U.S. Slavery
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- Category: History
- Date Submitted: 10/02/2013 01:49 PM
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U.S. Slavery
I think the United States could have been half slave and half free. If the North wanted to be free and the South wanted to have slaves, I do not see why it could not have stayed that way. Slavery in America began when the first African slaves were brought to the North American colony of Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619, to aid in the production of crops.
The North and the South had different beliefs about slavery. The North thought that slavery was not right because it did not follow the Constitution in that all men were created equal. The South believed that slavery was necessary for the economy and that it had been in the world for hundreds of years and that it was a cultural belief. Slavery in the North lasted around two hundred years and it never approached the numbers of the South. Over time slavery flourished in the South and failed to do so in the North. Torn between the economic benefits of slavery and the moral and constitutional issues it raised, southerners grew more and more defensive of the institution. They argued that black people were incapable of caring for themselves and that slavery was a generous institution that kept them fed and clothed. Most northerners did not doubt that black people were inferior to whites, but they did doubt the generosity of slavery. By the end of the American Revolution, slavery had proven unprofitable in the North and was dying out. Between 1774 and 1804, all of the northern states abolished slavery. Slaves remained vital to the South though.
America’s westward expansion, along with a growing abolition movement in the North, provoked a great debate over slavery that tore the nation apart in the Civil War. The Civil War...
I think the United States could have been half slave and half free. If the North wanted to be free and the South wanted to have slaves, I do not see why it could not have stayed that way. Slavery in America began when the first African slaves were brought to the North American colony of Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619, to aid in the production of crops.
The North and the South had different beliefs about slavery. The North thought that slavery was not right because it did not follow the Constitution in that all men were created equal. The South believed that slavery was necessary for the economy and that it had been in the world for hundreds of years and that it was a cultural belief. Slavery in the North lasted around two hundred years and it never approached the numbers of the South. Over time slavery flourished in the South and failed to do so in the North. Torn between the economic benefits of slavery and the moral and constitutional issues it raised, southerners grew more and more defensive of the institution. They argued that black people were incapable of caring for themselves and that slavery was a generous institution that kept them fed and clothed. Most northerners did not doubt that black people were inferior to whites, but they did doubt the generosity of slavery. By the end of the American Revolution, slavery had proven unprofitable in the North and was dying out. Between 1774 and 1804, all of the northern states abolished slavery. Slaves remained vital to the South though.
America’s westward expansion, along with a growing abolition movement in the North, provoked a great debate over slavery that tore the nation apart in the Civil War. The Civil War...