Have you ever wondered how life was for the slaves in the South? Slaves in the South suffered through many consequences. For example, they suffered through many whippings with cow skin if they didn't obey their master, they also got separated from their family mostly the fathers, so, they can be sold to a very mean slave owner. Even if they were living a miserable life on the farms, they had their own culture and they managed to even get married in the farmland or where they worked. Not only did the slaves live on the farm. Before they were sold to other slave owners, they had a free life with their family. To support this explanation, on page 433, there is a quote that is talking about a male slave who got separated from his family. It …show more content…
One of those things was slave codes. Which gave more power to the slave owners and even less power to the slaves on page 434, it says "in existence since the 1700's slave codes were written to prevent the event white southerners dreaded most-became more severe. This shows that the slaves had absolutely no access to freedom to the slave codes another way that the slaves resisted was that they faked an illness, so they can get revenge to their masters on page 437 it gives a specific explanation on how they faked their illness. It says "For the most part enslaved people resisted slavery by working slowly or pretending to be ill. Occasionally resistance took more active forms, such as setting fire to a plantation building or breaking tools. Resistance helped enslaved African Americans endure their lives by striking back at white masters". This demonstrates that slaves also got away with things these were some examples on how the slaves …show more content…
Imagine if the cotton businesses had no slaves the Southerners would have to create their own factories, for example, if they did have to create their own industry, they would have to sell all their slaves and that’s one of the last things that they wanted to do. If the South had no slaves, they would have to do everything all by themselves. According to page 242 it says " planters would have had to sell slaves to raise the money to build factories, most wealthy southerners had their wealth invested in land and slaves. Planters would have had to sell slaves to raise the money to build factories. Most wealthy southerners were unwilling to do this. They believed that an economy based on cotton and slavery would continue to prosper". This shows that Slaves and cotton were very important to the Southerners. In conclusion, slaves in the south were important people because they managed to do so much stuff with the least number of things. For example, they had their own cultures and they kept that religion going on even through the roughest times in their lives like being separated from their family, or even getting a whipping for no reason. These slaves went through so much and they are strong people who couldn't make history the way it is now and
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Show MoreI find it very interesting that the southern colonies distinguished themselves from the New England colonies so early on. I never realized that the slave trade and the plantation class developed so early in American history and it’s fascinating that these differences eventually became large factors in the outbreak of the Civil War. The South’s cash crops required vast amounts of human labor and slavery was essential for the economic health of the southern colonies. Furthermore, this gives insight to the reason pre-Civil War era southern elites were so adamant that the South remain a slave society.
The Peculiar Institution: Slavery in the Ante-Bellum South takes a profound look into slavery in America from the beginning. The author, Kenneth Stampp, tells the story after doing a lot of research of how the entire South operated with slavery and in the individual states. The author uses many examples from actual plantations and uses a lot of statistics to tell the story of the south. The author’s examples in his work explains what slavery was like, why it existed and what it done to the American people.
The psychological torture that came with being a slave was probably the most troubling aspect of slavery. As highlighted in the book, slaves were denied their basic human rights and end up being treated not as human beings but as assets. The fact that slavery involved selling and buying of slaves ensured that the fate of many African Americans was at the mercy of their masters. With little and at times no freedom, slaves had no choice on who they would marry. Upon having a family, the children of slaves became by default the property of the parents’ masters and would be sold at the will of these masters (Kolchin 44).
The treatment of slaves between the North and the South was drastically different. Slaves in the North typically lived in the same house as their master and worked by themselves, or in small groups (pg. 94). Slaves in the South tended to live in large plantations in which they were housed in plantation outbuildings (pg. 104). The difference between the North and the South in housing and working environment had a direct effect on the integration of African Americans into their new American society. When they were housed in the North with their masters and had limited exposure to other slaves, they tended to adopt the ways of their masters.
In some cases these African American slaves would be rapped, whipped and beaten regardless of the labor they provided. All of these cruel and unfair conditions caused African Americans to be discontent and begin to resist slavery in America. During the middle eighteenth century slaves began to runaway to find freedom or rebel against white slave owners. There are many ways in which African Americans showed agency and fought against slavery in the United States. However, one of the best example of African American resistance in the mid eighteen hundreds is the Nat Turner Rebellion that occurred in 1831.
No matter your stance at the time, one thing became clear: socially, politically and economically, slavery was the fabric of American success and gave birth to the Old South as we know it today. At the center of the entire institution of slavery, and central to its defense, was the economic domination it provided a young country in international markets. In the early 19th century, cotton was a popular commodity and overtook sugar as the main crop produced by slave labor. The production of cotton became the nation’s top priority; America supplied ¾ of the cotton supply to the entire world.
Slave Struggles in the American South In the American South, slaves struggled with how they were treated and how their families got split apart and broken Slaves got chased and beaten, by their owners. They were mistreated and teased for their race. Slaves weren’t aloud to go to school and learn. Physical pain was a part of daily life for slaves. They got mistreated for the work that they gave, and deserved a better life.
Having slaves took jobs away from common people, causing the southern states to fall behind the northern states. That isn’t the only thing that was hurting our economy back then because of the creation the cotton gin. This creation made the economy fail because we focused more on it than industrializing. At the time, even farmers were failing because they didn’t get an education, so they didn’t know how to take care of soil, so they didn’t know about crop rotation. Due to the fact that North Carolina was so isolated, farmers could never even sell out of state because there aren’t any
Most were left unfed and if they disobeyed orders they were whipped and cruelly beaten. However, the most of the South didn 't see slavery as inhumane. To them slavery was needed, slaves were needed to help farm, as well as make profit for their owners. Slavery was seen as a source of
The South had very little industry. It was based off of an agrarian economy (Document B). Slaves picked cotton off the plantation and the farmers sold the cotton to make money (Document A). The Southern weren't able to keep their money without slaves working for free. Slavery was vital in the South for the economy.
Southern states believed that it was their divine right to own slaves. The deep south “daily living” contributed to the expansion of slavery (204). Rothman throughout his book explains this and specifically on pg. 21 he talks about life as a slave. He explains how smuggling of slaves, kidnapping of free people, and slave coffles trekking provided way for growth of slavery and growth of antislavery opinions in the North.
In order to meet the growing demands of sugar and cotton, slavery was the best means for the Southern agricultural owners. Slavery was a cheap and fast way to produce raw materials that could be transported to England. The only expenses of the slaves were meager meals that were necessary to
the slaves played a big part in the civil war. The civil war was for four years, from 1861 to 1865. In this battle it was the union against the confederate states of america. the death count in the civil war was more that 620,000, with millions more injured. The north the union army wanted the slaves to be free and to have their own equal rights as a human being.
Slaves sang spirituals and told African folktales. This helped to keep their spirits up and still feel connected to their families. Some were forced to work and tried to escape. The underground railroad helped thousands to escape. In 1831 Nat Turner , a preacher led a slave revolt in Virginia. In 1849 Harriet Tubman escaped and became a part of the Underground Railroad.
Slaves also showed resistance in the form of religious practices in order to find comfort in the face of oppression. Violent rebellions were less common and mostly unsuccessful, but open defiance brought terror upon Southern whites. Slaves resisted the oppressive rule of their masters through aggressive acts like fighting overseers, revolts, and suicide,