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Slavery In African American Slavery

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“In the Americas, slavery was based on the plantation, an agricultural enterprise that brought together large numbers of workers under the control of a single owner. This imbalance magnified the possibility of slave resistance and made it necessary to police the system rigidly. It encouraged the creation of a sharp boundary between slavery and freedom. Labor on slave plantations was far more demanding than in the household slavery common in Africa, and the death rate among slaves much higher. In the New World, slavery would come to be associated with race, a concept that drew a permanent line between whites and blacks. Unlike in Africa, slaves in the Americas who became free always carried with them in their skin color the mark of bondage …show more content…

In the early years African slaves were treated much like the indentured servants from Europe. Some even gained their freedom after a few years of service. However in the later 1600’s they were relied on more in the South as lifetime labor sources. “Slaves were most economical on large farms were labor-intensive cash crops, such as tobacco, could be grown.”
“Recognizing the growing importance of slavery, the House of Burgesses in 1705 enacted a new slave code, bringing together the scattered legislation of the previous century and adding new provisions that embedded the principle of white supremacy in the law. Slaves were property, completely subject to the will of their masters and, more generally, of the white community. They could be bought and sold, leased, fought over in court, and passed on to one’s …show more content…

In the letter, Lincoln emphasized his primary goal: “I would save the Union. …If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it; and if could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it. …What I do about slavery and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save this Union.” The Northern victory Lincoln was waiting for to make his announcement of emancipation was soon coming. On September 17, 1862 Confederate Armies lead by General Robert E. Lee are halted at Antietam in Maryland by the Union Forces lead by General George B. McClellan and “by night fall 26,000 men are dead, wounded, or missing.” The Battle of Antietam is known as the bloodiest single day battle in American history. Four days later, President Lincoln presented the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation to his Cabinet members, which was to go into effect on January 1,

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