Keeping Slaves Captive

Chattel slavery, so named because people are treated as the personal property, chattels, of an owner and are bought and sold as commodities, is the original form of slavery. When taking these chattels across national borders it is referred to as Human Trafficking especially when these slaves provide sexual services.

Researchers found that more than ten thousand people are in forced labor across 90 US cities. These people are forced to work in sweatshops, clean homes, work on farms, or work as prostitutes or strippers. Many of these cases are accumulated in areas with large immigrant populations, like California, New York, and Florida. Most of the victims of forced labor are “imported” from 38 different countries. China, Mexico, and Vietnam top this list of countries (Gilmore 1).

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.

What is slavery? Slavery is forced labor and this forced labor is what built America and made them become more developed. “Africans peoples were captured and transported to the Americas to work. Most European colonial economies in the Americas from the 16th century through the 19th were dependant on enslaved African labor for their survival.” Many claim that enslavement was very necessary in order for America to thrive and not die off for it is now one of the best countries in the world. However, slavery was not necessary in the Americas it was just a mechanism that just stripped Africans of their human rights, giving the slave masters the “right” to abuse them. Slavery was not necessary in the Americas because without slavery America would

For slaves the transition to the New World was at times isolating and difficult. There were rotten, terrifying, and sometimes inhumane experiences that the slaves’ experienced as they transitioned to the New World. Slaves dealt with loneliness when their families were separated because they were sold or because of situations where the owners were controlling their lives.

The organization of slavery turned into significant to the economy and politics of the us from the colonial era to the Civil war, and its death became related to almost each extensive development of the country’s records. That loss of life got here in broad waves of reform—one gradual, largely peaceful, in regions with fantastically few slaves; the alternative climaxing in a violent conflict of sections ensuing in the liberation of 4 million slaves. A confluence of changing ideological currents, resistance by way of both slaves and their loose allies (black and white), and political trends that were, in the beginning, not without delay associated with slavery, brought approximately its end. (Its demise turned into additionally a part of broader,

The process of Emancipation in the United States dismantled what was known as Chattel slavery, but didn’t initially prohibit the actions taken to work around this. African Americans were still struggling with a system of oppression that sought to keep them in other forms slavery. The south at this time was still known as a “landed aristocracy,” meaning that those who owned land held majority of the wealth. The idea was to redistribute confiscated lands to African Americans to grant them economic independence, since their labor was the foundation of all the generated profits. The Sherman Field Orders would grant this for the African American population, only to later be dismantled by state legislation. Generally, the Black community wanted

The United States Through Industrialism”. Now just by reading that one quote it is inferred that all people are created equal and therefore should be free. That is not the case at all as back in the 1619s, right around when the colonial times started to pop up, there was some of the first signs of slavery on the rise. This does not mean that there was not any signs before this, but the first major one occured in 1619. It happened when twenty black men were sold too English colonists who wanted them for labor. Ever since that point in time is when slavery really took off and not at all for the better. Twenty people grew into hundreds and then thousands and before anyone knew it almost everyone owned slaves. These people were not considered people at all though. To most the population they were considered property and had no value. These “standards” of these people in society did not live up to The Declarations claims at all. In wars African-Americans were considered “backup” if the Union did not want to put their people up or did not have enough and were simply used as pawns. Even with serving our nation when African-Americans were taken into the Union or volunteered they were lesser pay than white men. Slavery went on for ages and ages and people who were not being considered as the same value as someone else was one of the ways America was not free. If it was then all people would be free no one would have the right to own another human being and everyone would be considered equal. Since most of America was stuck in the mindset that, everyone had the same value was not evident at all, this caused years of suffering for those people and our

In the second half of chapter 3, the new colonists were looking for ways of labor, rather than working themselves. While many English colonists wanted to force native Indian labor, they were unsuccessful in doing so. Instead they looked back into another source of workers that were used by the Spaniards and Portuguese: enslaved Africans. If it was not for the enslaved to produce products for elite whites, then Jamestown would still be struggling economically and not be able to give England a big profit. By the 1700s one of every eight person was a black person from Africa.It was also seen to settlers as an investment in purchasing slaves rather than servants, because slaves were never freed. Mortality rates had begun declining in the late 1680s, planters could reasonably expect a slave to live longer than a servant’s period of indenture. The two main crops that slaves worked on in the field were tobacco and sugar.

While slavery was a horrific thing that led to the mistreatment of millions of black people, it had the power to last for centuries. When looking closely at historical accounts it becomes easier to see why this horrible practice was able to sustain for so long. One of the reasons was because the economy of Colonial America relied heavily on the labor of slaves. Farming, the slave trade itself, and the harsh treatment of slaves were all driven by the greed of slave owners. Another reason that slavery lasted so long was racism. During this time, the black population was considered inferior to the white population. This helped to promote the cruel behaviors that occurred in slavery. Lastly, many whites actually felt that the slaves were treated

In 1850, the topic of runaway slaves was becoming more frequent. Though there were passed laws that allowed owners of slaves to recapture “slave property” in other territories, the South felt the laws needed to be more iron-fisted. (This was mostly due to the Northern abolitionists making the South uncomfortable with their current grip on the government.) Of course, they got their way, and the Fugitive Slave Act. This allowed the slave holders to say a slave was his in front of a government official (even if they were not) and have legal right to claim them. Not soon after, Northern writer Harriet Beecher Stowe, wrote about a slave, in her book Uncle Tom’s Cabin; drove even more Northerners against slavery. The south denounced her book, calling it slander and “intense fanaticism”. Still Stowe’s book sold 300,000 (sadly ten times the amount Frederick Douglas’ autobiography sold for). But still the

“The fact is, that civilization requires slaves. The Greeks were quite right there. Unless there are slaves to do the ugly, horrible, uninteresting work, culture and contemplation become almost impossible.” - OSCAR WILDE, The Soul of Man Under Socialism

The contradictions between slavery and freedom are very apparent throughout history. America started out with the intentions of becoming separate

“I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery.” -Thomas Jefferson 1787. Equality is in us all whether we are male or female, Mexican or American. The Student Model provides details on how the Civil War amended what it meant to be equal. Paul Revere’s Ride also provides details on how battling the red-coats would give the country-folk of the Middlesex village. The Civil War estranged Americans

The daily life of a slave in North Carolina was incredibly difficult. Hard workers, especially those in the field, played from sunrise until sundown. Even small kids and the elderly were not exempt from these long work hours. Slaves were generally granted a day off on Sunday, and on infrequent holidays such as Christmas or the Fourth of July.