Benefits Of Slavery For The North

Slavery was deeply entrenched in the lives of Americans from both the north and the south. Plantation slavery and the Deep South is typically what comes to mind when the benefits of slavery are considered. However, northern states also benefited substantially from slavery even after it was outlawed in most northern states. Northern states specifically benefited from the shipping of slaves in northern ports, the financing of slaves and land for the south and the various support services of the slavery system.

The tensions of the Civil War are very much still alive in the Southern United States one hundred and fifty years after the Confederacy surrendered to Union forces to end the war. While the tensions may have mitigated away from full-fledged war between North and South, there still remain tensions along racial and cultural lines well beyond the war. In Tony Horwitz’s Confederates in the Attic these long standing tensions left over from the war are delved into by Horwitz as he makes his way across the south to see how the old Confederacy is viewed in the modern world of the United States. What Horwitz found was a dualistic society differing views on the Confederacy and the events of the Civil War. Dualities left from the war in aspects such as racial tensions, the meaning of the Confederate flag even between North and South entirely. Those living in the South can be seen holding a resonating connection to the Civil War. It becomes clear in Confederates in the Attic the Civil War not only became the catalyst of such dualities in Southern society, but still further shape and perpetuate these dualities long after the Civil Wars conclusion.

The romanticized version of the Civil War creates a picture of the North versus the South with the North imposing on the South. However, after reading “The Making of a Confederate” by William L. Barney, one can see that subdivisions existed before the war was declared. The documents analyzed by Barney primarily focus on the experiences of Walter Lenoir, a southern confederate and a member of the planter elite. His experiences tell a vivid story of a passionate and strongly opinioned participant of the Civil War as well as demonstrate a noticeably different view involving his reasoning when choosing a side. Between analyzing this fantastic piece of literature and other resourceful documents from “Voices of Freedom” by Eric Foner, one

The North is popularly considered the catalyst of the abolitionist movement in antebellum America and is often glorified in its struggle against slavery; however, a lesser-known installment of the Northern involvement during this era is one of its complicity in the development of a “science” of race that helped to rationalize and justify slavery and racism throughout America. The economic livelihood of the North was dependent on the fruits of slave labor and thus the North, albeit with some reluctance, inherently conceded to tolerate slavery and moreover embarked on a quest to sustain and legitimize the institution through scientific research. Racism began to progress significantly following the American Revolution after which Thomas

One key difference between the North and South was the North’s abundance of cheap labor. Between 1845 and 1855 around 3 million people immigrated to the US (304). This new influx of people brought large quantities of low waged factory, mine and construction workers to the Northern states just in time to aid in the industrial revolution. Contrary to the North, southern states still relied heavily on slave labor as their economy was dependent on cash crops. Furthermore, slavery was not only an economic institution but now a way of life for Southerners. Therefore, slavery was more widely accepted and condoned as it was both a way of life and an economic institution. However, Northerners did not experience this way of life or rely on slave labor. Due to this, Northerners we more eager to expel slavery. Northerners’ discontentment with slavery created negative responses to the Compromise of 1850 as opposed to the Southerners. One of the five federal laws in the Compromise of 1850, the Fugitive Slave Act, disabled Northerners’ to remain impartial to the slavery conflict (315). The Compromise strengthened the Fugitive Slave Act, forcing Northerners to return

The American Civil war is considered to be one of the most defining moments in American history. It is the war that shaped the social, political and economic structure with a broader prospect of unifying the states and hence leading to this ideal nation of unified states as it is today. In the book “Confederates in the Attic”, the author Tony Horwitz gives an account of his year long exploration through the places where the U.S. Civil War was fought. He took his childhood interest in the Civil War to a new level by traveling around the South in search of Civil War relics, battle fields, and most importantly stories. The title “Confederates in the Attic”: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War carries two meanings in Tony Horwitz’s

Slavery continued to cause major conflictions throughout the nation, especially between northern and southern states. Northerners and Southerners had two completely different views and insights on the issue of slavery. For most Northerners, they believed that slavery was wrong and it went against what the nation stood for; liberty and all men being created equally. However, there were some northerners who were antislavery and others (very few) were abolitionist. Although both sides opposed slavery, some individuals’ motives were self beneficial and really did not care so much for slavery while others believed in what America stood for and how it implies to everyone. Southerners on the other hand defended slavery, as it was their way of life.

If the north was to succeed, they would forever be oppressed by their victory, and slaves of their achievements. The Confederates fought to promote the wellbeing of their family and the protection of their land “from Yankee outrage and atrocity”(Mc.Pherson 20) .

           Chesapeake and the other Southern colonies were agrarian societies. The main crop in Chesapeake and North Virginia was tobacco, while in the Deep South, mainly in Georgia and South Carolina, the main crops were rice and cotton. The expansion of these crops led to an increased demand of a large force labor. At the first they hired indentured servants. These were young people who paid for their passage to the American Colonies by working for an employer from five to seven years. Unlike slaves, Indentured servants could look forward to receiving payment known as "freedom dues" upon their release (Foner 2005). These freedom dues included things like new clothes and perhaps a bit of land. However, many died before the end of the.ir terms, and freedom dues were so meager that did not enable recipients to acquire land (Ibid.). Despite the hard conditions of work, a high death rate and

Slavery was extremely beneficial because it served as the foundation for producing tobacco, cotton, and rice in the South. Diversity amongst British colonies was evident when it came to creating laws related to slaves. Colonies in the South such as Carolina relied on slaves for economic stability. These colonies established a slave society where laws allowed slaves to be seen as legal property and removed all individual freedom. Thus, the South became a slave state. However, the Northern colonies such as Rhode Island and New York did not rely on slaves as much as the South. As a result, the North set up less strict laws because the economy was not as reliant on slaves. However, in all colonies, new slave codes made slavery an inherited and permanent status. Slave owners could pass on slaves to the next generation

When referring to the days of slavery, it is often assumed that the south was the sole force behind its continuance. However there were many factors which lead southerners as well as some in the north to quietly accept slavery as a good thing. John Calhoun declared in 1837 “Many in the South once believed that [slavery] was a moral and political evil…That folly and delusion are gone; we see it now in its true light, and regard it as the most safe and stable basis for free institutions in the world” (p. 345). This statement was justified by various reasons. There was the fundamental belief that Africans were inferior to their white counterparts. Many saw the slave population as a labor force that

The north and the south both benefitted extremely well from slavery. With the south getting more popular and generating more income to help

Roughly speaking, slavery in the North can be divided into two regions. New England slaves numbered only about 1,000 in 1708, but that rose to more than 5,000 in 1730 and about 13,000 by 1750. New England also was the center of the slave trade in the colonies, supplying captive Africans to the South and the Caribbean island. Black slaves were a valuable shipping commodity that soon proved useful at home, both in large-scale agriculture and in ship-building. The Mid-Atlantic colonies (New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania) had been under Dutch rule before the British conquered them in 1664. (Harper 2003). The slave trade in the North was dominated by the maritime in Rhode Island. There was a triangle of trade created by bringing slaves to America,

The North turned slavery into a moral issue creating tension between the two distinct parts of the

In the decades leading to the Civil War, both the North and the South had differing ideals on slavery. The North supported the abolition of slavery due to unethical and unconstitutional morals the Union strived to move away from, while the Southern Confederacy was against the movement, primarily due to the need and beliefs held toward slaves. According to John Calhoun, a Southerner who defended slavery, he felt it was impossible for the Union and Confederacy to reach a compromise, and once abolition was successful, the United States would fall into anarchy, stating, “abolition and the Union cannot coexist” (Calhoun, pg. 1). Calhoun’s views were similarly shared with George Fitzhugh, who expanded upon Calhoun’s views on the collapse of society due to abolition, stating, “They [Union] hold that all men, women, and negroes, and smart children are equals, and entitled to equal rights…