Perhaps the largest paradox in United States history occurred in the eighteenth century. This paradox linked the ties between the simultaneous rise in freedom and slavery. Question historians often have while examining this century is: how could freedom be expanding while other individuals, in the same country, were being stripped of all freedoms and rights? Imprisonment of Africans not only made America economically successful, but also helped in creating social classes, helped to aid the colonists in achieving their definition of personal freedom and stopped the indentured servant system.
In the 1700s, America was desperate for support from other countries, particularly France. Coincidentally, mainly slaves produced the most valuable cash …show more content…
As previously stated, slave plantations were a major part in English economic development. In fact, they produced the first mass consumer goods, such as: sugar, rice, coffee, and tobacco. This was the period when the plantation system was expanding enormously, so naturally, most of the profit that the United States was able to gain, was through agriculture and farming. In turn, the rising demand for these items meant more slavery in order to produce the needed amount. Essentially, all of the commerce in the eighteenth century consisted of slaves, or slave based or produced items. The entire world benefitted in some way through the slave trade, even Africa by gaining weapons; Britain gained success from the profits of slaves and therefore, lead to the rise of ports such as Liverpool and Bristol, a growth in banking, shipbuilding, and insurance (Foner 129). These profits even helped finance the beginning of the industrial revolution. 280,000 out of the 585,000 people in America between the years 1700 and 1775 were slaves. 3.85 million slaves were brought to America between 1700 and 1800 (Foner 128). To the colonists, the all these slaves that were brought to …show more content…
Now, all white men could be free, and the colonists no longer had to enslave their own people. Ending the indentured servant system also meant there was now less white men coming to the New World, meaning there was less of a threat to the white men already in America. They no longer had to worry about another white man eventually gaining their freedom, looking for a place in society, and therefore, could potentially steal another man’s position in free society. Slavery provided society with a free work force whose social status would never escalate – slaves position in society was permanent. The slaves helped elevate other white men’s statues in society, by creating a new level of society. With slaves at the very bottom of the class totem pole, working white men were able to gain more freedom, as they were now considered higher ranking than another group of