1. Antebellum Slavery

2. The Roots of Slavery • Slavery was introduced in North America from the Carribean. • First “Africans” arrive in 1619 in Jamestown, Va. • Slavery gradually develops with three defining characteristics: • Racial • Hereditary • Chattel • By 1750, all the British North American colonies had legalized slavery.

3. Defining Slavery • 1641: Massachusetts = first colony to recognize slavery as a legal status • 1663: Virginia declares that children of slave mothers are slaves; • 1690: South Carolina Slave Code adopted – modeled after Barbados Slave Code. • 1705: Virgina Slave Code adopted • defines all “negro, mulatto, and Indian servants” as property. Authorizes physical punishments including whipping, branding, cutting off ears, and mutilation. • 1740: South Carolina “Negro Act” • Response to the Stono Rebellion 1739 • Prohibited slaves from learning to read or write, assembling, dressing in clothing other than an approved list.

4. Slavery During the Revolutionary Period • 1750 – 300,000 slaves in America (20% of the total population) • American Revolution begins a discussion about freedom & the role of slavery in the United States • Following the Revolution, many northern states began abolishing slavery • 1787 – Northwest Ordinance bars slavery in the NW Territory

5. 1776 – Declaration of Independence drafted; includes a condemnation of the slave trade. References to the slave trade are removed at the request of southern delegates.

6. 1773-1777: Free blacks in Massachusetts submit a series of petitions urging an end to slavery. “they have…with all other men, a natural and unalienable right of freedom”

7. 1777-1783 – Over 5,000 African-American men serve in the Continental Army and Navy Many receive their freedom in reward for their service. By 1790, there will be 60,000 free blacks in the US; 250,000 by 1860 List of casualties from Lexington & Concord

8. Slavery and the US Constitution • 1787 – Constitutional Convention • A new, more powerful gov’t • Southerners demand protections for slavery • Protections for slavery in the new Constitution • No interference with the slave trade for 20 years; • Fugitive slave law; • Gov’t will help put down “domestic insurrections”

9. 19th Century Slavery • As America expands, slavery expands. • US doubles in size from 1800-1831 • Slavery expands west into new territories in the South. • 1793 – Cotton Gin

10. US Population/ Slave Population 1780: 3.5 million / 575,000 1800: 5.3 million / 900,000 1830: 12.8 million / 2.5 million Population

11. Slave Life • Kin to kint • 14 hr days • 4 in 10 live to 60 years • Dehumanizing slave auctions • Info: WPA Slave Narratives

12. Resistance to Slavery • Running away • 76% under 35; 89% are men • Underground Railroad • Organized in the early 1800s • By 1850, an estimated 50,000-100,000 escape this way • Most runaways leave temporarily, hide-out, then are captured or return.

14. Harriet Jacobs

15. Revolt • The least common form of resistance. • All major slave revolts in American history are thwarted: • 1739 Stono Rebellion – S.C. • 1800 Prosser’s Plot – Va. • 1822 Denmark Vesey Plot – S.C. • 1831 Nat Turner’s Rebellion – Va. • 1860 John Brown’s Raid – Va.

16. Sabotage • Feigning Illnesses • Work slow downs • Cultural Resistance • Slave songs • Religious practices • Learning to read / write