You would think that a society which takes up an institution as immoral and barbaric as slavery would benefit from it on the whole, but that is not the case with the American South. The only people who benefited from slavery were the top 3% of Southern society. For the rest of the people the institution of slavery would prevent them from gaining an education, proper literacy, wealth, and movement up the social ladder. If viewed as an independent nation the South was a socially stagnant aristocracy, extremely dependant on foreign trade , had fairly weak industry, and finally had a small population compared to the North. Perhaps the greatest tragedy was that all those confederate soldiers died for a cause that kept them poor. This is not all though, slavery itself was horrible, and even after slaves were given their legal freedom they were still slaves in nearly every aspect save for the title.
Literacy in the South was very poor compared to the North. The only Northern States that were surpassed by the South in terms of reading and writing were the states of Illinois and Indiana, and this was mainly due to an influx of illiterate foreigners, and immigrants from the slave states. The worst literacy rate in the South was in North Carolina, the ratio was 1 illiterate for every 7 white persons which is roughly a 14% illiteracy rate. In contrast the worst state in the North for literacy was Illinois at a 1:17 ratio or 6% illiteracy rate. These figures also take into account children so if you only count adults illiteracy increases particularly in the South..Finally if you look at the whole chart the slave states have the worst literacy rates in general.( Helper, 407)
There are vast differences in education between the North...
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What The South Intends. THE CHRISTIAN RECORDERS August 12, 1865, Print. James, Edward, Janet James, and Paul Boyer.
McPherson, James M.; The Atlas of the Civil War. Macmillan: 15 Columbus Circle New York, NY. 1994.
Following the success of Christopher Columbus’ voyage to the Americas in the early16th century, the Spaniards, French and Europeans alike made it their number one priority to sail the open seas of the Atlantic with hopes of catching a glimpse of the new territory. Once there, they immediately fell in love the land, the Americas would be the one place in the world where a poor man would be able to come and create a wealthy living for himself despite his upbringing. Its rich grounds were perfect for farming popular crops such as tobacco, sugarcane, and cotton. However, there was only one problem; it would require an abundant amount of manpower to work these vast lands but the funding for these farming projects was very scarce in fact it was just about nonexistent. In order to combat this issue commoners back in Europe developed a system of trade, the Triangle Trade, a trade route that began in Europe and ended in the Americas. Ships leaving Europe first stopped in West Africa where they traded weapons, metal, liquor, and cloth in exchange for captives that were imprisoned as a result of war. The ships then traveled to America, where the slaves themselves were exchanged for goods such as, sugar, rum and salt. The ships returned home loaded with products popular with the European people, and ready to begin their journey again.
Walens, Susann. A. United States History Since 1877. Western Connecticut State University, Danbury, CT. September 2007.
Of all the areas with which the southerners contended, the socio-political arena was probably their strongest. It is in this area that they had history and law to support their assertions. With the recent exception of the British, the slave trade had been an integral part of the economies of many nations and the slaves were the labor by which many nations and empires attained greatness. Souther...
the same feelings yet a different color for their own good . This was quite
The Union is to blame for the civil war, particularly the northern states because the federal union’s goal was to not promote conformity, but to permit diversity within the orderly confines of any socialized community (Niven 311). The union could easily be considered a haven for all types of people, not just slaves. From 1830 until 1860, relatively few immigrants settled in the South (Meyers). The Northern states had a different vision of what they wanted America to be and strongly opposed how the South ran things. The southern states thrived off slavery and is mainly how people made a living in that region. Slavery is the cornerstone of a social order that protected individual liberty and equality for the white population in the south (Niven 311). Meaning that the North had way more resources, workers, and support in comparison to the South, so slavery was a way for the Southern states to at least stay relevant in the United States of America. The North’s feelings about how slavery was tearing the country and the union apart was the spark for the Civil War.
The South did not seem to have a problem with the system of slavery. After all, why should they? it had been successful for over 200 years. Instead, they saw the North as a cruel society full of the treacheries caused by capitalism. They saw factory work as "wage slavery" while they viewed Southern slavery as "paternalistic" and "benevolent." Slavery, they contended, helped eliminate all class distinctions in Southern society. In the North, they saw, factory owners became rich while their employees lived in a state of poverty. Slavery was the great unifier of Southern society.
Roark, J.L., Johnson, M.P., Cohen, P.C., Stage, S., Lawson, A., Hartmann, S.M. (2009). The american promise: A history of the united states (4th ed.), The New West and Free North 1840-1860, The slave south, 1820-1860, The house divided 1846-1861 (Vol. 1, pp. 279-354).
Slavery was the main resource used in the Chesapeake tobacco plantations. The conditions in the Chesapeake region were difficult, which lead to malnutrition, disease, and even death. Slaves were a cheap and an abundant resource, which could be easily replaced at any time. The Chesapeake region’s tobacco industries grew and flourished on the intolerable and inhumane acts of slavery.
“Political and Social Milestones 1800-1860”. Elements of Literature: Fifth Course. Austin: Hold, Rinehart and Winston, 2008. 160-161. Print.
In the 1960’s there were over 18 million African Americans that resided in the south (African Americans), 90 percent of them were victims of slavery or segregation. Ever since coming to America, African Americans have been victims of hate from the white Americans. The blacks were enslaved soon after coming to America, and once slavery ended the harsh treatment continued. All throughout the 1800’s and 1900’s blacks were segregated and treated like diseased animals. In the 1960’s the Civil Rights Movement came into full swing and they started the beginning of the end of all Jim Crow laws and segregation. The treatment of African Americans in the south has changed over the years. They went from slaves, to separate but equal, to segregated, to free.
The Civil War was technically caused by the secession of the Southern States, but the secession was primarily about slavery. One can infer, then, that the Civil War was indirectly, but primarily, caused by Slavery. It is important to note that just because Slavery was the primary cause of the civil war does not mean that the war was only about slavery. The war was fought for a plethora of different reasons that surrounded the creation of a new and independent nation. These reasons include states’ rights (rights to maintain and spread slavery for the most part, however a state’s right to secede appeared to be heavily contested as well), the power of federal government (something the south wanted to weaken in order to maintain slavery), and economic and cultural differences, which had the south relying more heavily on slaves to work at plantations. While these reasons
In the years of 1830 through 1860, a breach in the unity between the North and the South of the United States occurred. They faced an
3. Divine, Breen, Fredrickson, Williams, eds., America Past and Present Volume II: since 1865 sixth edition (New York: Longman 2002).