Slavery in the American South

This situation was not ideal because the Southern farmers wanted more control over their workers (orange). Virginian farmers heard about the success of slavery in the Caribbean and thought it would be a good solution to their problems (blue). The southern colonists had a very different way of earning a living than in the north. They needed people to work through “the harsh realities of a land-rich, but labor-scarce economy…” (Purple). The plantation owners had all the land and resources, but no one to work on their grounds long term.

Douglass was given some education and worked on it by himself after lessons ceased. Slaves who had any education were a rarity in the south. By taking away any opportunity for a better life, slave holders controlled every aspect of a slave’s life. However, after some education, Frederick longed for a life out of slavery. He realized he not only had to have a sound mind, but also a sound body and soul.

All people today should show respect to African Americans due to their struggle in reaching freedom and coming across difficulty. Thomas Jefferson added an anti-slavery statement within the declaration of independence but was deleted by the southern delegates due to the pressure. As plantation systems developed, the south began to depend on the slaves even more to carry out the work of its large factory farms. Southerners saw slavery as a necessary part of the economy. Slave trade was over in 1808 by law, but the smuggling of slaves in the U.S continued until the outbreak of the civil war in 1860( Skiba pg.

But slavery emerged the restriction of African’s lives in North America. Though slaves in North America had their rights prohibited by their owners, they could have a small land for their own work, having family, religion practices. In the late of seventeen century most slaves worked on plantations ruled by their masters who had right to decide about Africans slave’s lives. As a matter of fact, slaves become an object of work. They were obligated to work without any payment.

Money was the motivating factor behind free labor and ultimately became the most important business enterprise of that time. Economic conditions, including soil and climate determined the number of slaves in a given locality. The majority of the black population were found in the colonies that produced the greatest agricultural staples, such as sugar, rice, tobacco and cotton. The land most suitable for cotton production became the land where plantation slavery was most concentrated. Since picking cotton was relatively simple, it was a powerful stimulant for exploitation, providing year-round employment for men, women, children and the elderly.

Wheeler, William Bruce and Susan D. Becker. Discovering the American Past: A Look at the Evidence. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1998. “Writing the Emancipation Proclamation.” N/G. History Matters.

Sharecropping replaced slavery as the means to keep African-Americans submissive and in their place. Slavery was an institution in Mississippi for decades. African-Americans were used for free manpower for the labor intensive cotton production. Slavery was hard business especially for field hands who worked long hours from sunup to sundown (up to 18 hours during harvesting) in the hot Mississippi sun. Slaves started in the field well before childhood ended.

This country, especially the southern United States, was built using African slave labor. Africa slaves were not allowed to be educated. All most every African slave could not read or write because it was against the law to educate slaves for over 200 years. The master/slave relationship caused assimilation to be very difficult. Values and convictions were formed during those years and are still evident to this day (Parrillo, 2009).

Importance of Slavery to the Southern Way of Life America almost from the beginning was heavily dependent on forced labour. In 1619, John Rolfe in Virgina reported 'about the last day of August came in a butch man-of-war that sold us 20 negers'. This is the first record of Africans 'settling' in America. The Southern colonies were more dependent on labour then the North, as the climate in the South was ideal for plantation agricultural. In the 17th century the basis of the work force, in mainly the Southern colonies were Europeans labourers, who as indentured servants, offered landowners a solution to their labour shortage.

One of the largest uses of slave labor was in the southern plantations. Virginia's economy depended greatly on the production of tobacco. However, the problem being that tobacco plants required thousands of workers to produce the extensive amount that was being exported . Without the use of slave labor, there would not have been enough man power to fuel the plantations. Virginia was not the only colony in need of help on the plantations.