 1619. Slavery was everywhere throughout the colonies in 17th and 18th century. So, The African slaves helped the new nation to build their economic foundations. There were many things came out during slavery like cotton gin, rise of abolition movement, Westward expansion, Civil War, Emancipation, etc. The cotton gin was important to the south economy. West expanded and in the North abolition expanded. The Legacy of slavery emerged in the 1960’s, a century after emancipation. Slavery brought to the United States changed the nation in many different ways and it helped the economy to grow up. Slavery expanded in all of the colonial society and it was in high demand because of the plantation in the south. It changed the economy and helped grow the nation in different ways.…

    • 549 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Slavery was closely linked to the Industrial Revolution. According to class lecture, cotton plantation production boomed in the south and slave labor was needed to harvest the cotton and tend the cotton gins. The northern industries also benefited from slavery since they were supplied with cotton harvested by slaves. A primary source is the picture of a huge cotton gin shown in class that demonstrates how technological innovation contributed to the south’s success in becoming the world’s largest producer and provider of cotton. The new economies were intertwined as southern cotton feed northern textile mills. Although the northern states were against slavery, they contributed in the slave economy in the south. However, not all blacks were involved…

    • 189 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The introduction of slavery, in 1619, allowed the settlements in North America to establish their own economy and social society. Through slavery, the economy of the North American settlements was able to climb rapidly as the production of crops increased. However, slavery had a negative impact on the social aspects of the settlements. It caused the establishment of a hierarchy and created a gap between different groups of people. The period of slavery began in 1619 when a Dutch ship brought twenty Africans to Jamestown, Virginia.…

    • 1271 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Civil War Dbq

    • 767 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The south depended on slavery for economic reasons and the loss of them would be devastating to the cash flow they were receiving from their slave-worked plantations. Northerners said that slavery revoked the human right of being a free person. But the south justified their use of slaves for free labor by arguing that slave-owners provided shelter, food, care, and regulation for a race unable to compete in the modern world without proper training. When new territories became available in the West, the South wanted to expand and use slavery in the newly acquired territories. Nevertheless, the North opposed to this and…

    • 767 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Economically, affects of slavery are obvious. Because of the cotton gin, cotton became the southern states’ main export (seen in document G)…and slaves were much cheaper than paying wages for work in the cotton field. Therefore, slaves were imported into America by the thousands, and plantation owners raked in the cash. As the cotton industry grew, so did the amount of slaves. Cotton, as well as slavery, accounted for half of all the American exports by 1840….making slavery a habit almost impossible to break.…

    • 531 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Cotton for the most part was the only thing the South had to keep the relevant. It was extremely profitable for both the states and the ranch owners. That is until they continued to overplant cotton and eventually took most of the nutrients and soil needed to grow the cotton. Advancements such as Eli Whitney's Cotton Gin and others such as the sewing machines and power looms caused an increase in demand from the cotton from the Northern states. Throughout this time period the plantation owners were able to buy land at extremely low sums of money. In order to keep the plantations running smoothly, they needed to purchase slaves. Slavery was the perfect answer for the plantation owners, because it provided a strong labor source that could not quiet or demand more money, but they also insured that the labor source would continue for generations. The increasing demand for slaves, as well as the ban of purchasing slaves from Africa, cause the price of slaves to sky rocket. Making it more profitable for smaller farmers to sell their sales to the West or farther South. Slavery was a huge part of the economy for the south, and the Antebellum period only increased the need for slaves, with advancements in technology and transportation.…

    • 914 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The North and South were extremely different when it came to their economy. For instance, the North had more so factories, unlike the South, which relied on farming. The immense amount of railroads in the North helped make deliveries between factories. (Doc. 1a) This added to the fact that the North had more of a manufacturing value as well. (Doc. 1b) Since the South relied on farming, slavery was more common in their territories. Thomas R. Dew claimed that in Virginia, slavery was important to their soil and economy. (Doc. 2b) Around 1830, there was an estimated 470,000 slaves working/ residing in Virginia, valued at an average of $200 per slave. If Virginia were to give up slavery, they’d lose about $94,000,000, which was about half their value. (Doc. 2b)…

    • 395 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Roots of the Civil War

    • 349 Words
    • 2 Pages

    At the same time however, the South had more of a need for slaves than the north did. The agricultural part of the South employed slaves to tend the large plantations and perform other duties. Slavery was a natural part of the Southern economy even though very few of the population actually owned slaves. Slaves could be rented or traded or sold to pay debts, making them very useful to ranchers. The North didn’t seem to have much use for slaves due to their poor soil; therefor they could not understand why the South was against abolishing slavery.…

    • 349 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The United States was divided on slavery and the Norther States abolished slavery while the southern states embraced it. The northern states above the Missouri Compromise of 1820 did not allow slavery. The United States economy played an important role in slavery were it either strengthened or weakened it. The northern states did not have a strong agricultural business due to the type of hard and rocky soil that proved…

    • 481 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    "Slavery and the Making of America." PBS. PBS, 1 Jan. 2004. Web. 24 Nov. 2014. <http://www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/index.html>.…

    • 1403 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In his narratives, Frederick Douglass is successful in convincing his audience that slavery not only has a negative impact on slaves, but on slaveholders as well. Douglass describes slavery as dehumanizing and soul-killing. Slavery has sucked the life out of many people. It has stripped them of their innocence and tainted their minds with cruelty and hatred. Slavery damaged many slaves, but has also ruined the lives of many slaveholders.…

    • 523 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays