Experiences Of Slaves During The American Civil War

Besides all the other growing issues from 1700-1800 in American History, there was one rising above all. The enslavement of the African people. While there was much debate about freedom, abolition, and all other things some African-Americans managed to find theirs. From 1775 to 1830 many African-Americans gained freedom by escaping to regions in which slavery wasn’t practiced or by purchasing it if granted while all at the same time the expansion of slavery greatly expanded in the American south. Free or enslaved, African-American were under constant oppression and were driven to take action towards the challenges they were faced with. While some looked to religion to escape these hardships, others looked to violence in which they believed

The underlying cause for the Civil War was the North’s realization with laws and books about the South’s inhumane treatment of slaves.

lives would have been saved and blood need not have been shed in the name

Slavery had a major impact on society in the 1800’s. Since the slaves were different in color, intellect, and origin, many individuals such as John C. Calhoun and George Fitzhugh, had no problem with treating blacks like property. Blacks were lower in rank, and had far from the amount of rights white men had. Buying, selling, and using them for labor was no big deal to these people. Paternalism, the parent-child relationship many owners adopted, physical exploitation and social control, the public humiliation of slaves, took a toll on the execution of slavery.

” For many, the economic structure of slavery still held strong and it established status in British America. Slavery had begun in the later half of the 17th century and in many ways, it had made Atlantic commerce and overseas settlement possible. Thousands of Africans had been shipped overseas to work in the fields of staple crops. In the years leading up to the American Revolution, high concentrations of slaves remained in the southern colonies where they continued to labour on cotton and tobacco plantations. Of the thirteen colonies, Georgia, Virginia and the Carolinas held the highest concentrations of slaves. In 1775, it is estimated that of the 2.5 million people living in the thirteen colonies, 500,000 were blacks. The vast majority of these blacks were slaves, with many labouring for their masters under harsh conditions. Although their experiences were difficult, blacks rarely revolted or staged rebellions against their masters. This has often been associated with the plantation system, and the role it played in severing blacks’ ties to one another. As highlighted by historian Silvia Frey, “The North American plantation organization, with the dominating presence of the master, inhibited the development of the tribal cohesiveness that characterized the islands’ plantation organization and produced widespread violence against whites by black guerrilla bands.” However, despite the absence of any significant

Slave Life and Challenges The 1700s had many important events for the United States of America. America had gained its independence, but African American slaves had not. Population of slaves had grown to half a million, and were owned by many owners in the South (Meltzer 39). Every part of slaves’ life from where they lived, to what they wore was a decision made by their owners.

Throughout the 1800s in America, slavery was a controversy between the north and the south. A Slave was one who was the property of another human being under law and was forced to obey them. The North felt that slavery was unfair and inhumane, whereas in the South, they felt as though slavery was crucial to their success. African American slaves were not allowed many rights: they were not allowed to testify in court against a white person, could not receive an education, or even sign contracts. Due to the brutality they faced each day, many slaves escaped with hopes to find freedom. The Underground Railroad, a system utilized by many runaway slaves to help them escape from the South to Canada, played a large role in the downfall of slavery and eventual abolition in the United States following the Civil War.

The American Civil War is also referred to as the war between the Northern and Southern States or the Rebellion War that began in 1861. Slavery was regarded as the main cause leading to the start of the war, as a high level of discrimination against the African Americans existed upon their arrival in the United States. The African Americans were either sold and traded by the elders in their villages or plucked from their native countries for a sometimes deadly transatlantic journey to serve wealthy southern families. They were not viewed as peers but as laborers and farmers. Americans who were rich and owned large plantations took the African Americans as their slaves. They suffered as if they were not worthy of compensation including working without pay and the standard consequence was lynching. During the period, they fought for their freedom, which was not given to them until the Civil War was fought. Consequently, they aligned themselves with the white men who were also soldiers in fighting for their freedom.

Slavery in the American South Life for slaves in the American South was not easy. Slaves endured the families being split up and difficult work environments. Family life wasn’t easy for slaves because they often couldn’t choose where they lived. In the text about Harriet Tubman it reads,’’Her owner sold three of her sisters to a faraway planation.’’ Another example is when Frederick Douglass was taken away from his grandmother and told he had to live with the plantation owner.

When black slavery first started in the United States, all the slaves were being imported from Africa. Slowly overtime slaves were being born in the United States instead of solely being brought from Africa. The birth rate of the slaves was not high enough to depend on the reproduction of slaves in the south though. This resulted in a combination of both American-born slaves and African-born slaves on plantations. Eventually, there was a division between the two groups of slaves in the Southern part of the United States.

Gender roles have a been a large part of all societies across the world. The book "To Kill A Mocking Bird" written by Harper Lee has a lot of good demonstrations of genders roles of 1930s America. " To Kill a Mocking Bird" is an amazing representation of gender roles because it shows from the perspective of Scout a young girl being raised by her father and her brother. Having a character who sees both perspectives of gender roles shows that it is a good represtentitive of it. The author Harper Lee also shows how she was affected by gender roles by her writing.

The civil war, reconstruction, and Redemption era does serve as a unique moment in American history because it shaped what kind of nation US would become. All wars are the result of social change, talks of revolution, institution of slavery and connection to power and liberation. There are many reasons that attribute to the institution of slavery becoming a big determinant in the Civil War and in American History. A consistent reason is that the states have always been dependent upon themselves and relying on their own kind to create a sense of power. The institution of slavery gave white men a sense of power in which was stripped away from them by the government. They no longer could control and have an opinion in state nor federal government decisions. Throughout all these eras of history the enslaves Africans were never seen as equal, therefore were never treated as equal. They were always seen as the black labor workers. The focus point of this paper will be the institution of slavery. After the civil war and reconstruction, America changed drastically in defining slavery and what would become of the institution.

Britain’s colonies in North America went from a society with slaves to a slave society. Owning slaves became a key part of everyday life for many plantation owners by the end of the period. Throughout the period, the focus shifted from indentured servitude to slavery because slaves proved to be more profitable. Slavery in the colonies stayed so popular because it was based on racial, social, and economic values. It changed the way that plantation owners did things, and they wanted to keep their own profits

Slavery has a lot of effects on African Americans today. History of slavery is marked for civil rights. Indeed, slavery began with civilization. With farming’s development, war could be taken as slavery. Slavery that lives in Western go back 10,000 years to Mesopotamia. Today, most of them move to Iraq, where a male slave had to focus on cultivation. Female slaves were as sexual services for white people also their masters at that time, having freedom only when their masters died.

The goal of the civil war was never originally to free slaves but slaves became a large part of the war. African American slaves overcame many challenges to finally receive their freedom. Many African Americans endured the chance to fight for the union and that immensely increased the man power of the union.