Slavery In The 1800's

During the 19th century slavery was a very prominent and controversial issue between the north and the southern states. In the South, most people believed that slavery was a profitable way of life and if the slavery was to be abolished it would then affect their economy. On the hand the northern had different opinions about slavery and intended to stop it. The fact that the perception were different between the two led to a very difficult situation in resolving the issue.

In this short work Professor Huggins explores the position and achievement of black slaves in American society, with its dream of 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness', from which they were excluded, except as necessary instruments. Wisely, instead of cramming a narrative of 250 years of complex social and economic history into 242 pages of text, he uses his talents as an established historian of black American culture to offer the general, rather than the academic, reader an admirable blend of the higher generalization and the higher popularization.

Slavery became an established activity in America by 1600’s. The slaves were mostly to provide free and cheap labor. Apart from America, slavery was practiced in other parts of the world throughout history, and in fact it can be traced back to the time of the ancient civilization. With industrial revolution especially with the rise of sugar plantations, the slaves were used to grow sugar in the periods from 1100. This intensified between 1400 and 1500 when Portugal and Spain ventured into sugar growing in the eastern Atlantic regions. The growth of the plantations required labor, hence African slaves were bought from Africa, to provide labor.

He has shown that the “blessings in which you, this day rejoice, are not enjoyed in common” (124). With the purpose of his speech firmly defined, he now has the liberty to expound upon the true evil of slavery that lurks in the shadow of hypocrisy. He employs the satirical technique of ridicule to expose the ugly nature of enslavement with equally ugly diction. Douglass’ disapproval ranges from “hideous” to “revolting” to “an outrage”, and culminates in the assertion that slavery is the “greatest sin and shame of America” (125). A far cry from the almost reverent tone of his opening statements, Douglass led his audience from the throes of a Fourth of July celebration to an intense degradation of the freedom they so

It's hard to believe that there was a time in American history where human beings had no rights, were considered possessions, and could be treated in the most horrific ways and then be prosecuted for being pushed to the limit where they break down and do terrible thing they wouldn't naturally do just because of their skin color, ethnicity or gender. By The time of the mid-1800's slavery in the northern states seemed to have been getting better not to say the same for the south. Slavery was still a big part in the southern state; you had indentured servants and field workers. Each was having their own task given by their master. However, slaves were not just used for field work or helping out with crops or around the yard. White men would also get woman slaves to be a "wife

In chapter 3 of Douglass book, Douglass used the rhetorical device imagery to reveal and explain the cruel actions and events that took place on plantation during slavery. For example, Douglass asserted, “When he used to tie up to a joist, and whip upon her naked back till she was literally covered with blood”. With that, Douglass used this to show how the “American Promise” and “American Individual” was unjust. Although, masters were Christian they still did devilish things upon slaves and whites not allowing slaves of their freedom. In conclusion, this connect back to American Individual and American Promise because using imagery it gave

Slavery in the 1800’s on plantations was a very big deal. Slavery was common in South Carolina due to the plantation based economy. Women and men were constantly being auctioned to other slave owners to work in fields (“U.S History from 1812-1914”). Slaves were usually separated from their families due to slave auctions. Whenever they arrived to the fields they were treated inhumanly. Colonial Williamsburg Foundation stated that, “Slaves were often punished for taking breaks while working. Women slaves were also used for cooking, housework and childcare.” Not only were slaves separated from their family, they were also treated very poorly. Because of the mistreatment , it would soon lead to the Civil War.

In the early years of the 19th century, slavery was more than ever turning into a sectional concern, such that the nation had essentially become divided along regional lines. Based on economic or moral reasoning, people of the Northern states were increasingly in support of opposition to slavery, all the while Southerners became united to defend the institution of slavery. Brought on by profound changes including regional differences in the pattern of slavery in the upper and lower South, as well as the movement of abolitionism in the North, slavery in America had transformed from an issue of politics into a moral campaign during the period of 1815-1860, ultimately polarizing the North and the South to the point in which threats of a Southern disunion would mark the beginning of the Civil War in 1861 (Goldfield et. al, The American Journey, p. 281).

Since the start of the Civil War at 1816, almost 180 thousands African Americans joined the Union Army to fight for their freedom over a four year period. Especially, the runaway slaves, also known as contrabands, are said to dutifully fight with the Union army for the unity of the nation and racial equality. The general historical facts may erroneously portray the Northerners as enlightened people who are aware of human rights. Nevertheless, the picture called “How to Make the Contrabands Useful,” drawn during the war, clearly illustrates the desperate situation that contrabands had to go through in the unwelcomed Union army. Despite the common belief of the Union soldiers as heroes, the illustration reveals the racial discrimination in the

African American Slavery began during the 1600s where Europeans first used Africans as their laborers and moved the Africans to the new settlement in the colonies. Though it seemed unlawful and unconstitutional at the time it served very well to the economy, especially to the southern colonies which mass-produced cash crops such as tobacco and indigo in South Carolina and Georgia by the early 1700’s.

As we all know, slavery has been a big part in the United States history. Being treated as property, African Americans had no rights and dealt with racial discrimination upon generations. But a sign of change started during the final years of the Civil War and the Reconstruction Era when the anti-slavery President Abraham Lincoln, with Congress, debated that African American citizens had the right for individual liberty. When President Andrew Johnson took Lincoln’s place, the Thirteenth Amendment was enacted by congress in 1865 which abolished slavery. Then the Civil Rights Act of 1866 was proposed by Congress in 1865 as well, which was intended to protect African American’s civil rights, but was then vetoed by Johnson. Even though Johnson vetoed the Act again when Congress passed the bill in 1866, two thirds of the majority in each house were able to neglect the veto and thus the bill became an official law.

In the early 1800’s, the United States’ culture of slavery was fostered for a lifespan of forcible enslavement. For all Slaves, this was the normality which was callously endured. In his work, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, “An American Slave,” Frederick Douglass argues and exemplifies that his fate was destined outside of the walls of slavery.

Happy slaves did not have much of a reason to rebel for independence, so Phillips argued that most slave resistances were not so much a cry for freedom, but a form of labor negotiation between the slave and the slave owner. According to Phillips, “acquiescence was easier than correction,” (Phillips, 306). If slaves complained that their tasks were “too heavy,” then the easiest solution was to “reduce the schedule” (Phillips, 306). Phillips’s implication suggest slaves to be naturally docile and willing to work under most conditions, where in actuality most slaves lived unhappily and slave owners did not care about the slave’s working conditions.

Race — as a social construct, a pseudo-biological concept, and an identifying demographic — has undeniably been ubiquitous in the history of human otherness. In particular, the ascribing of racial identities to a group, or “racialization”, has played a vital role in the conception and development of minority groups. This phenomenon continues to shape ideas about race and ethnicity, albeit in less dramatic ways than in the antebellum South. Nevertheless, people blinded by privilege claim that they are “colorblind” or that society has moved into a “post-racial” paradigm. It is, therefore, especially relevant to examine processes of racialization that have defined and maintained the social concept of race throughout history. A prominent historical instance of racialization that influenced modern-day race identity is the objectification and commoditization of black people in Southern slave markets of the antebellum era. As a consequence of the chattel principle, which defined a slave’s existence as property of a slaveholder, Black Americans’ identities were permanently altered by those who used their positions of power to subjugate and dehumanize them, either deliberately or tacitly. Specifically through association between race and physical or mental ability, and false medicalization of issues in slave populations, slave traders, slaveholders, and others who endorsed chattel slavery perpetuated the racialization of black slaves.

Nineteenth century arguments supporting slavery are rooted in the idea that a slave is less than a man. Although Douglas by no means shares these arguments, he makes a similar claim in his discussion of the institution of slavery and the transition from slavery to freedom through the use of animal imagery and the relation between manhood and freedom. Douglass does this in order to emphasize the dehumanizing character of the institution of slavery and the restoration of humanity upon freedom, whether in body or in spirit.