The Pros And Cons Of Slavery

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Emerson, an abolitionist himself, succinctly defines the ongoing dilemma of the slave owning South. The Southern states had inextricably tied their economy, politics, lifestyle and future to the “peculiar institution” of slavery. Once indulging in the ownership of slaves, the south had lost its own freedom to move beyond slavery. Instead they were bound to defend its existence and application regardless of circumstance. Slavery was an integral part of the South. Not only vital to the southern economy, the existence of slavery became ingrained in the southern culture and way of life. As such, there were a variety of arguments that the southerners posed to rationalize and defend their lifestyle of slavery. The arguments in defense of slavery, …show more content…

Most common were short term absences ranging from a few days to weeks. The purpose was usually for a short break from the hard work or to visit family or spouses on neighboring plantations from which they had been separated. Less typical was the attempted escape to the North in search of freedom. Successful escapes only numbered about one thousand per year, a testament to its difficulty. This was more of a problem for slaveholders in the border states and the upper south. These slaves were more likely to make they risky journey as they only had a short distance to cover to get to the free states. For slaves deeper into the south, they faced a longer the journey over hostile and mostly unknown territory. Additionally, not all slaves were equally likely to escape. Mothers with infants and small children rarely ran away, as with the old and sick. Runaways were usually young, healthy males, the most valuable slaves because they were the most productive. Rare, yet most dangerous, was the revolt of slaves as evidenced by Nat Turner’s rebellion in 1831. This particular violent uprising resulted in not only numerous deaths of blacks and whites, but also frightened lawmakers into enacting stricter and more oppressive laws for the slaves in order to prevent future occurrences (Keene, …show more content…

The Reconstruction promised liberty, yet was fraught with issues and obstacles for the newly freedman. Living up to the ideal was not easy as the Freedmen were now free to travel and seek prospects, but with laws that varied by state, true freedom for many proved elusive. While the former slaves had been proclaimed free by the United States government, many of the Planters and Southern Democrats refused to acknowledge their new found rights and actively worked to undermine opportunities for prosperity, even resorting to

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