The Impact Of Slavery On The South's Social System

While many have described the civil war as simply the war between the States, Bruce Levine in his book “Half Slave and Half Free: The Roots of Civil War” has put together an 80 year survey from around 1773 the pre-revolutionary era to the Civil War with well documented evidence of the social, cultural and political idealisms of our once divided nation. This book review will emphasize points on each of the book’s chapters which are put chronologically and particularly comparing the southern slave labor system to the free labor system in the north. Levine’s thesis statement on page four of his book reads as follows, “What impelled so many-rich, middling, and poor; white and black; native-born and immigrant- to risk and sacrifice so much? To answer such questions, this book reexamines the antebellum political history in the light of the broader economic, social, cultural, and ideological developments that shaped the lives of the American people”. (p. 4) Clearly the author of the book has researched numerous historical papers and has placed them in the direction his thesis will be provided with hard evidence from the founding fathers’ letters, written memos and of course the laws put into the United States constitution.

Over the course of the period of 1776-1852, the concept of the growing opposition of slavery in the United States correlated with inequality. The majority of slaves in the South were seen

the states that were in the northern section had mostly depended on trading posts and merchants. By being dependent on those two things there had been no need for the use of slaves, and they had also been armed with machinery's and jobs in the factories. They also had the skill that had been needed and had done lots of labor. Since they had been well equipped on everything making money was very easy and the north had planned to bring these types of jobs to the North. Unfortunately the south had always mostly relied on agriculture, and for having lots of work like this meant they needed lots of man power to keep it going. The north hadn't relied on slaves like the south had and the southern hadn't paid the slaves as well. Once the north became

Throughout the history of our United States, many factors have contributed to the ultimate growth and development of the magnitude of our present-day economy. None, however, could be the compared to the size of the impact attributed to the institution of slavery in the Antebellum South during the 1800’s. And although slavery is considered today to be “the most inhumane institution,” there is no denying the fact that its existence substantially benefitted the prosperity of the American economy during the time of its practice. The account of one man during this time, a slave, shows us another glimpse into the period which was so heavily influenced by slavery and another point of view from which we can interpret and hope to use in order to understand

Between the time period of 1840 and 1860, slavery played an influential and pivotal role in the development of a new southern lifestyle. In the struggle for dominance in America, slavery was the South’s stronghold and the underlying cause in much of their motives for many of the economic instigations along with the affirmative political actions. By dominating the everyday southerner’s life, slavery also dominated the economic and political aspects of life during the height of the slavery period. By the 1840’s the Southern economy had become almost entirely slave and and agriculturally dependent. Without the dependence of slaves in the south, a person was to remain landless, poverty stricken or struggling to sustain life through the means

Slavery in the south was used for taking out seed out of cotton and they were whipped for anything by their masters because Wight people thought they were greater than African Americans. I a northern reporter will ask you the reader a question will you start a business in the south or north and which machine will you use

Introduction - When I think about Slavery, I think about black people and the south, but there is a whole other side to the story of Slavery called the North.In 1860, 476,00 blacks were free. 221,000 of them lived in the North. How Free Were Free Blacks In The North. Blacks in the North were somewhat free in the years just before the Civil War.This can be shown by looking at the three areas of society: Political, Social, and Economical.

I can't believe that Southerner's had gotten slaves to get cotton. Slavery had a big impact of the cotton rise because they were treated miserable and they always had to go work and they would sometimes lie about being sick or had something to do because they were tired. Slave's had a miserable life with the time of the cotton gins. They had been whipping if they haven't done the right thing. Children would be separated from their families. They don't have much what they get from their work. They never got new cloths only once a year. And they would work hard every single day and get noting for it. And have to live in pain.

In 1830 slavery was originally sited in the South, where it lives in various structures. African Americans were imprisoned on diminutive farms, big plantations, in cities and towns, within homes, outside the fields, and in industry and transportation. Even if slavery had such a great series of faces, the fundamental concepts were always similar. Slaves were considered possessions, and they were possessions for the reason that they were black. Their rank as property was inflicted by aggression actual or threatened. People, black and white, lived jointly within these limits, and their lives as one took a lot of forms (Solomon, 1855).

Because of the dependence on cotton, social life developed differently in the South between 1830 and 1860 as compared to other regions during that time (Schultz, 2010). Cotton attributed to almost half of the nation’s exports. Therefore, plantations were plentiful in the south, whereas the north developed large cities. Southern white society consisted of yeoman farmers, rich planters, and a small group of laborers who nearly all were proponents of slavery because it kept their profit margins high (Schultz, 2010). Southern black society faced forced labor and the fear of abuse.

In contrast to the other three colonies discussed, the institution of slavery in South Carolina was initiated, legalized, and maintained for distinct reasons; the founders of the colony felt that slavery was absolutely necessary for economic prosperity and their unwavering urge to protect the institution at all costs contributed towards the severity of the slave-enforcement acts and codes. By looking at the legislation passed in South Carolina, one can grasp the extent to which slaves were legally stripped of every right imaginable, suffered barbarous treatment, and were attempted to be rendered psychologically and physically powerless--all because of the deep-seated fear of the enslaved population that was instilled within white slave owners and law-makers. In South Carolina, slavery was a horrendous business that was never questioned ethically or legally. The white settlers coming from Barbados--who had already been involved in the slave trade for years--migrated to South Carolina equipped with slaves already accustomed to difficult climate conditions (similar to South Carolina), which made them more pleasurable to slave owners expecting a strong work force. Another unique aspect to South Carolina was the overwhelming black majority in the colony for it is true that, “by 1708, less than twenty years after the decision to move from white indentured labor to black slave labor, the number of blacks in the colony exceeded whites,” (Higginbotham, 1978, pg. 152). Due to the

It is not clear to say whether Slavery was a source of social stability or tension in the South between 1820 and 1860’s, in order to establish the correct answer, we must first discuss them, the arguments that exist between the two, the statistics and figures which exist between the two, as well as the overall general opinion at that time. Both points have their own arguments in themselves, people may argue that without the slave trade, America wouldn’t be what it is today, others would argue that the slave trade, has created instability as well as tension due to the cycle of poverty, that has borne fruit in America amongst African American’s with no way out, for ancestors of old southern slaves. It also should be

Slavery was a harsh system that consisted of forcing other human beings to work in harsh conditions; as well as restrict their freedom to the point where they had none. Slavery was first introduced into Colonial America in 1619, and lasted for 245 years. During those 245 years, slavery harshly affected those who were involved in its system. The institution of slavery has profoundly influenced and shaped multiple aspects of Colonial America and the United States. Slavery influenced the 13 Colonies and the U.S. by the growth in sales for Cotton, and farming. Slavery shaped Colonial America and the United States culturally, by proving to the slaves that white people were far more superior than African Americans, religion and Cult of Domesticity. Lastly slavery shaped Colonial America and the United States politically by causing rebellions, and abolitionism.

The South, on the other hand, was highly dependent upon the institution of slavery. It was still primarily an agricultural society that needed as many laborers as possible in order for the plantation owners to make ends meet. According to historian Douglas Harper, “In 1793 came the cotton gin, which brought a 50-fold increase in the average daily output of short-staple cotton, promoted the rapid expansion of a ‘cotton kingdom’ across the Deep South, and made large-scale slavery profitable.” Because of this, the slave became an essential tool to the farmers of the south; more money became invested in slavery rather than in industrial improvements. Based upon the 1860 U.S. Census, there were almost a whopping total of four million slaves in the South alone. In fact, the more slaves an owner had, the more prestige. “Most slave owners owned fewer than five slaves, and only 12 percent of Southerners had twenty or more slaves. Many whites who had no slaves looked with envy upon the wealthy, and to a degree admired them.” This hierarchy had a clearly defined social structure which created distinctions between rich and poor whites as well as racial segregation. This agricultural society and its strict hierarchy only increased the social and racial disparities found in the southern region of the United States.

The slaves did what they could in order to free themselves. It would be crazy to believe that slaves just accepted their fate to be slaves forever without doing anything to get out of bondage; saying so states that slaves did not have natural human reactions to basic situations. No matter what skin color, anyone will hate that they cannot sit down and eat dinner, or watch their family members be sold off like cattle, or would want to be whipped as punishment for not doing a job. In any situation, a person would want to get out of those situations even if it was helping others get out of bondage and not themselves.