Slavery And The Rights Of Men And Women

Slavery in America started in 1619 when settlers brought over African Americans to Jamestown, Virginia. The slaves came to Jamestown to work on the tobacco plantations. The slaves were also sent to other colonies such as South Carolina to work on the cotton plantations. Slaves were people who worked for no pay. This caused the land owners to make more profit from their plantations because they didn’t have to pay their workers. Southern slave owners, specifically in South Carolina, relied on slavery as a major part of their economy.

Slavery has been a key issue in American history since the first settlers settled here in 1607. Historians such as Vincent J Rosivach writes that when the issue of slavery is mentioned the first thing people think about is the slavery model of the deep south, the cotton kingdom. Rosivach writes that there were many different slave models such as the northern American colonies and 4th century Athens. Rosivach and many other historians agree that the way slavery was done in the north was totally different from the south. Slaves have had an important role particularly in the northern American colonies helping them early establish themselves first as a region then as a country. Historians have argued that America was built on the backs of

Escaped slaves from the South helped the north to win the Civil War by increasing the number of soldiers fighting in the war for the north and by spying on the south for the north. With the help of escaped slaves fighting the South, the north outnumbered the south in battles, which eventually led to the North’s victory in the Civil War. Escaped slaves form the south also helped the north by spying on the south and reporting to Union officials who reported the information to the Union army. The purpose of this paper is to consider how escaped slaves from the south helped the north win the civil war resulting in the abolishment of slavery.

It is easy to see that slavery affected the agriculture in the United Sates, and how the labor of slaves was important to the growing crop of the Unites States, especially the South. The South was notorious for its vigorous production of tobacco, rice, sugar and cotton, as well as other world agriculture as well. Although the population of the south was a mere 30% the size of the north, in 1861 they grew more than one third of the corn, one sixth the wheat, four fifths the peas and beans and over half of the tobacco in the United Sates. That amount of production in the South was phenomenal, which made it simple to overlook the labor that they used. Despite the Emancipation Proclamation revolutionizing the country, the economy of the South remained stunted and the emancipated slaves were unable to fain economic freedom.

The American civil war was in no doubt the most crucial event in history. No other war compares or even comes close to the casualties suffered. It helped conserve and maintain the Union, drastically changed the relationship between the federal and states government, and led to slavery’s abolition. This war has also stirred up many conflicts until this day about the conflicts and causes. Among the countless and even undiscovered questions comes the most common as being why the Southern states were withdrawn and to what extent was it slavery that influenced it and also why the North did not let the Confederacy peacefully quit. Many historians from back then until now continue to discuss and dispute the reasons for the North’s victory and the South’s defeat.

Unlike the historiography summary where we had to select an event, person, or era that we felt had historical importance to the U.S. in the time period we covered in class from the 1500-1870. We will be choosing a person, event, or group that is outside of the continental United States that we feel is relevant to the U.S. in the time period. That is the reason behind me choosing my topic on slavery in that era because it is such a wide and important topic with so much relevance and importance to creating the U.S. that we live in today not only building the foundation but creating the melting pot that the U.S. prides itself on. Within the body of this essay we will discussing many important topics on slavery including the Haitian Revolution, Brazil being the last country to abolish slavery, showing the difference between women and men slaves at that time, first hand accounts of slaves, slave trades and slave markets, slavery under different colonizers, and how all this is all relevant to the U.S.

Slavery and states’ rights were the most pressing issues in the 1860 presidential election. Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln won the presidency on the basis of his promise to halt the spread of slavery (Hillstrom). However, not all African Americans lived in slavery. African Americans that lived in freed states had to deal with strict laws that limited their conduct and behavior. Children who lived in northern states were able to receive their education, convicts could serve their sentences, and people could have been buried in cemeteries but on major thing is that they all had to be segregated. African Americans that lived in the southern states lived their life in feared of violence and racism. Many endured mobs lynching, whipped and branded with hot iron. When the Reconstruction period started many Americans believed that everyone should have the same constitutional rights and experience the privileges of citizenship. Which resulted from the south to experience the Jim Crow. Jim Crow laws were a set of ideas, social norms, life ways, role-play symbols, sanctions, and devastations created after the Civil War by white politician’s intent on maintaining a system of oppressive control over African American life and economics (Mzama & Asante). Equal rights laws that had been passed during Reconstruction continued to be replaced with discriminatory Jim Crow laws across the South. Although Northerners and Republican lawmakers showed little interest in protecting the rights

American Slavery, American Freedom written by Edmund S. Morgan captures the history of Virginia while keeping focusing on the social and political elements that uplifted the way of slavery. With the focus on Virginia, the book also probes the central paradox of American history: "how a people could have developed the dedication to human liberty and dignity exhibited by the leaders of the American Revolution and at the same time have developed and maintained a system of labor that denied human liberty and dignity every hour of the day (pg.4-5)". The key to the paradox is presented in Virginia, the nation's largest slave state and primary source of the ideology and leadership. Also the source of conditions which made slavery

Ranging from a necessary evil to a positive good, the perception of slavery proved to be a polarizing issue. Many northern citizens were indifferent to the idea of slavery, while southern plantation owners relied on slavery to support their economies. After the Second Great Awakening, the abolition movement was introduced and opposition to slavery began to receive attention. Due to political ideals, acquisition of new American territories, and religious influences, opposition to slavery grew rapidly in the United States from 1776 to 1852.

As the century drew to a close new innovations were being created every day. Things such as the cotton gin were being created and as industry grew so did the reliance of railroads for transportation, thus sparking a catalyst that could aid the work force. This was especially important for those living in the United States as it was a relatively new, yet thriving country that was rapidly becoming an economic threat to countries that dominated the world for centuries. While the northern parts of the United States were quickly catching on to a blossoming new century, there was still an old custom being practiced in the south that was widely outdated, slavery. The “necessary evil” was soon becoming a thing of the past, and while the north seemed to be flourishing the south was still grounded in the outdated custom that was long overdue and kept those tied down to it in bondage. Slavery was no longer a needed institution and its insinuation not only hindered the south, but of the overall growth of the United States.

Slavery in the United Sates ended in the nineteenth century due to the Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Abraham Lincoln. Sadly, that was only the end of legal slavery. Today a modern form a slavery still continues not only in the United Sates but other countries as well. Some forms of modern slavery are human trafficking, forced marriage, and forced labor. According to Employee Relations Law Journal “slavery is where ownership is exercised over a person, where individuals are coerced into providing their services or do so under threat of a penalty.”(Whincup, Garbett, & McNicholas Spring 2014 65)

The victory over the British Empire gave the colonies their independence as a sovereign United States of America. However, there were many issues that went overlooked by the Constitution that stated all “men are created equal.” This did not pertain to African American slaves and women who struggled for freedom and rights as new citizens of the United States. Historians debate the role the Revolution played in both slavery and women’s rights. Some argue that it benefited the abolition of slavery and heightened the role of women in society while others say it muted these issues and in some cases made them worse. Yet, in actuality the truth may lie somewhere in between the argument, where both slavery and women’s rights were not at the forefront, however, the issues were at the very least brought to light.

The United States of America was founded on the principle of justice and equality for all. Unfortunately, people have come to think that blatant injustice is necessary for the strength and prosperity of the Union. This is simply not true. There is no way a great nation can operate on the basis of such an inequality that is slavery. The injustice of slavery should not even exist in our country, let alone expand to the western territories. It does not matter if the citizens support the concept of slavery it is the government’s duty to uphold moral values, and thus, slavery can not be permitted in the United States.

In order to talk about the abolition of slavery it is necessary to know the meaning of slavery and abolition. According to Dictionary.com the word “Slave means: a person entirely under the domination of some influence or person and abolition means: “the legal prohibition and ending of slavery, especially of slavery of blacks in the U.S.” Now that both words were defined we can begin. “It is said that the first African slaves were brought to the United States near the English Colony back in 1619 to Jamestown, Virginia by some Dutch traders. If we were to discuss the origins of slavery we would have to start not in the United States, but we would have to shift gears to Brazil were they were the biggest slaves traders of all times” according to History.net

In 1857, Supreme Court rules on the Dred Scott case. On March 6, the Supreme Court decided that an African-American could not be a citizen of the U.S., and thus had no rights of citizenship. The decision sharpened the national debate over slavery. In 1862, Slavery abolished in the District of Columbia. Congress abolished slavery in the District of Columbia -- an important step on the road for freedom for all African-Americans. Then in 1863, The Emancipation Proclamation. Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation took effect January 1, legally freeing slaves in areas of the South in rebellion. After this time slavery was abolished and they have as much rights as all the other races. Women to this day still don’t have as much rights as men do. Women