Slavery in America
Origins of Slavery in Colonies
1619: African laborers sold to Jamestown colony; treated like English indentured servants.
Over time, colonies switch from using IS to using African slaves.
Triangular Trade
Middle Passage
Slavery in America
Rules regarding slavery gradually developedRacially basedLifelongGenerationalSeen as property with zero rights
Virginia Slave Codes
December 1662 Whereas some doubts have arisen whether children got by any Englishman upon a Negro woman should be slave or free, be it therefore enacted …that all children born in this country shall be held bond or free only according to the condition of the mother…
September 1667 Whereas some doubts have risen whether children that are slaves by birth, and by the charity and piety of their owners made partakers…of baptism, should by virtue of their baptism be made free, it is enacted…that the conferring of baptism does not alter the condition of the person as to his bondage or freedom…
October 1669 … if any slave resists his master (or other by his master's order correcting him) and by the extremity of the correction should chance to die, that his death shall not be accounted a felony, but the master (or that other person appointed by the master to punish him) be acquitted from molestation, since it cannot be presumed that premeditated malice (which alone makes murder a felony) should induce any man to destroy his own estate.
Life Under Slavery & Resistance (pg. 77-78)
What kind of work did the majority of slaves do?
What are 2 other kinds of jobs that some slaves did?
What are 3 ways that slaves maintained their African traditions?
Outside of violent rebellion, what are 2 ways slaves resisted their masters?
If you were captured and forced to live life as a slave in a strange, foreign land, what are 3 aspects of your culture you’d try to hold onto?
The Abolitionist Movement
Abolitionism- movement calling for slavery to be outlawed.
William Lloyd Garrison
Published newspaper The Liberator, which called for immediate emancipation (freeing) of slaves.
"I do not wish to think, or speak, or write, with moderation. . . . I am in earnest -- I will not equivocate -- I will not excuse -- I will not retreat a single inch -- AND I WILL BE HEARD."
Nat Turner’s Rebellion
Nat Turner- believed he was chosen by God to free his people. Following an eclipse in 1831, he led an attack on 4 plantations, killing 60 whites. Is caught and executed.
Leads Southern whites to tighten restrictions on African Americans.
Frederick Douglass
Born a slave; escaped owner in 1838; became a major leader and speaker for the abolitionist movement.
“What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer; a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license…”
Pro-Slavery vs. Abolitionism Cartoon
Read “Proslavery Defenses” on pg. 253With a partner, create a political cartoon
demonstrating the two different sides of this issue. One side, draw a cartoon based on one of the pro-slavery arguments on page 253. On the other side, draw a cartoon showing how you think an abolitionist would respond to the pro-slavery argument.
Have 3 sentences on the back explaining your cartoon.
Should be colored.While the proslavery arguments obviously represent a
racist point of view, don’t use racial slurs in your cartoon (keep it school-appropriate).
How big a percentage of white southerners do you think owned slaves?
Slavery In the South
Only about 1 in 4 families owned slaves.Less than 10,000 owned more than 50.Less than 3,000 owned more than 100.
Why were Southern whites so protective of slavery?
Reasons South supported slavery
Cotton economy; relatively cheap labor force 1840: U.S. producing more than sixty percent of the world’s cotton. Southern cotton helps fuel Northern industry and shipping. Upper South makes $ selling slaves to lower south. 1860: 10 of the richest men in the U.S. lived in Mississippi.
What happens if all the slaves are freed?
Reasons South supported slavery
Fear of free African Americans;white supremacy
“There never has yet existed in a wealthy and civilized society in which one portion of the community did not…live on the labor of the other…I fearlessly assert that the existing relations between the two races in the South forms the most solid and durable foundation upon which to rear free and stable political institutions.”
Drawbacks to Cotton/Slave-based Economy
Over-reliance on one cropDepletion of soilEconomic inequality
Emancipation: What’s in it for the South
Imagine that you’re back in the 1800s. You’re writing a general letter to the whole South, trying to persuade them that emancipating slaves/leaving the cotton based-economy behind will be beneficial to them. Explain in four sentences what changes they should make to their economy and how they can still prosper without slavery. Write this on your bell work paper.
Westward Expansion & Slavery
1819: 11 free states and 11 slave states; is Missouri going to be slave or free?
Westward Expansion & Slavery
Missouri Compromise: New states above Missouri will be free, below will be slave.
Texas
1820s: Mexico opens Texas to American settlement; offers huge land grants.
Americans quickly outnumber Mexicans.Stephen Austin wants Texan independence.
Meets with Mexican Pres. Santa Anna Imprisoned Texas revolts
Texas Revolution: 4 Questions
1. What was the Alamo and what was its significance to the Texas Revolution? Why do you think it’s so famous?
2. What happened at the Battle of San Jacinto? What was the result of the battle?
3. Sam Houston requested that the U.S. “annex” Texas. What does that mean?
4. Why were Americans divided over whether or not to annex Texas?
