All God 's Children By Fox Butterfield Essay

Slavery was an important economic factor, in the South, from colonial time through the early years of the United States to the end of the Civil War. The methods used by the slaveholder, who owned large scale plantations, in the south were harsh on the slave. Slaves were viewed as material properties used for to be used for economic gain. One large scale plantation owner named John R. Williams wrote to another slave , in a letter, "...Africans do seem to be made to be slaves. Their coarse manners and slow wits show that they need outlet guidance..."1* Masters would do what was necessary to keep the slave obedient and productive. This meant slaves that misbehaved would be physically punished, lose privileges, or maybe even sold, separating them from their families. For these reasons slave often didn 't misbehave, but tension that builds up will be released in often violent ways. This is the reason for frequent slave revolts. The these revolts were often led by a person or a group of people. They would gather the unhappy slaves and lead them to rebel.

Slavery was like an addiction that the south could not break. Although it provided economic benefits to both the north and the south, the addiction or “curse” bound the people to the downfalls of slavery as well. Slavery created an oligarchy of which a small aristocracy of slave-owners would dominate political, economic, and social affairs of both blacks and whites. The institutions negative impact on the South, and even the entire nation would eventually lead to a great tragedy: the civil war.

The South Carolina pre-revolutionary Stono Rebellion led to many different forms of reactions from the people in colonial South Carolina. It can be characterized as that of a further dark future for the slaves, while creating more fear and discontent for the white citizens of the area. The revolts output created attitudes that led to the American revolution for whites, while creating the harsh and negative attitudes displayed toward blacks which we still see today. The repercussions created a greater sense of fear for Africans among the white population in Southeastern North America, one which necessitated a means for controlling what they believed to be a dangerous people. The revolt also showed the whites sense for blaming others for the uprising among the slaves, as multiple Spanish men are claimed to have incited the slaves to rise up and kill to gain their freedom in Florida.

The worn out fields produce fewer pounds per acre than did the new fields west of the mountains. South Carolina also had problems with slave conspiracies. Denmark Vesey a free black who lived in Charleston lead a rebellion that cause 36 blacks to be killed and many others exiled. (Internet Source 1) South Carolina said that if a strong federal government is allowed to take money from the South using a protective tariff to benefit the wealth of the north, then eventually they are going to try to abolish slavery which South Carolina lived on.

     South Carolina was one of the only states in which the black slaves and abolitionists outnumbered their oppressors. Denmark Vesey’s slave revolt consisted

The southern states were a slave society, and were known to being the way of life. It was the root to everything in the south, and southerners were very protective about it. In the south southerners “feared that without slavery’s expansion, the abolitionist faction would come to dominate national politics and an increasingly dense population of slaves would lead to bloody insurrection and race war” (The American Yawp, Chap.13), and southerners did not want to jeopardize their way of life. The south would press on the notion that racial mixing and racial wars would break out, and that blacks were a threat to white supremacy. Besides the racial fears the south would speak out on, they also stressed that slaves were property, which entitles them to their owner. People in the south also used the bible to justify slavery because it was present in the bible. The southern states believed in the ‘mudsill’ theory. James Henry Hammond speech on the ‘mudsill’ theory explained the theory. Hammond and other pro slavery southerners defined slavery as a good thing. Paternalism was another justification, to influence their belief that slavery was a caring establishment. That south argued that they took care of their slaves, and that the north did not treat their workers with such

Paternalism played a very significant role in the southern slavery system. Some examples of paternalism in slavery are: slaves being forbade from attending any type of school of church services, masters would also whip slaves to encourage them to do the behave how they should and in certain extreme conditions kill slaves. Slaves were forbade from attending from attending any type of school or church service because “They were afraid … more sense than they” (Doc 6).

Initially, there had been slave rebellions, but most occurred on boats. The fact was none had an impact on actual southern society. This entire event outraged and struck fear into the hearts of the southerners. The rebellion triggered harsher punishments and policies on rebellions, and threat of rebellions. Slaves were often convicted and killed for simple threats of possible rebellion, and whether or not the threat was legitimate, we may never know.

Slaves were used to cultivate cotton, the South’s main export. (Doc 2) The slaves were more efficient and required less pay than their white counterpart. This caused the South to be more in favor of using slaves, especially when expanding to western territories because they could save money. Some northerners claimed that the conditions that slaves lived in were cruel and brutal, but the South Carolina governor argued in 1835 that “English [factory] operatives” and “millions of paupers” had it worse than southern slaves. (Doc 1) Southern farmers heavily invested in slaves because of their ability to work hard and their inexpense. They did not feel that slavery was unlawful or immoral, because they felt that the black skin color made them inferior to

In the American South, slaves were humiliated and considered as vulgar workers by being owned and treated without humanity by the employer showed in their living conditions, different treatment based on gender and age and the forced breakup of families.

You have walked with me in the darkest moment of my life. You have my love and devotion, no matter how upset I may get with you.

more profitable. When the amount of slaves increased on the plantation, the laws and policies became harsher and more brutal in order to brew fear in the Africans so they would be less inclined to act out against their masters. While many slaves heeded their warnings, quite a few became fed up with the inhumane and unethical methods these Caucasian people were putting them through which led to rebellions that caused murders and

The slave codes of the southern states forbade slaves to hold property, to leave their masters’ premises with permission, to be out after dark, to congregate with other slaves except at church, to carry firearms, or to strike a white person, even in self-defense” (Brinkley, 303). Slavery was more dominant in the South because of the factories and the physical labor the slave-owners made them do. They were considered 2/3 of a person and had barely any rights. The codes also prohibited whites from teaching slaves to read or write and denied slaves the right to testify in court against white people. Slavery was not nearly as common in the North as it was in the South.

In the early 18th century, South Carolina experienced a boom in their rice industry. This caused a shift from a frontier to a plantation economy, affecting the quality of life of slaves. Their tasks switched from farming, hunting, fishing, and raising cattle, to being trapped in the rice fields. The slaves felt much resent for this extremely difficult, straining work. In the 1730s, there was an outbreak of many slave conspiracies in the West Indies, especially in the Bahamas and Antigua. Furthermore, many runaway slaves from South Carolina had made their way down to Florida, where Spain offered them freedom. This inspired slaves to fight for their freedom. As a result of the Stono Rebellion, slaveowners came to fear their slaves and the threat of future uprisings. Because of this fear, The Slave Code of South Carolina of 1740 was created. This code greatly limited rights of the slaves living in the region.

Prior to Civil War, distinct Northern and Southern cultures were established; North strengthened on industrialized commercial area and the south reinforced with an agrarian agricultural area. Racism ran rampant in the Civil War and sectioned off everyone into their different groups and cliques. The north was more industrialized and didn’t really need slaves. But the south was around about 80% farmland so the south needed slaves to profit from their massive amounts of land.