African American Slavery Research Paper

Describe the treatment of slaves in the South as compared to the lives of urban workers in the North during this time period.

Life of a slave was not an easy one. Slaves were often chained when they weren’t working so they wouldn’t attempt to escape. Tobacco was a major crop in the upper South so tobacco farms solely relied on slaves to plant and harvest the crops; likewise for cotton plantations in the Deep South. Plantation owners would hire overseers to manage the slaves in the fields. Women, children, or

Slaves in the South performed many different types of labor. Many of the slave population performed as field laborers conducting agricultural work. Some of the labors performed by Southern slaves included cultivating cotton which involved 55% of the population, growing tobacco which involved 10% and producing sugar, rice and hemp involved the other 10%.

During the war, some slave owners ran businesses as well as owning plantations. In addition, African-Americans mostly worked in the fields plowing, weeding, planting, taking care of the tobacco, corn, cotton, sugar cane, tomatoes, and other vegetables. (Appendix 13). The slaves did the majority of work in the households they were assigned. When the slaves were assigned to a home that had less than five people, they were treated like family. When they were placed in a household with hundreds of slaves, they were treated more strictly with a great deal of discipline. 3 However, being an African-American during this time was rough. Slaves were not allowed to read and write as their white slave-owners thought they would pass messages along with slaves on other plantations and start a revolt.

White historians in the past described the relationship between slavery in the American South and the rising political power and economic growth of the United States as i.e. timely unrelated. Furthermore, white historians believed that slavery had no impact on America’s modern economy or industrialization. Perhaps slavery wasn't considered a “modern” institution because to acknowledge it as a modern act in society would be to recognize it as something commonplace in that specific day and age.

Slavery is fundamental to the economy. It can be said that slavery is as old as civilization. It started in the North American colony of Jamestown, Virginia, 1619, to aid in the production of such lucrative crops as tobacco. The invention of the cotton gin in 1793 solidified the central importance of slavery to the South’s economy. African-American slaves helped build the economic foundations of the new nation. White slave owners did not understand or allow the practice of African traditions and customs. Slaves were forced to find new forms of expression.

The bright orange sun was scorching, and the slaves were worn out. They were excited for the sun to go down, so they could take the night to cool down. The day seemed to never end, with an owner whipping and yelling at them to stay on their feet at all times. The cotton fields were slimming, but they knew the work wasn't over until they could escape from this place. They had hope for the day they’d been planning for months. It was Jonathan, the slave owner's eldest son, who was secretly the slaves best friends. The day the six slaves arrived on the farm, Jonathan was in charge. He watched them for several weeks, until his father could trust them to stay.

Shortly after the creation of the colonies, slavery was introduced and the dependence upon it grew exponentially. Southern states prospered with slavery, establishing plantations of hundreds of acres with just as many slaves to work. Virginia, the largest slave state, had a population of 747,610 in 1790, of which 292,627 were slaves. With Kentucky being carved out of Virginia and first settlers originating from Virginia, many expected the new state to follow Virginia’s harsh slave laws seen throughout the southern pro slavery states. But would the settlers of Kentucky, many former Virginians, keep things the same or would the influence of northerners also moving west force compromise to create, in the eyes of the south, a more lenient slave

“ Over a period of the Atlantic slave trade, from approximately 1526 to 1867, some 12.5 million slaves had been shipped from Africa, and 10.7 million had arrived n the Americas” (1). Now fast forward to before the time of the Civil War and think of how many more African Americans that have gotten kidnapped and brought to the Americas. That is a lot of African American people that were turned into abused slaves that had to work day and night for whites.

From 1775-1830, America saw its slavery institution expand. One major factor that contributed to the growth of enslaved African Americans was the increase in agriculture in the South. Cotton, a long standing staple crop of the southern states, was a very labor intensive crop to harvest. Because of this need for labor, many plantation owners and farmers continued to purchase slaves. In addition to the fact that cotton was very laborious to pick, plantation owners wanted more and more land to plant the crop on because it was such a success. As more land was obtained, more slaves were needed to work the land. In 1793, Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin. This invention sparked an increase in the number of enslaved African Americans in the South

How did southerners' conception of slavery change between the late 18th century and the 1830s? What is the essence of the pro-slavery argument?As the fight for slavery continued in the deep south, there were a lot of supporters who were for pro-slavery, felt that it was okay to own slaves because it was in the bible. This new development of a religious argument spread as many southerners believed it was right and apart of their religious duty to own slaves and as any as they wanted. The people went back as far as Abraham to show that this was okay by God. Africa was already involved in a lot of slave trade. There also was a man named Thomas Cobb from Georgia who felt like this was the greatest argument and he also believed that God created

In 1619, African slaves were brought to Jamestown, Virginia, to assist in the production of tobacco crop. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries slavery was practiced throughout the American colonies. In 1793, Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin to boost the south’s economy to produce more cotton.The North did not agree with slavery being practiced in the South, so a great debate started between the North and the South. The American Civil War, in 1861-1865, a bloody battle began that tore the nation apart.

European life prior to the settlement in America was less than to be desired, in fact, for some individuals it was impossible. With an unstable peninsula, multiple of wars, along with the threat of revolts, Europeans began to look for other places they could settle in. As if the travel finding this new place wasn’t hard enough, the settlers soon realized in order for them to become successful, one requirement was extremely hard labor. Upon landing in the New World Life for the settlers was harsh and a good portion of them died because they were not accustomed to living under the conditions to which they had to live, upon arriving in the New World. Because the Natives lived on the land for centuries prior, they were accustomed to the temperatures

Life under slavery is known to be controversial among historians. The well being of a slave mainly depended on the kind of agriculture they worked on, the area they lived, and also the time period they lived in. The plantation system changed slavery heavily from 1700 to 1830. In the early 1700s, the average slave was a young male in his twenties from either the Caribbean or Africa. By 1830, the average slave was just as likely to be male as they were female. Most of these slaves by this point were actually born in North America and spoke english. They also worked on a plantation with many other slaves. These plantations and the rise of agriculture were the main reasons for change in slave life. Due to the substantial amount of slaves on a plantation, it was very easy for male slaves to find a female mate. This lead to marriage between slaves and a decrease in the need for importation of slaves. The importation of slaves decreased so much that it was banned by Congress in 1808.

When organizations pay slave traders to liberate slaves, the natural rights of these violated people are regained. Living life with the freedom to chose is a liberty that most take for granted. However, for plenty of Sudanese indigenous folk, the opportunity of this free diminishes. As the civil war raged between North and South Sudan, the Dinka, the people of South Sudan, are forced miles up to the north to become slaves. Families are ripped apart during these raids due to the war. The women and children are herded north like cattle by Arab Militiamen for the purpose of slaves in terms of payments, domestic work, farm and herd work, or as concubines (Olson). Since this practice restarted in 1983, organizations have strained to end this resurgence