The North and Slavery 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.
Shipping Industry Northern shipping ports dominated the trade of slaves and slave related merchandise right up until the Civil War. The ports of Boston, Massachusetts and Newport, Connecticut were primary
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Slaves were accepted as collateral to secure loans and could be used to pay off debts.
Support Systems The economies of the northern states were very dependent on slavery because it touched so many industries from businesses that worked at the port and in shipbuilding to lawyers, clerks, insurers, and newspapers for advertising. Almost all of the most respected and prominent families in the north were associated with slave trading. Some families owned businesses that promoted slavery at every level from shipping, financing, manufacturing slave products and trading. The DeWolf family of Bristol, Rhode Island was one of the wealthiest families of their time and earned their fortune in the business of selling people (American Documentary Inc., 2008). Families like the DeWolf and other slave traders hired artisans, financial institutions and other many other types of businesses to provide services that enabled them to conduct business.
Conclusion
Although the economic benefits of slave trading were different for the North because of their superior ports and domination of the shipping industry, it was no less of an economic stimulator than it was in the South. Slavery touched nearly the life of nearly every American. From the slave merchants, slave owners, businesses and institutions providing services to slave merchants, to the family using products produced by slaves. Slavery was big business and many people from the North
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,
The North attracted many people for religious reasons and eventually developed a profitable shipbuilding industry based on the natural forests and harbors. More people who were interested in profit inhabited the South. This lead to the importation of a lot of slaves. Women's and slaves rights differed too, the South had fewer women so they were treated better, and the North had fewer slaves so they were not treated as bad. But overall both regions profited and lived happily off their
The Black slaves were used and immune to the European diseases. They were hard workers and eventually slave trade became a major factor in the growth of the South.
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
industry depended on slaves and secondly, the South saw slavery as an industry on its
The ways and reasons in which the slave trade in colonial Charleston, South Carolina was so relevant are surprisingly interesting. The slave trade was important economically and capitalistically speaking: the economy highly depended on the slave trade and was literally dominated by it in some states. Besides the economy, other reasons of its importance were implied in politics and business: what made it really big in Charleston and in South Carolina in general was that slaves ended constituting the majority which means that slavery was focussed much more in this state than in any other one. Another reason we can mention why the slave market was so alive in South Carolina and also well present in other states and islands is because whites
The Northeast created factories to speed up the output of cotton goods and other goods. The biggest growth of factories was in the textile industry. More factories were made in order to keep up with demand. The factories also became more efficient with the use of machinery to speed up the making of cotton goods. With machinery doing much of the work, things become much faster and cost efficient for manufacturers. This dropped the prices of goods allowing for a larger profit margin. The larger profit margin allowed those who sold textiles to make more money. This also allowed many merchants a chance to sell their goods elsewhere at a lower cost as well. With the growth of machinery and the need for more people to help move and ship goods, wage workers became a popular idea among the working class. Wage workers were paid by the hour, instead of other methods of payment. Once the textiles were done they would be sent many places, but most of them were sent to the South as the slave population needed clothing as well. This allowed more slaves to be brought to the
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
Legal treatment of the slaves changed marginally from colony to colony, as indicated by the territory’s economic structure. For instance, the northern colonies had less slaves an inevitably banned slavery. In spite of the fact that slavery was abolished in 1804, they were stilled financially reliant on the institution. A considerable lot of the northerners vested in guaranteeing that slavery in the south kept on developing because they relied on the export of fish, liquor and dairy products
Economically, slavery allowed for an increased source of income that indentured servitude could not compete with. Shortly following the founding of Jamestown, indentured servants paid their way to the colonies with the promise of a designated time of labor upon arrival.
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.
The stability that slavery created in the American South between 1820 and 1860 was phenomenal. Economic stability was like no other country had ever seen, this economic stability created a global marketing network throughout many different nations, trade routes that still exist within modern America today. Slavery became the bedrock of American South livelihood; it became so valuable that it was almost seen as unimaginable to live without slavery. “It was inconceivable that European colonists could have settled and developed America without slave labour taking place,” this was according to……. The reason the south prospered and grew like it did was due to slavery. The value that slaves had to their slave owners was unquestionable. Slave owners were able to receive loans, whilst using their slaves as guarantors; these loans would then have been used in the purchasing of further land, more livestock and more slaves. It was also said that slave owners used their slaves to pay of any outstanding debt they may have had. It is clear to see the economic value that slaves possessed; they were included in the valuation of estates, for example; (Example), and this in turn became a source of tax revenue for the National as well as the local Governments, it was also
Slavery was something that became interwoven into the South’s economy considering it was a one crop economy that depended on cotton. Therefore it depended on slaves, even if only a fraction of the population actually owned slaves. Meanwhile, the northern economy was more focused on industry rather than agriculture. Their industries would purchase raw cotton and turn it into a finished good. The North and South therefore also had major differences in their economic attitudes. The dispute over slavery and the future of it led to secession, which brought a war where the Northern and Western states fought to preserve the Union and the Southern territories fought to establish their independence as a new confederation under a constitution of its own.
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.
So many people wanted slaves, especially in the South. They had more farms than they could handle on their own. Northern owners wanted them because they would have to do less work. Very few owners treated their slaves nicely and paid them to do work around the house. They would not be treated like family but would get treated a whole lot better than your “typical slave.” Those kinds of circumstances occurred more in the Northern states than the Southern states.