North and South Slavery
Dakota Clements
Prof. Every
HIST-1210-002
6 November 2014 Slavery in America Slavery has played an important role in American life today. When North America was first colonized by Europeans, the land was vast, the work was tough, and the availability of manual labor was hard to find. White servants paid for their passage across the ocean from Europe to the New World through indentured labor, but did not solve the problem. In the early stages of the seventeenth century, a Dutch ship loaded with African slaves introduced a solution. These slaves were most economical on large farms where labor-intensive cash crops, such as tobacco, could be grown. Towards the end of the American Revolution, slavery had been proven to be unprofitable in the North and began to die out. The same institution in the South had become less useful to farmers due to tobacco prices fluctuating and dropping. However, in 1793 Northerner Eli Whitney invented to cotton gin; a device that made it possible for textile mills to use the cotton most easily grown in the South. The high demand for cotton replaced tobacco as the South’s main cash crop and slavery became profitable again. Although most Southerners did not own any slaves, by 1860 the South’s “peculiar institution” was undoubtedly tied to the region’s economy. As the North was escaping the ideas of slavery the South was gearing towards it. White Southerners became more and more defensive of the institution and the constitutional issues it raised because of its economic benefits. Their main argument was that black people, like children, were incapable of caring for themselves and that slavery was an acceptable solution that kept them fed, clothed, and sheltered. Most Northerners did not doubt that black people were inferior to whites, but they did doubt the goodwill of slavery. The voices of Northern abolitionists, such as Boston editor and publisher William Lloyd Garrison, became increasingly violent. Educated blacks such as
Prof. Every
HIST-1210-002
6 November 2014 Slavery in America Slavery has played an important role in American life today. When North America was first colonized by Europeans, the land was vast, the work was tough, and the availability of manual labor was hard to find. White servants paid for their passage across the ocean from Europe to the New World through indentured labor, but did not solve the problem. In the early stages of the seventeenth century, a Dutch ship loaded with African slaves introduced a solution. These slaves were most economical on large farms where labor-intensive cash crops, such as tobacco, could be grown. Towards the end of the American Revolution, slavery had been proven to be unprofitable in the North and began to die out. The same institution in the South had become less useful to farmers due to tobacco prices fluctuating and dropping. However, in 1793 Northerner Eli Whitney invented to cotton gin; a device that made it possible for textile mills to use the cotton most easily grown in the South. The high demand for cotton replaced tobacco as the South’s main cash crop and slavery became profitable again. Although most Southerners did not own any slaves, by 1860 the South’s “peculiar institution” was undoubtedly tied to the region’s economy. As the North was escaping the ideas of slavery the South was gearing towards it. White Southerners became more and more defensive of the institution and the constitutional issues it raised because of its economic benefits. Their main argument was that black people, like children, were incapable of caring for themselves and that slavery was an acceptable solution that kept them fed, clothed, and sheltered. Most Northerners did not doubt that black people were inferior to whites, but they did doubt the goodwill of slavery. The voices of Northern abolitionists, such as Boston editor and publisher William Lloyd Garrison, became increasingly violent. Educated blacks such as