Slavery by Another Name

In this book, the author discovered that many historians believed that the practice of leasing convicts of the South was an abuse to the African Americans. Even though many see as it was just one of the many things that occurred in the large sweep of the racial evolution of the South. The cruel and brutal punishments toward the blacks was unjustified.

This research paper will serve to examine the development of slavery in the United States, starting from the 17th century by the colonists of Virginia. It will analyze the spread of slavery throughout the American colonies, and identify the disagreements between the North and the South. The paper will explain the daily lives of slaves, and argue how oppressing black slaves was unjust, introducing the Civil War and how it began. It will also express the Emancipation Proclamation along with the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments. This will lead to apprehend how the slaves attained their freedom.

Slavery During the Seventeenth, Eighteenth and part of the Nineteenth Century the White people of North America used the Black people of Africa as slaves to benefit their interests. White people created a climate of superiority of their race over the Black African race that in some places, still lingers on today. The American Civil War however, was a key turning point for the Black African race. Through their actions and the political actions of President Lincoln and his administration, Black Africans set a presedent for their freedom, equality and liberation. A very important aspect of Blacks proving themselves was that of the Black Man acting as a soldier in the Civil War.

“Uncle Tom’s Cabin” written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, first published in 1852, it was the most popular and sentimental novel. The author Harriet Beecher Stowe was an abolitionist, she wrote this novel to reveals the life of slavery. Stowe brought the slavery issues to people’s attention through Uncle Tom’s Cabin. In the book, she shown the plantation economy system in the southern region requires numerous labors, which led to one of the reasons that slavery exists. Money is the symbol of value, and it plays an important role in the book. Stowe had also shown the morality of the society through different characters in the book. Stowe is trying to teach the audiences how money, slavery and morality related to each other, and how money can change people’s behaviors. The most important point that Stowe wants to get across is that slavery is morally wrong and it needs to be stopped.

On the eve of the Revolutionary War, slavery was well established throughout America; however, subsequent to securing independence from Britain, the institution of slavery underwent dramatic transformations. Initially, many northern states adopted laws to gradually emancipate their slaves because the northern economy was not as embedded in slavery as the South. On the other hand, Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin in 1793 spurred rapid economic growth and agricultural expansion, which expanded slavery into the Deep South. Moreover, agreements to fight for the British during the Revolution, coupled gradual manumission post Revolution allowed many African Americans to gain freedom. However, slavery nonetheless expanded in the South through agricultural and economic advancements. As a result, many northern free slaves responded to their challenges by seeking adaptation to society through increased rights and church activities. In addition, enslaved African Americans responded to the challenges of their bondage through various forms of resistance. Therefore, while gradual manumission between 1775 and 1830 opened opportunities to many African Americans to gain freedom through emancipation, fighting for the British, purchasing their freedom, or relocating to Africa, slavery as an institution expanded in the South as a result of extensive economic growth. Consequently, free African Americans reacted to the challenges in the North through more passive attempts of adaptation and improvement, while enslaved African Americans in the South favored forms of resistance.

John Jay a founding father of the United Sates of America stated in 1786 that ‘to contend for our own liberty and to deny that blessing to others involves an inconsistency not to be excused’. The ideology of the American Revolution such as liberty and equality did not extend to slavery, even though slavery was the antithesis of the ideals of the American Revolution it still survived and the emancipation of slaves was a developmental process. The fact that slavery was not abolished during the revolutionary era even though freedom for every man was a key focus reveals the hypocrisy which was rampant at this time. In order to expose the great American contradiction this essay will examine the American Declaration of Independence and one of its key authors Thomas Jefferson.

For purposes of this discussion, it is the intent of this author to assess the plight of African Americans at a time when they were merely slaves, captives taken forcibly by rich white American merchants to a new and strange land called America. Right from the very beginning, slavery was a controversial issue. It was fraught with the constant reminder of man's inhumanity to man. This was evidenced in the literature as well as movements such as the abolitionists, and one most notably John Brown, who has been portrayed as a kind of maniacal character, who would stop at nothing to see this God given mandate carried out. Similarly, books such as "Uncle Tom's Cabin" by Harriet Beecher Stowe did much to fuel the controversy that was slavery in the United States. Of course we now know that slavery as it was understood in the 19th century lasted up until the officiation of the Emancipation Proclamation, or slaves, or now newly pronounced African Americans were given their freedom, and their struggle assumes a new direction in attempting to gain equality for themselves. This is a struggle which continues today, and is not much less controversial. Nevertheless, for historical purposes, I should like to further attempt to dissect events as they existed at that time. Slavery was a practice which was much favored by the South. In the North, Americans were more industrial oriented, and had little use for slaves. They could afford to be more moralistic about the issue. However, when it came to the plight of land owners and Americans who lived in the Southern part of a very young country, that was America, they were highly preoccupied with their agrarian lifestyle. It is a fact that even George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson had slaves as did many of the forefathers of the new country. It is also true that many of these individuals had children with their Black slaves, and although it is similarly a matter of historical record that they did free their slaves, if not while they were alive, in their Last Will and Testament. What this means is that slavery was an issue of economics to the South, and a moral dilemma for those Americans who lived in the North. By the mid-1850's the spirit of accommodation had all but vanished. Northern interest in Emancipation pushed by abolitionists, eroded relations between families North and South.

Slavery degusted northerners. Many people believed Slavery was morally wrong and wanted to do something about it. The book Uncle Tom’s Cabin and the newspaper The Liberator argued how wrong it was. In this, Slavery was a major cause in the outbreak of the Civil War.

For this assignment we were asked to read the book Modern Medea written Steven Weisenburger, which deals with slavery in the mid-nineteenth century. In my paper I will discuss how the book portrays the daily life as a slave, the issue of freedom, and the racial realities during this time. This particular book tells the story of a slave by the name of Margaret Garner, who one day escaped from her plantation in Covington, KY, and took along with her Robert which was her husband, her four children, and Robert's parents. They loaded up on a stolen wagon and rode it down to the ice covered Ohio River where they would use that to cross over into the state of Ohio which was a free state. Once they had successfully made it across, Margaret and everyone who came along headed to a safe house, which was owned by one of her cousins, until they could connect into the Underground Railroad. While in hiding, the owner of Margaret and her family had tracked the slaves down, and brought along deputies as well as U.S. Marshall's, to bring them back to the plantation in Kentucky in which they belonged. In a desperate attempt to prevent her children from having to return to the harsh life of slavery, she took a knife she had and nearly decapitated her two-year-old daughter killing her, but before she could turn to the other three the deputies had broke in and taken them over.

Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slavery was cruelty at its best. Slavery is described as long work days, a lack of respect for a human being, and the inability for a man or a woman to have gainful employment. The slaves were victimized the most for obvious reasons. Next on the list would be the families of both the slave and slave owners. At the bottom of the list would be the slave owners. Slavery does in fact victimize slaves, slave owner and their families by repeating the same cycle every generation.