Term Paper on "Chattel Slavery and Race Relations"

Term Paper 6 pages (1838 words) Sources: 0

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Slavery and Race Relations

Slavery was inconsistent with the ideals incorporated in the Constitution and yet it was allowed by the founding fathers because they wanted to preserve the Union at all costs. We must here understand that it is absolutely impossible for a country or any institution to operate with conflicting values. Slavery was an abominable practice, which should have been abolished immediately after the formation of United States Constitution because it clashed with the ideals of freedom and liberty for all. However while North had some reasons to oppose it, South had numerous others to maintain this oppressive institution.

It is important to bear in mind the arguments that were given against and in favor of slave trade and this will help us see why it took so long and so much opposition to get rid of this practice. North would argue against slavery on the basis of civil rights and purely on humane grounds. They felt that since slavery violated the rights of black community in the country, it should be abolished completely. North had another reason not to support slavery. Since they had become more industrialized part of the country compared to South, they had no reason to favor slavery.. instead they were that if slaves were freed, they would come to industrial parts of the country and thus the demand for more manpower would be adequately met. This was the time when fugitive slave law was passed which further worsened the situation of slaves in the United States. "Article IV, Section 2, stipulated that any "person held to service or labor in one state" who escaped to another "shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor shall be due
Continue scrolling to

download full paper
." (McPherson, 78)

This law was staunchly opposed by anti-slavery sections of the North and many slaves fled to Canada to avoid recapture. North had no reason to support slavery, they did not agree with economic reasons given by the South and then did everything in their power to protests against fugitive slave law. "...blacks and their white allies had done everything they could to nullify the law by flight and resistance. The quick seizures of blacks who had long lived in the North sent a wave of panic through northern Negro communities. Many black people fled to Canada -- an estimated three thousand in the last three months of 1850 alone. During the 1850s the Negro population of Ontario doubled to eleven thousand." (McPherson, 91)

South's was basically an agrarian economy. Farms and plantation were the major source of income. Before the industrial age, South was powerful and its economy was roaring. But this did not continue for long after the American Revolution. People started pouring into the Northern states from all parts of the world because North had become a rapidly developing industrialized economy. Not only did North's manpower increased, its economy also picked up so quickly that South was left far behind. But South needed a steady growth in its economy more than other part, that was because it had a huge army of slaves which was to be provided with food and shelter.

Around this time, South experienced a major boom in cotton trade and this was obviously attributed to slaves who worked on plantations in the South. Now South had reason to protect slave trade while the North was staunchly opposing it. they felt that more hands were needed on plantations and since the cotton boom, it was even more important to allow slave trade in order to increase economic contributions of the South. "Our Cotton is the most wonderful talisman in the world," declared a planter in 1853. "By its power we are transmuting whatever we choose into whatever we want." (McPherson, 100)

For this reason slavery and its protection became important objectives of the Southern elite. Some people openly wrote in favor of slavery while others used subtler tactics to advocate slave trade in the South. In 1857, politicians from the South firmly declared that the best way to keep economy in shape was to reopen African slave trade. (102) in 1856, a delegation was sent to commercial convention which openly spoke in favor of slave trade purely on economic grounds. They declared, "we are entitled to demand the opening of this trade from an industrial, political, and constitutional consideration.... With cheap negroes we could set the hostile legislation of Congress at defiance." (102)

Slavery was declared right and it was believed that the best way to support the waning economy of South was by reopening slave trade. South needed a large army of slaves to increase cotton production and at the same time provide enough food to all. This was possible only if there were no obstacles in their way and if supply of slaves continued without any obstruction from the North. Several attempts were made by the South to protect the institution of slavery and many rich politicians advocated reopening of this trade in the Congress. "For some defenders of slavery, logical consistency required a defense of the slave trade as well. "Slavery is right," said a delegate to the 1858 convention, "and being right there can be no wrong in the natural means of its formation." Or as William L. Yancey put it: "If it is right to buy slaves in Virginia and carry them to New Orleans, why is it not right to buy them in Africa and carry them there?" (McPherson, 102)

Abraham Lincoln's war initiative against the South that later came to be called the Civil War was actually more an effort to keep the 13 states united and less to abolish slavery. To thwart the plans of secession, Lincoln decided to use military force against the South that could also achieve the lofty objective of abolition of slavery. But it must be understood the unity of the Federation was more important a reason to Lincoln and Northern Army for going to war than anything else. Horace Greeley's open letter to Lincoln and Lincoln's reply to the same are evidence of the fact that emancipation was less important than unity of federation at the time of the Civil war. "In his reply, Lincoln stated his belief that the paramount object of the war was restoration of the Union. In August 1862, emancipation was not yet central to the northern war effort. But as Greeley's letter suggests, emancipation was becoming important to a growing number of northerners. Lincoln's reply indicated his willingness to back emancipation if it promised to aid the war effort." (Civil war and slavery)

The results of 1860 Presidential election triggered the secession movement whereby seven states of Cotton Bell South (South Carolina, Mississippi, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Alabama) decided to withdraw from the Union. These secessionists formed the Confederate States of America thus openly opposing the Union and its powers. However secession attempt was successfully thwarted by Lincoln administration that refused to accept secession, "believing it to be an imperative duty upon the incoming Executive, to prevent, if possible, the consummation of such attempt to destroy the Federal Union." (Lincoln, Message to Special Session)

In his inaugural address, Lincoln firmly stood against secessionist movement saying, "No state upon its mere motion can lawfully get out of the Union...acts of violence... against the authority of the United States, are insurrectionary, or revolutionary according to circumstances." Secession played an important role in triggering the Civil war as the division between North and South became more pronounced with the movement and its failure.

LETTER on the ISSUE of SLAVERY:

My research on the topic of slavery in the United States has resulted in some startling revelations. While most of us have always believed that slavery was just an abominable practice of the South and was simply a form of discrimination, I found out that those were simply not the only reasons why slavery had survived for so long in the U.S. A country that was built on the principles of freedom, equality and justice simply turned a blind eye to the ugly institution of slavery because abolition of slavery was not in the economic interest of the country. Unfortunate and ugly as it may sound, the truth of the matter is that North was as responsible for survival of slavery in the South as the South itself. This is because the Congressmen and important political figures in the country knew emancipation would result in major economic collapse in the South and thus the hues and cries of innocent black people fell on deaf ears.

Regardless of our tremendous amount of respect for President Lincoln, documents reveal that emancipation was never his sole purpose for going on war against the South. In all honesty, it was probably not even one of the reasons why Lincoln launched a military attack on the South. More important than emancipation of chained human beings was keeping the federation united and this is the whole truth. I accept that reality bites and… READ MORE

Quoted Instructions for "Chattel Slavery and Race Relations" Assignment:

issue related to the 19th century and address the related questions. your research will open up addtitonal lines of inquiry, so the following questions are meant only as a guide

1. chattel slavery and race rleations

- discuss the orgins of racism in the 19th century

-why was slavery readily embraced by southern society

-what were the conditions necessary for its establishment?

-what does your research reveal regarding race and stereotyping?

-how was the issue of race ressolved or not resolved in the civil war?

2. in addition to the above research essay, i must also write a two page persuasive letter or speech written in the voice of the individual from reaserch topic

l Peter Kolchin. American slavery 1619-1877. Canada, 1995

l Robert Louis Paquette and Louis A. Ferleger. Slavery, Secession, And Southern History. Virginia, 2000

l Clement Eaton. The Freedom Of Thought Struggle In The Old South. NY: 49 East 33rd street, 1964

l Donald R. Wright. Slavery.



l The Hutchinson Dictionary of World History. Slavery. 01-01-2002.



l The Hutchinson Inside American History. The Civil War and Slavery. 09-22-2003



Here is teh source for this order:

i ordered history research paper. i want to add these resources for my

papers.

contents

lThe coast in human suffering and lives during 19th century slavery.

lHow could people who believe in freedom and the fundamental rights of man

also engage in the enslavement of their fellow human beings?

lwhat relationship between slavery and civil war? What is the result for

civil war related to racism?

lHow to change the view of slavery compare to 18th century and 19th

century?

lWhat are differences between Southern and Northern society? How it effects

to slavery society?

lHow could blacks get freedom from slavery and what are the reasons for

that?

lHow can slaves achieved their slave resistance and what is the result

during 19th century.

lHow slavery effects to 19th century economy?

reosurce information

The Civil War and Slavery

Abraham Lincoln was often criticized for his conduct of the Union war

effort. Horace Greeley, an ardent reformer and editor of The New York

Tribune , took Lincoln to task for his failure to act on the emancipation

of the South's slaves. On 20 August 1862, Greeley published an open letter

titled 'The Prayer of Twenty Millions' in his paper. In the letter, Greeley

accused Lincoln of showing too much consideration for slaveholders and the

institution of slavery. As an abolitionist, Greeley believed that Lincoln

ought to commit the Union to emancipating the millions held in bondage in

the South. Lincoln responded to Greeley's open letter two days later, on 22

August. In his reply, Lincoln stated his belief that the paramount object

of the war was restoration of the Union. In August 1862, emancipation was

not yet central to the northern war effort. But as Greeley's letter

suggests, emancipation was becoming important to a growing number of

northerners. Lincoln's reply indicated his willingness to back emancipation

if it promised to aid the war effort. Northern victory at the battle of

Antietam in Maryland on 17 September 1862 permitted Lincoln to issue a

preliminary Emancipation Proclamation on 22 September. On 1 January 1863,

Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed all slaves in

Confederate-held territories and made the abolition of slavery a Union war

aim. Reproduced here is 'The Prayer of Twenty Millions', a petition printed

in The New York Tribune on 22 August 1862 calling on President Lincoln to

undertake emancipation, and Lincoln's reply of the same date to Greeley's

'Prayer'.

THE PRAYER OF TWENTY MILLIONS.

To ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the U. States:

DEAR SIR: I do not intrude to tell you - for you must know already - that a

great proportion of those who triumphed in your election, and of all who

desire the unqualified suppression of the Rebellion now desolating our

country, are sorely disappointed and deeply pained by the policy you seem

to be pursuing with regard to the slaves of Rebels. I write only to set

succinctly and unmistakably before you what we require, what we think we

have a right to expect, and of what we complain.

I. We require of you, as the first servant of the Republic, charged

especially and preeminently with this duty, that you EXECUTE THE LAWS. Most

emphatically do we demand that such laws as have been recently enacted,

which therefore may fairly be presumed to embody the present will and to be

dictated by the present needs of the Republic, and which, after due

consideration have received your personal sanction, shall by you be carried

into full effect, and that you publicly and decisively instruct your

subordinates that such laws exist, that they are binding on all

functionaries and citizens, and that they are to be obeyed to the letter.

II. We think you are strangely and disastrously remise in the discharge of

your official and imperative duty with regard to the emancipating

provisions of the new Confiscation Act. Those provisions were designed to

fight Slavery with Liberty. They prescribe that men loyal to the Union, and

willing to shed their blood in her behalf, shall no longer be held, with

the Nation's consent, in bondage to persistent, malignant traitors, who for

twenty years have been plotting and for sixteen months have been fighting

to divide and destroy our country. Why these traitors should be treated

with tenderness by you, to the prejudice of the dearest rights of loyal

men, we cannot conceive.

III. We think you are unduly influenced by the counsels, the

representations, the menaces, of certain fossil politicians hailing from

the Border Slave States. Knowing well that the heartily, unconditionally

loyal portion of the White citizens of those States do not expect nor

desire that Slavery shall be upheld to the prejudice of the Union - (for

the truth of which we appeal not only to every Republican residing in those

States, but to such eminent loyalists as H. Winter Davis, Parson Brownlow,

the Union Central Committee of Baltimore, and to The Nashville Union ) - we

ask you to consider that Slavery is everywhere the inciting cause and

sustaining base of treason: the most slaveholding sections of Maryland and

Delaware being this day, though under the Union flag, in full sympathy with

the Rebellion, while the Free-Labor portions of Tennessee and of Texas,

though writhing under the bloody heel of Treason, are unconquerably loyal

to the Union. So emphatically is this the case, that a most intelligent

Union banker of Baltimore recently avowed his confident belief that a

majority of the present Legislature of Maryland, though elected as and

still professing to be Unionists, are at heart desirous of the triumph of

the Jeff. ***** conspiracy; and when asked how they could be won back to

loyalty, replied - 'Only by the complete Abolition of Slavery'. It seems to

us the most obvious truth, that whatever strengthens or fortifies Slavery

in the Border States strengthens also Treason, and drives home the wedge

intended to divide the Union. Had you from the first refused to recognize

in those States, as here, any other than unconditional loyalty - that which

stands for the Union, whatever may become of Slavery - those States would

have been, and would be, far more helpful and less troublesome to the

defenders of the Union than they have been, or now are.

IV. We think timid counsels in such a crisis calculated to prove perilous,

and probably disastrous. It is the duty of a Government so wantonly,

wickedly assailed by Rebellion as ours has been to oppose force to force in

a defiant, dauntless *****. It cannot afford to temporize with traitors

nor with semi-traitors. It must not bribe them to behave themselves, nor

make them fair promises in the hope of disarming their causeless hostility.

Representing a brave and high-spirited people, it can afford to forfeit

anything else better than its own self-respect, or their admiring

confidence. For our Government even to seek, after war has been made on it,

to dispel the affected apprehensions of armed traitors that their cherished

privileges may be assailed by it, is to invite insult and encourage hopes

of its own downfall. The rush to arms of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, is the

true answer at once to the Rebel raids of John Morgan and the traitorous

sophistries of Beriah Magoffin.

V. We complain that the Union cause has suffered, and is now suffering

immensely, from mistaken deference to Rebel Slavery. Had you, Sir, in your

Inaugural Address, unmistakably given notice that, in case the Rebellion

already commenced were persisted in, and your efforts to preserve the Union

and enforce the laws should be resisted by armed force, you would recognize

no loyal persons as rightfully held in Slavery by a traitor , we believe

the Rebellion would therein have received a staggering if not fatal blow.

At that moment, according to the returns of the most recent elections, the

Unionists were a large majority of the voters of the Slave States. But they

were composed in good part of the aged, the feeble, the wealthy, the timid

- the young, the reckless, the aspiring, the adventurous, had already been

largely lured by the gamblers and negro-traders, the politicians by trade

and the conspirators by instinct, into the toils of Treason. Had you then

proclaimed that Rebellion would strike the shackles form the slaves of

every traitor, the wealthy and the cautious would have been supplied with a

powerful inducement to remain loyal. As it was, every coward in the South

soon became a traitor from fear; for Loyalty was perilous, while Treason

seemed comparatively safe. Hence the boasted unanimity of the South - a

unanimity based on Rebel terrorism and the fact that immunity and safety

were found on that side, danger and probable death on ours. The Rebels from

the first have been eager to confiscate, imprison, scourge and kill; we

have fought wolves with the devices of sheep. The result is just what might

have been expected. Tens of thousands are fighting in the Rebel ranks

to-day whose original bias and natural leanings would have led them into

ours.

VI. We complain that the Confiscation Act which you approved is habitually

disregarded by your Generals, and that no word of rebuke for them from you

has yet reached the public ear. Fremont's Proclamation and Hunter's Order

favoring Emancipation were promptly annulled by you; while Halleck's No. 3,

forbidding fugitives from Slavery to Rebels to come within his lines - an

order as unmilitary as inhuman, and which received the hearty approbation

of every traitor in America - with scores of like tendency, have never

provoked even your remonstrance. We complain that the officers of your

Armies have habitually repelled rather than invited the approach of slaves

who would have gladly taken the risks of escaping from their Rebel masters

to our camps, bringing intelligence often of inestimable value to the Union

cause. We complain that those who have thus escaped to us, avowing a

willingness to do for us whatever might be required, have been brutally and

madly repulsed, and often surrendered to be scourged, maimed and tortured

by the ruffian traitors, who pretend to own them. We complain that a large

proportion of our regular Army Officers, with many of the Volunteers,

evince far more solicitude to uphold Slavery than to put down the

Rebellion. And finally, we complain that you, Mr. President, elected as a

Republican, knowing well what an abomination Slavery is, and how

emphatically it is the core and essence of this atrocious Rebellion, seem

never to interfere with these atrocities, and never give a direction to

your Military subordinates, which does not appear to have been conceived in

the interest of Slavery rather than of Freedom.

VII. Let me call your attention to the recent tragedy in New-Orleans,

whereof the facts are obtained entirely through Pro-Slavery channels. A

considerable body of resolute, able-bodied men, held in Slavery by two

Rebel sugar-planters in defiance of the Confiscation Act which you have

approved, left plantations thirty miles distant and made their way to the

great mart of the South-West, which they knew to be in the undisputed

possession of the Union forces. They made their way safely and quietly

through thirty miles of Rebel territory, expecting to find freedom under

the protection of our flag. Whether they had or had not heard of the

passage of the Confiscation Act, they reasoned logically that we could not

kill them for deserting the service of their lifelong oppressors, who had

through treason become our implacable enemies. They came to us for liberty

and protection, for which they were willing to render their best service:

they met with hostility, captivity, and murder. The barking of the base

cure of Slavery in this quarter deceives no one - not even themselves. They

say, indeed, that the negroes had no right to appear in New-Orleans armed

(with their implements of daily labor in the cane-field); but no one doubts

that they would gladly have laid these down if assured that they should be

free. They were set upon and maimed, captured and killed, because they

sought the benefit of that act of Congress which they may not specifically

have heard of, but which was none the less the law of the land - which they

had a clear right to the benefit of - which it was somebody's duty to

publish far and wide, in order that so many as possible should be impelled

to desist from serving Rebels and the Rebellion and come over to the side

of the Union. They sought their liberty in strict accordance with the law

of the land - they were butchered or reenslaved for so doing by the help of

Union soldiers enlisted to fight against Slaveholding Treason. It was

somebody's fault that they were so murdered - if others shall hereafter

suffer in like manner, in default of explicit and public direction to your

generals that they are to recognize and obey the Confiscation Act, the

world will lay the blame on you . Whether you will choose to hear it

through future History and at the bar of God, I will not judge. I can only

hope.

VIII. On the face of this wide earth, Mr. President, there is not one

disinterested, determined, intelligent champion of the Union cause who does

not feel that all attempts to put down the Rebellion and at the same time

uphold its inciting cause are preposterous and futile - that the Rebellion,

if crushed out tomorrow, would be renewed within a year if Slavery were

left in full vigor - that Army officers who remain to this day devoted to

Slavery can at best be but half-way loyal to the Union - and that every

hour of deference to Slavery is an hour of added and deepened peril to the

Union. I appeal to the testimony of your Embassadors in Europe. It is

freely at your service, not at mine. Ask them to tell you candidly whether

the seeming subserviency of your policy to the slaveholding,

slavery-upholding interest, is not the perplexity, the despair of statesmen

of all parties, and be admonished by the general answer!

IX. I close as I began with the statement that what an immense majority of

the Loyal Millions of your countrymen require of you is a frank, declared,

unqualified, upgrudging execution of the laws of the land, more especially

of the Confiscation Act. That Act gives freedom to the slaves of Rebels

coming within our lines, or whom those lines may at any time inclose - we

ask you to render it due obedience by publicly requiring all your

subordinates to recognize and obey it. The Rebels are everywhere using the

late anti-negro riots in the North, as they have long used your officers'

treatment of negroes in the South, to convince the slaves that they have

nothing to hope from a Union success - that we mean in that case to sell

them into a bitterer bondage to defray the cost of the war. Let them

impress this as a truth on the great mass of their ignorant and credulous

bondmen, and the Union will never be restored - never. We cannot conquer

Ten Millions of People united in solid phalanx against us, powerfully aided

by Northern sympathizers and European allies. We must have scouts, guides,

spies, cooks, teamsters, diggers and choppers from the Blacks of the South,

whether we allow them to fight for us or not, or we shall be baffled and

repelled. As one of the millions who would gladly have avoided this

struggle at any sacrifice but that of Principle and Honor, but who now feel

that the triumph of the Union is indispensable not only to the existence of

our country, but to the well-being of mankind, I entreat you to render a

hearty and unequivocal obedience to the law of the land.

Yours,

HORACE GREELEY.

New York, August 19, 1862

A Petition to the President.

To the Editor of The N. Y. Tribune.

SIR: Many of your regular subscribers will be much obliged if you will

publish the following petition, and request that all lovers of Liberty and

Union cut it out and circulate it for names. Send in the names . Slavery is

wielding all her weapons to influence the President. Yours truly, H. R.

New-York, Aug. 21, 1862.

To His Excellency, the President of the United States.

SIR: We the undersigned, citizens of the United States, believing that the

hour has come in which all men should plainly avow their sentiments and do

all in their power to put an end to the present iniquitous rebellion,

respectfully represent:

That, in our opinion, the preservation of the Union and the rights of the

great majority of our law-abiding citizens are paramount to the rights of

the minority, and to any and all local laws or institutions.

That the present rebellion was conceived, and is now being prosecuted, for

the purpose not only of destroying the best Government ever established but

to extend and perpetuate a local and barbarous institution.

That it is the duty of the Government to use every exertion, employ every

available agency, and deal blows that shall not only destroy the

superstructure, but sap the foundations of the rebellion.

That no truly loyal citizen will prefer Slavery, polygamy, or any other

local institution, to the salvation of our country.

That, if it becomes necessary, in order to preserve the Union, to take the

property or trespass upon the rights of loyal citizens, the people of the

North will cheerfully bear their share of the burden.

That there has been within a few months a radical change of opinion on the

part of many of your petitioners, and among the citizens of the Free

States, on the subject of American Slavery, and a growing conviction of the

truth of the sentiments once uttered by you, that 'Slavery and oppression

must cease, or American liberty must perish'. Believing this your

petitioners would respectfully urge you to adopt a policy in accordance

therewith, and thus speedily and finally end the present wicked rebellion.

TO: HORACE GREELEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON,

August 22, 1862.

HON. HORACE GREELEY.

DEAR SIR: - I have just read yours of the 19th, addressed to myself through

the New York Tribune . If there be in it any statements or assumptions of

fact which I may know to be erroneous, I do not now and here controvert

them. If there be in it any inferences which I may believe to be falsely

drawn, I do not now and here argue against them. If there be perceptible in

it an impatient and dictatorial tone, I waive it in deference to an old

friend, whose heart I have always supposed to be right.

As to the policy I 'seem to be pursuing', as you say, I have not meant to

leave any one in doubt.

I would save the Union. I would save it the shortest way under the

Constitution. The sooner the national authority can be restored, the nearer

the Union will be, 'the Union as it was'. If there be those who would not

save the Union unless they could at the same time save slavery, I do not

agree with them. If there be those who would not save the Union unless they

could at the same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them. My

paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either

to save or destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any

slave, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I

would do it; and if I could do it by freeing some and leaving others alone,

I would also do that. What I do about slavery and the colored race, I do

because I believe it helps to save this Union; and what I forbear, I

forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union. I shall

do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts the cause, and I

shall do more whenever I shall believe doing more will help the cause. I

shall try to correct errors when shown to be errors; and I shall adopt new

views so fast as they shall appear to be true views. I have here stated my

purpose according to my view of official duty, and I intend no modification

of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men, everywhere, could be free.

Yours,

A. LINCOLN

Horace Greeley and Abraham Lincoln

1862

2. slavey

slavery;

The Hutchinson Dictionary of World History 01-01-2002

slavery

The enforced servitude of one person (a slave) to another or one group to

another. A slave has no personal rights and is considered the property of

another person through birth, purchase, or capture. Slavery goes back to

prehistoric times; it flourished in classical times, but declined in Europe

after the fall of the Roman Empire. During the imperialistic eras of Spain,

Portugal, and Britain in the 16th to 18th centuries, and in the American

South in the 17th to 19th centuries, slavery became a mainstay of an

agricultural labour-intensive economy, with millions of Africans sold to

work on plantations in North and South America. Millions more died during

transportation, but the profits from this trade were enormous. Slavery was

abolished in the British Empire in 1833 and in the USA at the end of the

Civil War (1863–65); however, it continues illegally in some countries

today.

Chattel slavery involves outright ownership of the slave by a master, but

there are forms of partial slavery where an individual is tied to the land,

or to another person, by legal obligations, as in serfdom or indentured

labour. Historically there have been two basic types of chattel slave.

Domestic or house slaves performed menial household duties for their

masters and were often counted as a measure of status. Productive or field

slaves, who usually held a lower status, worked to produce marketable

goods; the African-American slaves who laboured on the American plantations

of the 17th–19th century are an example.

As a social and economic institution, slavery originated in the times when

humans adopted sedentary farming methods of subsistence rather than more

mobile forms of hunting and gathering. It was known in Shang-dynasty China

(c. 1500–1066 BC) and ancient Egypt, and is recorded in the Babylonian code

of Hammurabi (c. 1750 BC), the Sanskrit Laws of Manu (c. 600 BC), and the

Bible. Slave labour became commonplace in ancient Greece and Rome, when it

was used to cultivate large estates and to meet the demand for personal

servants in the towns. Slaves were created through the capture of enemies,

through birth to slave parents, through sale into slavery by free parents,

and as a means of punishment.

After the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century, slavery persisted in

Arab lands and in central Europe, where many Slavs were captured and taken

as slaves to Germany (hence the derivation of the word). Historically,

slave-owning societies included the Ottoman Empire, the Crimean khanate,

the Inca Empire (Peru), the Sokoto caliphate, and the Hausa (both Nigeria).

Central Asians such as the Mongols, Kazakhs, and various Turkic groups also

kept slaves, as did some American Indian peoples (such as the Comanche and

the Creek). In Spain and Portugal, where the reconquest of the peninsula

from the Moors in the 15th century created an acute shortage of labour,

captured Muslims were enslaved. They were soon followed by slaves from

Africa, imported by the Portuguese prince Henry the Navigator after 1444.

Slaves were used for a wide range of tasks, and a regular trade in slaves

was established between the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa and the slave

markets of the Iberian peninsula.

Slavery became of major economic importance after the 16th century with the

European conquest of South and Central America. Needing a labour force, but

finding the indigenous inhabitants unwilling or unable to cooperate, the

Spanish and Portuguese conquerors used ever-increasing numbers of slaves

brought from Africa. Although slavery already existed in Africa, the status

and relationship of African slaves to their African masters were very

different from chattel slaves. Slaves in Africa were considered part of the

extended family of their masters and held a status similar to children or

wards. The function of indigenous African slavery was to increase the size

of a family or clan rather than to perform labour or to serve as a material

asset.

The rise of European capitalism directly influenced the slave trade.

American plantation colonies grew and prospered using slaves as a labour

force. These slaves had a great impact on the sugar and coffee plantations.

A lucrative triangular trade was established – alcohol, firearms, and

textiles were shipped from Europe to be traded for slaves in Africa, and

the slaves would then be shipped to South or Central America where they

would be traded for staples (such as molasses and later raw cotton). In

1619 the first black slaves landed in an English colony in North America

(at Jamestown, Virginia). At first few slaves arrived from Africa, and

their status as slaves was not legally defined. During the mid 17th century

the colonies established the legal status of slavery, and increasing

numbers of slaves from Africa were used in the South on coffee, tobacco,

sugar, and rice plantations. After the invention of the cotton gin (1793),

the demand for slaves soared, so much so that the slave populations of some

states exceeded the free populations. Africans were also taken to Europe to

work as slaves and servants.

The vast profits from the slave trade to the Americas became a major

element in the British economy and the West Indian trade in general. It has

been estimated that the British slave trade alone shipped 2 million slaves

from Africa to the West Indies between 1680 and 1786. The number of slaves

shipped to the Americas in 1790 alone may have exceeded 70,000. According

to another estimate, during the nearly 400 years of the slave trade, a

total of 15 million Africans were sold into slavery and some 40 million

more lost their lives in transit.

Slaves were usually outsiders, removed from their own cultures but denied

assimilation into their new ones. In the USA, treatment of slaves varied.

Although they were entitled to some rights, such as support during periods

of illness and in old age, they were often denied basic human dignities.

The slave trade meant forced relocation and the breakup of families,

including children from parents. Nevertheless, slaves retained some

cultural elements from Africa, such as religious practices, music, and

food. Some of these have survived and are evident in African-American

culture.

Antislavery movements and changes in the political and economic structure

of Europe helped to bring about the abolition of slavery in most of Europe

during the late 18th and early 19th century, followed by abolition in

overseas territories somewhat later.

Only in the southern states of the USA did slavery persist as a major

component of the economy, providing the labour force for the cotton and

other plantations. While the northern states abolished slavery in the

1787–1804 period, the southern states insisted on maintaining the

institution. Slavery became an issue in the economic struggle between

southern plantation owners and northern industrialists in the first half of

the 19th century, a struggle that culminated in the American Civil War.

At the centre of the slavery debate was the question of allowing slavery in

new territories. So explosive was this issue that a gag rule, automatically

tabling antislavery petitions and discussion, existed in Congress until the

mid 1840s. Kansas, for example, became the scene of bloody conflict between

pro- and anti-slavery groups, a period known as 'Bleeding Kansas'

(1854–61). The Wilmot Proviso (1846), a proposal to prohibit slavery in any

territory acquired from Mexico after its defeat in the Mexican–American

War, also helped to increase regional tensions. The major compromises, the

Missouri Compromise (1820), the Compromise of 1850, and the Kansas-Nebraska

Act (1864), were ultimately unable to prevent the war.

Despite the common perception to the contrary, the Civil War was not fought

primarily on the slavery issue. President Abraham Lincoln, however, saw the

political advantages of promising freedom for southern slaves, and the

Emancipation Proclamation was enacted in 1863. This was reinforced after

the war by the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the US

Constitution (1865, 1868, and 1870), which abolished slavery altogether and

guaranteed citizenship and civil rights to former slaves. Apart from the

moral issues surrounding slavery, there has also been a good deal of debate

on the economic efficiency of slavery as a system of production in the USA.

It has been argued that plantation owners might have been better off

employing labour, although the effect of emancipating vast numbers of

slaves could, and did, have enormous political and social repercussions in

the Reconstruction period following the Civil War. Freed slaves were often

resented by poor whites as economic competitors, and vigilante groups such

as the Ku Klux Klan formed to intimidate them. Although outlawed in most

countries, various forms of slavery continue to exist – as evidenced by the

steps taken by international organizations such as the League of Nations

between the world wars and the United Nations since 1945 to curb such

practices. In February 2001, African-American groups called for reparation

of between US$1 trillion and US$10 trillion from the US government to

compensate descendants of slaves for their ancestors' unpaid labour and for

other forms of racism. See also United States: history 1783–1861, the

slavery issue; and United States: history 1861–77.

How to Reference "Chattel Slavery and Race Relations" Term Paper in a Bibliography

Chattel Slavery and Race Relations.” A1-TermPaper.com, 2004, https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/slavery-race-relations/71655. Accessed 18 May 2024.

Chattel Slavery and Race Relations (2004). Retrieved from https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/slavery-race-relations/71655
A1-TermPaper.com. (2004). Chattel Slavery and Race Relations. [online] Available at: https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/slavery-race-relations/71655 [Accessed 18 May, 2024].
”Chattel Slavery and Race Relations” 2004. A1-TermPaper.com. https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/slavery-race-relations/71655.
”Chattel Slavery and Race Relations” A1-TermPaper.com, Last modified 2024. https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/slavery-race-relations/71655.
[1] ”Chattel Slavery and Race Relations”, A1-TermPaper.com, 2004. [Online]. Available: https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/slavery-race-relations/71655. [Accessed: 18-May-2024].
1. Chattel Slavery and Race Relations [Internet]. A1-TermPaper.com. 2004 [cited 18 May 2024]. Available from: https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/slavery-race-relations/71655
1. Chattel Slavery and Race Relations. A1-TermPaper.com. https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/slavery-race-relations/71655. Published 2004. Accessed May 18, 2024.

Related Term Papers:

Race Relations in Disgrace Term Paper

Paper Icon

race relations in "Disgrace"

Upon initial analysis, it would largely appear that J.M. Coetzee's 1999 novel Disgrace appears to be an incisive critique of the state of interracial relations within… read more

Term Paper 5 pages (1465 words) Sources: 2 Topic: Women / Feminism


Constitution, the Court, and Race Relations Term Paper

Paper Icon

Constitution, the Court, and Race Relations

How did the Constitution initially recognize the relations between Whites and Blacks in the late 18th century?

Although the Declaration of Independence states that… read more

Term Paper 4 pages (1321 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: American History / United States


Slavery: A Problem in American Institutional Term Paper

Paper Icon

Slavery: A Problem in American Institutional and Intellectual Life by Stanley Elkins, and Ordeal by Fire: The Civil War and Reconstruction by James M. McPherson.

Specifically it will contain a… read more

Term Paper 5 pages (1724 words) Sources: 1 Style: APA Topic: African-American / Black Studies


Slavery in the United States: The Grave Term Paper

Paper Icon

Slavery in the United States:

The Grave Mistake

According to W.E.B. Du Bois, one of the most outstanding African-American scholar, critic and historian of the past century, the most "dramatic… read more

Term Paper 6 pages (1893 words) Sources: 5 Style: APA Topic: African-American / Black Studies


How America Came to Be a Multinational Society Term Paper

Paper Icon

America as a Multinational Society

America is not a multinational society, but rather a multiethnic society. The result of this multiethnicalism has been the multicultural society in which we live.… read more

Term Paper 9 pages (3513 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: Race / Ethnic Studies / Racism


Sat, May 18, 2024

If you don't see the paper you need, we will write it for you!

Established in 1995
900,000 Orders Finished
100% Guaranteed Work
300 Words Per Page
Simple Ordering
100% Private & Secure

We can write a new, 100% unique paper!

Search Papers

Navigation

Do NOT follow this link or you will be banned from the site!