Preview

How Did The Growth Of Slavery Affect The Economy

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
880 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
How Did The Growth Of Slavery Affect The Economy
Slavery had never been as popular as in the 19th century, and the American economy had found a consistent source of income. However, all this new glory came at the expense of many African Americans, both physically, and mentally. Slavery is deeply rooted at the heart of America’s economy, making it so prevalent, but also much more intense. The expansion and severity of slavery was impacted due to economic demand, slave revolts, and the inhumane things that slaveholders subjected their slaves to. The institution of slavery significantly grew during the first half of the 19th century because of economic demand, specifically for products such as cotton. When Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin, this increase in demand began, and the need for black …show more content…
Slaves were taken from the upper South to the lower South, hundreds upon hundreds at a time. Both the North and the South relied on this production of cotton, as alongside the increased demand in cotton came the increased demand in Northern industrialization- specifically things like textile mills, factories, etc. Cotton essentially fueled the entirety of the U.S. economy during the 1800’s, and the demand for cotton single handedly turned their economy around. Many Rivers. With more and more black people being subject to slavery came the revolts of many. Many slaves had brave voices of their own, and both verbally, and physically demonstrated their anger. Nat Turner’s Rebellion in 1831 was one of the most influential, and violent, slave revolts of this era. His rebellion was one of many, but it sparked conflicts in the legislature, and resulted in a new set of laws. In 1850, the Fugitive Slave Act was passed as a result of these revolts, and it put black people in the North and South in danger. It required those accused of being a runaway slave, whether they were guilty or not, to be caught and returned to their masters in the South (Many

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    From Slavery To freedom by John Hope Franklin, in chapter 7 the first topic that was brought up was King Cotton. In the domestic slave trade, which took place from 1808-1865. It talked about how technology supported expansion of slave labor. Eli Whitney`s 1794 intervention of the cotton gin. In Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama rapidly grew with the demand for cotton and sugarcane. Growing prosperity in new states caused wave of migrants and greater demand for slaves. This demand resulted in: acquisition of Florida, admission of Missouri as slave state, annexation of Texas, and war of Mexico.…

    • 384 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The growth of the cotton kingdom, however, widened the gap between the South on the one hand and the North and the West on the other. Cotton growing, for one thing, revitalized slavery. In 1790, slavery had seemed an increasingly unprofitable and dying institution. With the advent of the cotton gin, however, many planters thought that slavery was necessary again.…

    • 684 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    After the invention of the cotton gin, the surrender of raw cotton doubled each decade after 1800. Demand for cotton was fueled by other inventions of the Industrial Revolution, such as the machines to spin and weave it and the steamboat to transport it. At mid century the South provided three-fifths of America's exports, most of it in cotton.…

    • 319 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    “Simultaneously, the slave population burgeoned, roughly doubling every thirty years” (180). Between the year 1790 and 1850 the slave population grew from 700,000 to 3.2 million. Although importation of slaves from Africa was banned in 1808, they still gained more and more slaves from reproduction. While they began to use machines in the North, in the Southern states, they continued to use slaves on plantations to plant crops. The Southerners believed it was okay to own slaves and abuse them, which was a peculiarity to others. Slaves did not agree with this system because they did not have the same rights as the whites. Slaves relied too heavily on their…

    • 1381 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful 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
  • Satisfactory Essays

    During the 19th century a revolution had occurred. It was called the Industrial Revolution. Many inventions were being made which would not only help the society but also the economy. A man by the name of Eli Whitney had found a way to make slave lives easier. Machine by the name of "cotton engine", also called cotton gin. It would allow kind fibers to separate from the seeds a lot easier than by hand. It took a toll on a society by causing the slave population to increase. As the cotton production would flourish, it would get more and more profitable which would cause the farmers to lose interest and other crops. The cotton was a big hit, farmers would now need more land to produce more, so they drove the Native Americans out of their land.…

    • 303 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Slave grown accounted for over half the value of United States exports and provided most of the cotton used in the northern textile industry and 70 percent of the cotton used in British mills. Slave-produced commercial crops required a host of middlemen to sell and transport them to markets and to finance and supply the slave-owning planters. Southern cities such as New Orleans, Mobile, Savannah, Charleston, and Memphis and northern ports such as New York, Boston, and Philadelphia depended heavily on the southern trade. Northern farmers and manufacturers found ready markets for their products in southern towns and cities, but especially on the southern plantations. If the products of slave labor stimulated the nations’ economic development, the slave South itself remained primarily agricultural and did not experienced the urban and industrial growth that took place in the…

    • 472 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good 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

    Slavery was spread throughout the colony and many more slaves were bought from Africa to America. In the 17th and 18th century slaves were working on the plantation of tobacco, rice and indigo in the southern coast. The slavery was very first started in Europe. They enforced the slaves to do what their kings, Prince, Queen, Princess told them. Women did every work with their body naked. In 1619, Slaves were bought in by whoever found them and basically tortured them some were killed. Some slaves were just been beaten and made work hours. The new constitution counted each slave as three-fifths of a person for the purposes of taxation and representation in the congress. Slaves were bought in the ship from Africa and they didn’t no food and also were killed in the ship and throw them into the…

    • 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

    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

    In 1788 when the United States Constitution was ratified, the Commerce and Slave Trade Compromise was put into place, prohibiting Congress from touching slavery laws for at least twenty years. The Commerce and Slave Trade Compromise was made to encourage the southern states to ratify the Constitution. The Founding Fathers postponed action regarding the disagreement over slavery until the Northern states pushed for a solution to abolish slavery. In the aftermath of the United States Civil War, the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments were necessary to address the issues of slavery, citizenship, and voting rights that were created by the power struggle between the North and the South. After the North wanted to push for the end of slavery, Congress…

    • 932 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The invention of the cotton gin, by Eli Whitney, further increased the South’s reliance on cotton. Productivity was vastly increased which also led to an increase in demand for slave labor. The slaves were procured from internal sources, but imports of them were not uncommon.…

    • 567 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Slavery and Its Impact on Both Blacks and Whites Slavery and Its Impact on Both Blacks and Whites The institution of slavery was something that encompassed people of all ages, classes, and races during the 1800's. Slavery was an institution that empowered whites and humiliated and weakened blacks in their struggle for freedom. In the book, the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, slave Frederick Douglass gives his account of what it was like being a slave and how he was affected. Additionally, Douglass goes even further and describes in detail the major consequences the institution of slavery had on both blacks and whites during this time period. In the pages to come, I hope to convince you first of the mental/emotional and physical damage caused by slavery on black slaves, and secondly the damage slavery caused in the mental well-being of white slave-owners.…

    • 1481 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays