Slavery

1. Slavery By: Jack Sheridan Margaret Andrews

2. The norms of Slavery • The practice of slavery is accepted in the United States. • Vast land selection promotes slavery. • Because of the Enlightenment after the Revolution, there is a small percentage of people that question the morality of slavery. (Howe, 152)

3. Concentration of slavery in the United States in 1830 http://mapserver.lib.virginia.edu/index.html

4. Treatment of Slaves in different regions • Treated as property. Sold at auctions similar to cattle. • Families and (tribemember, friends etc.) purposely separated. • Had no civil rights except protection from murder. • Some states passed specific laws on separation of families and selling of children of certain ages, but they were difficult to enforce. • Floggings and whippings were common • Education was not available, allowed, or encouraged. 9/10 slaves that fought in the Civil War were illiterate. • Slave smugglers were often not punished in the South. ( Kennedy, M., Lizabeth Cohen, and Thomas A. Bailey, 357-360) http://www.blackvibes.com/images/bvc/46/8998-slave-whipping-scars.jpg

5. OPINIONS OF SLAVERY IN DIFFERENT REGIONS • The South still relied heavily on slavery for their economy, especially with the cotton gin and short – staple cotton. • The North was using industrial advances that did not require slaves. • Reform movements were growing in the North due to the Enlightenment. • Slavery was heavily concentrated in Virginia, South Carolina, and in the Cottony Kingdom. • 75% of the population in the ‘Black Belt’ was slaves. ( Kennedy, M., Lizabeth Cohen, and Thomas A. Bailey, 357-360)

6. Economic benefits of slavery • Smuggling wasn’t acknowledgedin most Southern governments. • “Whites worried that general • emancipation would jeopardize white supremacy and threaten insurrection, and even where the black population was small, whites worried that free people might become public charges. Nowhere were whites willing to be taxed to pay compensation to owners for freeing their slaves.” (Howe, 53) • “The key factor in explaining both the “Atlantic slave trade and the perpetuation of slavery on the United States was profitability.” (Howe, 53) • Emergence of short – staple cotton after 1815 caused more difficulty for emancipation. (Pageant, 56) • Slaves were a good investment, so profitable that they crowded out other investment options. http://fiberorganics.com/Images/cotton.jpg

7. Southern Reasons Against reform • South knew that the ban of slavery would cripple their economy • Paternalism • The masters said that their relationship with slaves is caring for those who could not look after themselves. • Slave conspiracies frightened all slave holders. They were so afraid that emancipations would summon a rebellion that slave owners would not grant emancipation for “financial compensation” • Contended that states had the right to judge legality of slavery • The South had slave codes that forced the north to legally return any runaway owners to their owners in the South. http://www.sonofthesouth.net/slavery/photographs/slaves.jpg (Howe, 59-60)

8. North Begins reform • American Colonization Society founded in 1817 helped to found the Republic of Liberia in 1822. • The Second Great Awakening helped to energize people to question if slavery is morally correct. • Theodore Dwight Weld held an eighteen day debate over slavery at the Lane Theological Seminary in 1833. His writings influenced Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin that was published in 1852. • William Lloyd Garrison started his militantly antislavery newspaper, The Liberator, in 1831. Founded the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1833. • Frederick Douglass was famous for his speeches and text, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. • Sojourner Truth (Isabella) gave powerful speeches and dictated an autobiography. (Howe, 52) ( Kennedy, M., Lizabeth Cohen, and Thomas A. Bailey, 357-360)

9. Laws that promote emancipation • New York recognizes the legality of slave marriages in 1809 which makes it illegal to separate the couple from their children. • New York adopted a program of emancipation that slaves born after 1799 would be freed at age 28 for males and 25 for females and in 1817 they declare that all slaves would be freed in 1827. • The Continental Congress prohibited slavery in the Northwest Territory in 1787. • Slave Trade Act of 1794 prohibited the making, loading, outfitting, equipping, or dispatching of any ship is to be used in the slave trade. • Slave trade is outlawed by Congress in 1808. • 1780 Delaware prohibits importation of African Slaves. • 1780 Pennsylvania begins an emancipation process. • 1778 Virginia prohibits the importation of slaves. • In 1809 Congress declared that anyone found importing slaves would be given the death penalty. (Howe, 52-53) (Draper, Sharon)

10. Increased sectionalism • Economic and ideological differences create a rift between North and South. • This division was enhanced by cultural (race, religion) and economic (industrial vs. agricultural) differences between the two regions.

11. Bibliography • Draper, Sharon. "TIMELINE OF SLAVERY IN AMERICA 1501-1865." Web. 7 Nov. 2011. <http://sharondraper.com/timeline.pdf>. • Howe, Daniel Walker. What Hath God Wrought: the Transformation of America, 1815-1848. New York: Oxford UP, 2007. Print. • Kennedy, M., Lizabeth Cohen, and Thomas A. Bailey. The American Pageant. 12th ed. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 2006. Print. • University of Virginia Library. University of Virginia, Geospatial and Statistical Data Center, 2004. Web. 08 Nov. 2011. <http://mapserver.lib.virginia.edu/index.html>. • Wahl, Jenny. "Slavery in the United States". EH.Net Encyclopedia, edited by Robert Whaples. March 26, 2008. URL http://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/wahl.slavery.us • Web. 7 Nov. 2011. <http://fiberorganics.com/Images/cotton.jpg>. • Web. 7 Nov. 2011. <http://www.blackvibes.com/images/bvc/46/8998-slave-whipping-scars.jpg>. • Web. 7 Nov. 2011. <http://www.sonofthesouth.net/slavery/photographs/slaves.jpg>.