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Unit 2 Lesson 2 The Institution of SlaveryOBJECTIVESExplain the reasons at the time for slaveryRecall the history of slavery in America and the Slave CodesDistinguish between the different attitudes toward slavery of the North and SouthVOCABULARYemancipationSetting free from slavery.indenturedBound by a contract to serve or work for a period of time.insurrectionA rising against established authority.A Brief History of Slavery in America In?1619, a Dutch ship had arrived in Jamestown, Virginia, with twenty African slaves on board. These Africans were the first to be brought to America, and this began the institution of slavery in America. Although these twenty individuals were sold to local planters as servants, the use of Africans for temporary service was not to last long.During the?1600s?and?1700s,?indentured?servants were used throughout the colonies. Planters soon found that African slaves were more profitable than the indentured servants who were obligated to work for only a certain period of time, usually seven years. Indentured servants were those people who hired themselves out as servants in return for the payment of passage to the United States. African slaves, on the other hand, were more profitable because they were considered the permanent possessions of their master. Any children born to the slaves also became the master's property, thereby increasing his wealth.The agricultural South, with its quickly growing farms, found slaves more profitable than did the other sections of America. Nevertheless, slaves were still used in the North as personal servants and household workers. Until the early?1800s, the Quakers in Pennsylvania were the main group that had raised questions about the moral issues of slavery. By the mid-1700s, two-fifths of the South's population were African slaves, and more were being brought to America at a rate of twenty thousand per year.After the Revolutionary War, laws were passed in the Southern states that reinforced the view that a slave was property, and slave ownership should be protected by the public. Many whites believed such laws were necessary to protect them from any dangers that might occur from the presence of large numbers of blacks, and blacks should be restrained in a position of subordination to facilitate optimal discipline and efficiency.?Slave Codes of Washington, D.C.These laws, called slave codes, varied in detail from state to state but were generally restrictive and negative. The following list includes some common regulations accepted throughout the South before the Civil War.Slaves could not own personal property or real estate.Slaves were not allowed to testify in court, except against another slave or freedman.Slaves could not carry weapons and were not allowed to strike any white person, even in self-defense.Slaves were not allowed to visit the homes of white people or freedmen, nor could these people visit slaves in their "quarters."Slaves could not meet in groups unless a white person was present.Slaves could not leave their plantation without permission.Slaves could not accept, possess, or transfer any literature that might provoke a revolt.Slaves were not to be taught to read.Slaves that broke any of the laws or codes were tried in regular courts or slave tribunals. The usual punishment for an infraction was whipping; but branding, imprisonment, or execution were the punishments for more serious offenses.After the Revolutionary War, slavery began to decline in the Northeast and the South. People living in America changed their opinions toward the idea of individual liberty and freedom. Slavery was a paradox because slaves were considered human beings physically, but legally they were nothing more than a piece of property. The belief that all men are created equal was more universally shared, and a feeling of respect for human rights prevailed. Prior to the late?1700s?and?1800s, people did not accept the principles of democracy as they do today. Slavery soon proved to be impractical for the North and expensive for the planters in the South. Planters had to care for the slaves by providing clothing, food, and shelter for them, even if the crops that year were ruined or if too much was produced, and the planter could not make a profit. It was a continuous struggle for the planter to keep both plantation and slaves cared for, and at the same time, try to make a profit.right000Historians believe that slavery would have declined steadily as years went by as the expense of caring for slaves increased. However, the invention of the cotton gin in?1793?changed this situation. Eli Whitney's cotton gin was a machine that made separation of the sticky cotton seeds from the cotton fiber a much easier and faster process. Prior to this invention, less than ten pounds of cotton per day could be separated by one worker. But with the cotton gin, this amount increased to fifty pounds and later to a thousand pounds per day. But slaves were still needed to plant and harvest the cotton by hand. As cotton became the chief crop in the South and planters were able to plant more because they could process more, the need for slaves was renewed. Consequently, the demand for slaves continued to grow, and their value increased. By?1860, nearly four million slaves lived in the South.Viewpoints about SlaveryArguments for and against slavery were expressed by both sides. As the South became more dependent upon slaves, the North had come to think of slavery as unnecessary and wrong.?Emancipation?societies wanted to do away with slavery because of their interest in slaves as human beings. They wanted to support the campaign to educate the country about freeing the slaves. The most famous of these societies was the American Colonization Society, which in?1816 planned to send freed slaves to Liberia, a newly formed country in Africa. Surprisingly, up to the?1830s, more emancipation societies sprang up in the South than in the North. As the South became more dependent on slavery, however, the interest in emancipation shifted primarily to the North.Those who criticized slavery did so for several reasons. First, they declared that slavery was morally wrong. For one human to own another human was wrong. To deny a person his or her basic rights of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" was wrong. Secondly, they criticized the physical harshness of slavery.Many people who owned slaves were irritated by the criticisms of the North. They believed that to free their slaves and to hire them for wages was impractical. A planter did not have enough money to pay such wages. Planters argued that their slaves were neither mistreated nor abused; that, on the contrary, abuse would be impractical because slaves were valuable property and had to be protected. Slave owners claimed that they were missionaries in a sense because they attempted to Christianize their slaves. Finally, slave owners claimed that their slaves were better off than the immigrant factory and mine workers in the North. They said wage earners in the factories often worked from dawn to dusk at tasks beyond their strength and worked under worse conditions than those endured by the slaves. Planters also claimed that slavery did away with the problems of unemployment and were quick to point out that the manufacturer had no responsibility for the workers once they were laid off, but slave owners were permanently responsible for the slaves.However, the claims of the slave owners about the treatment and working conditions of their slaves did not always match the reality. While it is true that many plantation owners treated their slaves fairly and provided adequate food, clothing, and shelter, it is also true that there were slave owners who treated their slaves as nothing more than human livestock. Floggings were common, and slave living quarters were often little more than poorly insulated shacks with dirt floors and only a pile of rags or straw for a bed. Slave auctions were brutal sights. The open selling of human flesh under the gavel, sometimes alongside cattle and horses, was a revolting practice. Families were separated, and often the more unfortunate slaves were sold "down the river" to toil as field-gang laborers in the lower Mississippi Valley where working conditions were incredibly harsh.Not all Southerners owned slaves. Only about twenty-five percent had slaves at all, and only five percent of these had fifty or more slaves. Obviously the slave owners supported slavery, but many non-slave holders in the South were supportive of slavery as well. Planters defended slavery on the grounds that slave labor was needed for the economic survival of the South.Slavery proved to be detrimental to the South, however. Fearful of slave?insurrections?and ever-conscious that slavery was being condemned throughout the world, Southerners lived on the defensive. To justify themselves, they stated that the agricultural society that produced raw materials could not survive without slave labor. Some slave owners began releasing their slaves, giving them ninety days to leave the area. Many slaves traveled east to the coastal cities. Others moved west, hoping to find land and opportunity. The number of free blacks was increasing faster than the number of slaves. The lawmakers of some states worried that free blacks were encouraging slaves to run away from their owners, so they passed laws prohibiting free blacks from entering their states from neighboring states. ................
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