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
Slave insurrection occurred in a multitude of ways. Slaves practiced everyday resistance as well as planned and executed more elaborate forms of resistance. One form of resistance was strikes. During a strike Negros would flee to the swamps or forests and send back word that they would return if their demands were made. Demands would often include food, clothes, fewer beatings, shorter hours, or a new overseer. If demands were met they would return. However during the Civil War the demand of payment of wages. During this era they won “lifting themselves by their own bootstraps from chattels to wage workers”.3
Analysis of Arguments for the Slavery Institution. The foundation of this paper will highlight the following questions: How might southern apologists for slavery have used the northern “wage slave” discussed in the last chapter to justify slavery? To what extent do you agree with this argument? How did slaves use religious belief and kinship to temper their plight?
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.
From 1750 until 1800 the colonial United States endured a period of enormous achievement along with a substantial amount of struggle. Before 1750, the new colony’s first struggle was between the colonists and England over who would have leadership within the New World. Once settled, the issues emerged from within the colonies themselves, particularly with the “belongings” they brought and imported. African American slaves were seen as property, and were not given any innate rights such as liberty or freedom when following their master to the New World. The revolution for the colonists from England began, with new freedoms received by the colonists; the slaves began to question their rights as humans. Innate rights such as liberty and freedom
The Southern philosophers were, in some measure, great theorists. Their ability to defend the institution of slavery as a good for society can be considered through three justifications: socio-political, economic/socio-economic, and religious.
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.
Reparations Although the talk of reparations of slavery has been in discussion for over a hundred years, it is beginning to heat up again. Within these discussions, the issue of the form of reparations has been evaluated and money has been an option several times. However, reparations in the form of money should not be obtained for several reasons. Firstly, it is not a solution to the problem, secondly monetary reparations have the ability to worsen discrimination, thirdly, who gets paid, and how is it regulated, and lastly, the money can be misused.
The Emancipation Proclamation ended the enslavement of African-Americans in 1863. While slaves were now free of the hardships concerning forced labor and total domination, some believed that slavery was a better life style compared to freedom. The Great Depression introduced new, and what seemed like more difficult, adversities former slaves were left to tackle without any assistance. Frederick Douglass’ 1845 Narrative exemplifies some of the true “pros” and cons of slavery. The convenient accommodations of slavery supported the wrongful, ethical view that African – Americans were better off enslaved.
For Edmund S. Morgan American slavery and American freedom go together hand in hand. Morgan argues that many historians seem to ignore writing about the early development of American freedom simply because it was shaped by the rise of slavery. It seems ironic that while one group of people is trying to break the mold and become liberated, that same group is making others confined and shattering their respectability. The aspects of liberty, race, and slavery are closely intertwined in the essay, 'Slavery and Freedom: The American Paradox.'
If you were an African American or abolitionist back in the 1860s would you have considered Abraham Lincoln fair? Would the fact that he made abolishing slavery his second priority bother you? A letter was written by Frederick Douglass to Abraham Lincoln expressing his opinions and beliefs on slavery. He was bothered by the fact that slavery was pushed aside. Sure, Southern Secession was a top priority too, but slavery was, in my opinion, even more important. The bottom line is, I believe that Fredrick Douglass was being fair to Abraham Lincoln.
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.
According to Liza Fox, coping with brutal treatment wasn’t easy. From 1750 to 1901 slaves were treated so inhumanly with no respect. Along the way there were many advantages and disadvantages. Slaves perused to keep working hard so they could head home to their families, otherwise several would die because of the brutality in the environment and the torturous treatment. Every slave used different ways to cope as they all felt differently about this setting. The most common coping grounds included entertainment, rebellion and distractions. From the very beginning slaves had to endure brutal conditions and these were the common copying procedures. (ASK FOR HELP)
Slavery was a big part of the South to help it grow and prosper with the boom of cotton. However, as the years went on the debate about whether slavery should or should not be banned increased. Between 1815-1860 there was an initial growth in slavery throughout the south, but as the years progressed, the controversy of slavery increases and caused the decline of slavery.
Beginning in the 1830s, white abolitionists attempted to prove that American slaves suffered physically, emotionally, and spiritually at the hands of those who claimed their ownership (Pierson, 2005). Like those that were seen in our American literature text book. Not only did they suffer from those things, but they also had trouble with their identity once they moved on or was freed from slavery, that’s why we seen a lot of the former slaves changing their identity. Abolitionists were determined to educate the public on how badly slaves were being treated. They even argued the basic facts of Southern plantation life such as slave holders divided families, legalized rape, and did not recognize slave marriages as legitimate (Pierson, 2005). In the interregional slave trade, hundreds of thousands of slaves were move long distance from their birthplace and original homes as the slave economy migrated from the eastern seaboards to Louisiana, Arkansas, and Texas (Thornton...
There are many arguments for slavery and each one has some good points and each one has their shortcomings. First is the other is the other defenses of slavery and the good points they make but also their downfalls. Then the best defense for slavery and why it is.