...Slavery shaped every facet of the daily life of those living in the old south and even those living in the Northern Stares. Focusing primarily on the Old Southern States it is easy to see that slavery heavily affected the social, economic, religious, and political aspects of old southern life. To begin, the economic effect that slavery had on the southern states were numerous. Slavery allowed for enormous profits to be made by the America. The free labor used to pick cotton and other crops made it very profitable for the plantation owners and the owners of factories in the northern states. Another economic effect was the development of the south. Because slavery made it so profitable to continue an agricultural society, the south found very little use for industry and following the example set by the North. The social effects of slavery were also varied. One of the most important was the structure of society. The South was primarily agricultural because it was so profitable. It was therefore not necessary to develop an industrial base for society. Another social effect was the racism created by slavery. This contempt created between the races was a result of the institution of slavery. The effects of this racism were perpetuated throughout society for a very long time and are seen in our not too distant past. Religion was also affected by slavery. The result of slavery on religion was the creation of new beliefs and traditions. The slaves in the south were exposed...
Words: 3104 - Pages: 13
...Name Instructor Subject Date Slavery in America from Beginning to the end The commencement of slavery Buell gives the an analogy of a modern day kidnapping in an effort to give light to what the slavery experience really felt like (Buell 4). The slaves were led; huddled together in chains like a group of animals and matched through strange lands to the docks, where they would be kept in the lower deck all through the journey in the high seas. Upon arrival they would be relieved to see light, only to be taken to an auction and sold to the highest bidder (Buell 4). This was the beginning of the life of a slave and it would be the end of their freedom as they would now be owned by a master who determined under what conditions they lived. Language was a major issue to the African slaves on the onset of slavery. One would find that the people they were grouped in did not speak the same language and as such, this was a plus for the slave owner who knew that without communication, all the slaves would do was work (Buell 4). The living condition for the slaves was pathetic. They would live in a small room with no furniture and in case one got to have a family, they would live in the same quarters with the whole family. Slaves worked for long hours and ate little food. In the south, their main work was in the plantations. Some of the harvests from these fields were used for the masters’ home and the rest was for sale (Norton and Katzman 113). There were...
Words: 1800 - Pages: 8
...Although slavery is in the past, the majority of Americans today can agree that it was an unjust time. The way the African slaves were being treated was morally incorrect and the mandatory movement of the Indians was brutal. Laws were being placed on slaves to keep them as “the inferior race,” rather than let them strive and live the life they choose. As so, the United States was built on Democracy, and in a Democracy, people have the freedom of speech and to be a part of their government. However, the freedoms that were given to the minorities was not living up to par with the definition of Democracy. It was eroding the real Democracy and rather putting in place a group of selfish settlers that only wanted gold and glory. The treatment...
Words: 867 - Pages: 4
...Introduction By the 19th century, slavery had become entrenched in the culture of the United States. Slaves toiled endlessly in the southern states and yearned for their freedom. They learned from various insurrections that violent resistance (such as Nat Turner’s rebellion in 1831 ) usually resulted in death. People needed to figure out more secretive, and thus, safer, ways to fight back against their white owners. However, without organization, it was impossible for larger numbers to escape. Abolitionists (people who believed slavery should be outlawed) in the North and South needed to work together to provide a way to move more slaves from plantations to free states. These people established a series of places and a system of codes designed...
Words: 1983 - Pages: 8
...Slavery was part our country and was permitted by society before the Civil War took place. People were okay with treaty African-American race inhumanly taking their identities away from them, this was a period where society was in America was rotten, the country was divided and differences existed among the states. History has proven that humans can be cruel and manage to take over the happiness of others. In the beginning slaves were brought from Africa to the American colonies, the text Slavery in America from History.com said “Slavery in America began when the first African slaves were brought to the North American Colony of Jamestown, Virginia.” This system stole their identity by drafting them away from their families and homes. That...
Words: 755 - Pages: 4
...Below is an excerpt from an 1856 newspaper article titled, ‘African Slavery in America’, written by C. Ingersoll. “Without inquiring whether it be evil, as most insist, or good, as some. contend, unquestionably it is a vast, stupendous, and vital American reality. In the Middle States, the temperate zone of American republican continental union, holding together the slaveholding southwest and slave-hating northeast, there should and must be considerate and patriotic Americans enough, independent of all foreign influences, neither owning slaves, nor hating those who do, even if regretting slavery, willing to accept historical, political, and philosophical ascertainment that, whether slavery be evil or not, modern external abolition is a much greater evil. Vouched by irrefutable English and American authority, negro slavery in America may be so vindicated that no...
Words: 712 - Pages: 3
...Between the lush geography, the improved economy and the slaves themselves, the wealth of the South depended on the efficiency of the plantations. The spread of slavery created lots of impacting factors. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the definition of a ‘slave’ is someone who is legally owned by another person and is forced to work for that person without pay. Slaves were typically from a variety of different tribes, who spoke all different languages, but the most retained were those of the black race. Slaves lived a rough life and if you got lucky, your plantation was beautiful and your master was kind. Plantations varied within their location, size and geography type and because of this, they were all unique in their own way, creating a structured and impactful time in America....
Words: 1863 - Pages: 8
...For a long time it was widely assumed that southern slavery was harsher and crueler than slavery in Latin America, where the Catholic church insisted that slaves had a right to marry, to seek relief from a cruel master, and to purchase their freedom. Spanish and Portuguese colonists were thought to be less tainted by racial prejudice than North Americans and Latin American slavery was believed to be less subject to the pressures of a competitive capitalist economy. In practice, neither the Church nor the courts offered much protection to Latin American slaves. Access to freedom was greater in Latin America, but in many cases masters freed sick, elderly, crippled, or simply unneeded slaves in order to relieve themselves of financial responsibilities. Death rates among slaves in the Caribbean were one-third higher than in the South, and suicide appears to have been much more common. Unlike slaves in the South, West Indian slaves were expected to produce their own food in their “free time,” and care for the elderly and the infirm. The largest difference between slavery in the South and in Latin America was demographic. The slave population in Brazil and the West Indies had a lower proportion of female slaves, a much lower birthrate, and a higher proportion of recent arrivals from Africa. In striking contrast, southern slaves had an equal sex ratio, a high birthrate, and a predominantly American-born population. Slavery in the United States was especially distinctive in...
Words: 562 - Pages: 3
...The phenomenon of slavery in America eventually evolved to such an extreme extent that the institution and its aftermath created many years of discrimination and the dramatic split of social classes. Although America thrived economically due to slave labor when it was established, without the Abolitionist Movement, it is unlikely that individuals in our society would have the equal rights and freedoms that they enjoy today. From the 1600’s to the 1800’s, the original intention of slavery was to build economic prosperity for the new nation; however, the abuse that slaves endured eventually transformed slavery into America's greatest nightmare. Previously, in 1619, in America, slavery first began when 20 African slaves were put aboard a Dutch...
Words: 1828 - Pages: 8
...Slavery is a common topic debated in America. Several persons disagree with this action in history, but some tend to agree. Slavery in America dates all the way back to the 1600’s. The first slaves were brought to Jamestown, Virginia. These slaves were brought to America to aid the production of crops. Generally slaves were used to harvest large amounts of tobacco. When slaves are bought by production farmers, the slaves are considered property. These slaves are brought to their plantation to work under the order of farmers. Owners of the slaves are entitled to give slaves orders/jobs. In other words, the farmer gives slaves jobs he/she does not want to accomplish. If slaves were to act up, the farmer would progressively beat/abuse the slave....
Words: 2303 - Pages: 10
...Slavery in America began when the first African slaves were transported on a Dutch boat toward the North American settlement of Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619. After the slaves were transported to Virginia, slavery spread all through the American countryside. The first African Americans that arrived in Jamestown in 1619 on a Dutch trading ship were not slaves. They served time as indentured servants until they completed all of their duties. Indentured servants were the first to meet needs for labor. The servant worked for four to five years in the fields before being granted freedom. The Crown rewarded planters with 50 acres of land for every person they brought to the New World. Africans were the immigrants to the British New World that had no choice on where they were sent. Despite the lack of a slavery in England, slavery gradually replaced indentured slaves as the main income for plantation labor...
Words: 919 - Pages: 4
...October 9, 2014 HIS 2111, Instructor Wells Short Paper Assignment Slavery in British America This paper is about slavery in British America over time. I am going to talk about how slavery evolved, differences across regions and across all colonies, and factors that contributed to hardening of the line between slavery and freedom. Slavery was used by all great powers at that time (England, France, Spain, Netherland, Portugal…). In this big region of both Americas and West Indies, slavery was something as common as freedom is common today. Basically from Canada to Brazil there was some kind of slavery. Most of the slaves were imported from Africa especially in British mainland colonies, but there were a lot of Indian slaves as well in West Indies. Slavery was different between the regions in New World. For example slavery in Barbados was different as in New England, in Barbados there was plantation based slavery but in New England there were only few slaves that helped their masters with some minor work at their houses. Even between British mainland colonies there was difference in slave societies. First British mainland colonies did not heavily relay on slaves, because they had a big migration from Europe. People came from all over Europe, most of them came as indentured servants. For free passage over Atlantic they gave their rights to people that paid for their voyage. They obligated that they will work for free, some amount of time, for free trip and free land after...
Words: 881 - Pages: 4
...The commodities they produced provided the foundation of the development of America’s economy and structured was by enslaved Africans and African Americans, African Americans reclaimed their freedom, but the weight of slavery’s history was not easily obliterated, as slavery continued to cast a long shadow over the state. Blacks have endured poverty and discrimination into the twenty-first century. The legacy of Slavery has been a part of American history since the very beginning Americas sold slaves and purchased them without fear of violating either the laws as they were expendable tools for their own means and benefits They were forced into labor and treated like property. The main reason and purpose of slavery were for profit. Slave...
Words: 1129 - Pages: 5
...Slavery in America started when the first African slaves were kidnapped to the North American colony of Jamestown Virginia in 1619. Native Americans population was decreasing because of disease and war. Americans were full of opportunities to make money. Gold, Silver and other minerals could be mined, & tobacco, sugar and other crops could be grown on plantations. They would need laborers and natives were dying out so the Europeans soon realized that they had access to another cheap labor of work, which was called the African slave tread. Why was the slaves taken from Africa? They was actually kidnapped and enslaved to labor in plantation in the Caribbean and American. Most of the enslaved people work in mines and on tobacco plantations...
Words: 376 - Pages: 2
...Maria Huerta Bruce Franklin HIST:2023 12 July 2015 Slavery was something that started when African Americans were brought into America as slaves. They were brought into America as if they were animals because they were chained up and were thrown in water if they died on the ship that took them to America. Slave trade left many people with good profits, as well as whites who bought slaves because they would put slaves to work on the fields from real early in the morning till whites said its enough. Whites did not care they would also put women to work in the fields, as well as men. During these hardship moments African Americans tried staying positive by singing and dancing to songs they knew. They also met in a place to talk to other slaves...
Words: 505 - Pages: 3
