Erik Low
Franco
U.S. History H.
12 September 2016
Forever Free Chapter one The Peculiar Institution A main idea in the first chapter is about the history of slavery and freedom in the U.S. Firstly slavery had existed during the American Revolution. Despite the fact that the founding fathers wanted freedom as a right to all men, then African Americans should also rightfully be allowed freedom. Foner quotes Lemuel Haynes, “ If liberty were truly ‘an innate principle” for all mankind’ Haynes wrote, ‘ even an African [had] as equally good a right to his liberty in common with Englishmen.’(Foner 9). Slavery was a problem in the United States history from the beginning. In addition to the history of slavery in the U.S. Foner also talks about not only the South 's dependence on slavery, but the North as well. Even though the Northern states abolished slavery, cotton was necessary for making textiles in the industrial factories in the North. As slavery continued so did the need for it, and the economy began to rely on it. It was especially important in the 19th century. Even with the North against slavery, the South kept it, because it was important to make money. Another important idea is the rights of a free African American, as opposed to a white man. Foner states that “No black, free or slave, could own arms, strike a white man, or employ a white servant. Any white person could apprehend any black to demand a certificate of freedom or a
The North’s economy was based on textiles, shipping, and skilled trades. Their climate was not suited for the same type of agricultural products that the South produced like cotton, sugar, rice and tobacco. Northern states like New England manufactured and shipped goods like guns, clocks, plows and axes (page 399). One reason for the South’s dependence on slavery is because their economy relied on the existence of slave labor. For example, the cultivation of cotton depended largely on slave labor, with 75% of the crop grown on plantations,
Michelle Alexander begins chapter one with what amounts to a critical race summary of how African American were put into slavery by the political elites that made a separation of black and lower class whites after the Bacon Rebellion. After the Bacon rebellion plantation owners decided to ship in slaves from Africa instead of slaves or indentured servants from Europe because they thought that the African slaves would be less likely to form an alliance with the poor whites and the white indentured servants. She
Slavery, in the South and as well in the North, played a huge role of the culture of their societies. The North had a general belief in abolitionism, while the South opposed that idea. All the economic reasons led to the cultural differences. The South viewed slavery as a necessity to their economy. The North believed it was wrong to own a human being. The South contradicted this idea with the North’s use of cheap labor in its factories.
Slavery was the focal point of the economy in the South, this inthrallment was the fuel for the agricultural South as well as the industrial North. Slaves would work the lands of their masters and bring in the raw materials produced, and these raw materials, commonly tobacco and cotton, would be shipped to the North and Europe. The North used the raw materials for the textile mills from the South because it made more economic sense because it cost less than the raw materials coming from Europe. Both regions became dependent upon each other, "the ruin of thousands and hundreds of thousands in the manufacturing states..." (Doc A) would occur if slavery was prevented from spreading by the Republicans. This claim being that if the North continued its free-soil mentality, it would fail as well due to a lack of raw materials caused by an insufficient amount of land for slaves and plantations; "a blow at slavery ia a blow at commerce and civilization..." (Doc R). The North was strongly tied economically to the products of slavery, the South was immensely impacted by slavery, it was the foundation and
industry depended on slaves and secondly, the South saw slavery as an industry on its
This development of cotton creation influenced the world. The Northern part of the United States purchased more cotton and constructed more material plants. Britain fabricated more material factories and requested a great deal more cotton. These were two major markets to which the South sold their cotton. The South was not ready to manufacture material factories in light of the fact that their capital was tied up in their slaves with the goal that they could deliver more cotton. The South likewise did not have the need or the money to develop a decent transportation framework, for example, trenches and railways.
Throughout the chapters, Foner mentions a pattern of liberty and freedom. Although it is present, it isn’t given to everyone. His main focuses are on Native Americans and African Americans. Land settlers in the seventeenth century believed that the land, now called America, was the basis of liberty. Conflicts with Native Americans brought strong feelings of superiority among the colonist. The English would end up displacing the original inhabitants more than any European empire. Soon, farther in the South the native populations were victims to slavery. The English began to launch wars against the neighboring tribes specifically for the usage of capturing and selling slaves. The founding of a new nation in time would encourage expansion. What the English desired was land; a western expansion implied
Due to slave codes making it illegal for slaves to learn to read, southern’s wanted to keep their slaves uneducated. Many people believed that African Americans were not capable of socializing with regular society and should only be kept away at the house or fields working. Whites wanted to keep power over their slaves from the time they were born. The masters did not want the slaves to find out important details about themselves for several reasons. Some of the details included their parents or birthdate. As the slave children would grow older, the masters would keep them from reading and writing.
Slavery was crucial to the Southern states as they depended on it to run their plantations,
Without Southern Cotton the North wouldn’t be able to industrialize, because cotton textile was one of the first industrially produced products and the most important commodity in the World Trade by the nineteenth century and three quarters of the world’s cotton came from American South. Although there were increasingly fewer slaves in the North as northern states outlawed slavery, cotton shipments overseas made northern merchants rich. Northern bankers financed the purchase of land for plantations. Northern insurance companies insured slaves who were considered as very valuable property.
Slavery was an essential part to the national economy in exploring the production of cotton in the South. The invention of the cotton gin helped to make cotton production easier. Cotton was a labor intensive business
In the South, it seemed like the complete opposite. They wanted and depended greatly upon slavery in many ways. Their very economic success came from slavery. In the years following the American Revolution, slavery, which had never been so prevalent or economically important in the North as in the South, became the South's "peculiar institution. " Between 1774 and 1804, all the northern states took the side attempting to abolish slavery.
The article “Nothing is truly free” written by Jon Marcus of Quartz, writes about German’s free college plan and the overall success and feeling citizens of Germany have toward it. College tuition in Germany was free until 2006, but late made free again in 2014. Although collage is free, there is still the cost of books, transportation, and service fees that can still cause students to be in debt, but not as much if they were paying tuition. Many economists wonder if the plan is suitable for economy because of the increase taxes on the rich and on people who are not using college services. From polls, the Germany population is equally split on the idea of free college. Although college is free in Germany, the demographic of students that attend
Slavery was crucial to the Southern states as they depended on it to run their plantations,
As a child, I would wake up early in the morning when everybody was still sleeping and go outside to listen to the sound of nature which was free to everybody. I experienced the world of free as a child, which mean free food, free housing, free health care, etc. but I learned fast that nothing was free. The cost of free anything came with a price, myself respect. As a result, I was determined from a young age that I will work hard and put in the time and effort to accomplish what I wanted out of life without receiving the so call free things. That was one of the hardest thing I did in life, I graduated, but my mother was not there. I started asking myself, what did I wanted from life? Why then was I created? Who am I in truth? Over