US Studies Unit 3

Slavery (noun):

--> The state of being a slave. --> The practice or system of owning slaves. --> A condition compared to that of a slave in respect of exhausting labor or restricted freedom.

What was the 3/5 compromise?

-->The Three-Fifths Compromise was a compromise reached between delegates from southern states and those from northern states during the 1787 United States Constitutional Convention. -->The debate was over whether, and if so, how, slaves would be counted when determining a state's total population for legislative representation and taxing purposes. -->The issue was important, as this population number would then be used to determine the number of seats that the state would have in the United States House of Representatives for the next ten years. The effect was to give the southern states a third more seats in Congress and a third more electoral votes than if slaves had been ignored, but fewer than if slaves and free persons had been counted equally, allowing the slaveholder interests to largely dominate the government of the United States until 1861. -->The Three-Fifths Compromise gave a disproportionate representation of slave states in the House of Representatives relative to the voters in free states until the American Civil War. In 1793, for example, Southern slave states had 47 of the 105 members but would have had 33, had seats been assigned based on free populations. In 1812, slave states had 76 out of 143 instead of the 59 they would have had; in 1833, 98 out of 240 instead of 73. As a result, Southern states had disproportionate influence on the presidency, the speakership of the House, and the Supreme Court in the period prior to the Civil War. Along with this must be considered the number of slave and free states, which remained mostly equal until 1850, safeguarding the Southern bloc in the Senate as well as Electoral College votes.

Slaves in the antebellum South constituted about how many of the southern population?

1/3

When was cotton gin invented?

1793; it solidified the central importance of slavery to the South's expansion.

Through the union victory, how many slaves were freed? How was slavery's legacy continued short after?

4 Million. The legacy of slavery continue to influence American history, from the tumultuous years of Reconstruction (1865-1877) to the civil rights movement that emerged 1960s, century after emancipation.

When the United States Constitution was ratified (1789), how many free people of color were among the voting citizens (male property owners)?

A few

How did slavery benefit America? (It didn't but ya)

African-American slaves helped build the economic foundations of the new nation.

States and emancipation:

After the American Revolution established the United States, Northern states, beginning with Pennsylvania in 1780, passed legislation during the next two decades abolishing slavery, sometimes by gradual emancipation. Massachusetts ratified a constitution that declared all men equal; freedom suits challenging slavery based on this principle brought an end to slavery in the state. In other states, such as Virginia, similar declarations of rights were interpreted by the courts as not applicable to Africans. During the ensuing decades, the abolitionist movement grew in Northern states, and Congress regulated the expansion of slavery as new states were admitted to the Union.

Statistics of European involvement in the slave trade:

All the major European powers were involved in this enterprise, but by the early 18th century, Britain became the world's leading slave trading power. It's estimated that British ships were responsible for the forced transportation of at least 2-3 million Africans in that century.

By the 19th century, what would provoke a great debate over slavery? What would this result in?

America's westward expansion and a growing abolition movement in the North. This would tear apart the nation in the bloody American Civil War (1861-1865).

By the time of the American Revolution 1775-1783), the status of the slave had been institutionalize as what?

As a racial caste with African ancestry.

Europe banning slaves:

Britain banned the importation of African slaves in its colonies in 1807 and abolished slavery in the British Empire in 1833. The United States criminalized the international slave trade in 1808 and made slavery unconstitutional in 1865 as a result of the American Civil War.

How did the invention of cotton gin and abolitionist laws greatly increase the demand for slave labor?

But the rapid expansion of the cotton industry in the deep South after the invention of cotton gin greatly increased demand for slave labor in the southern states continued a slave societies. Those states attempted to extend slavery into the new western territories to keep their share of political power in the nation; leaders also wanted to annex Cuba to be used as a slave territory. He United States became polarized over the issue of slavery, represented by the slave and free states divided by the Mason-Dixie line, which separated free Pennsylvania from sleeve Maryland and Delaware.

When did the newly rich cotton growing South establish they wanted to secede from the union?

By 1850.

Illegal smuggling of slaves history:

Congress during the Jefferson Street importation of slaves, effective in 1808, but illegal smuggling took place. Domestic slave trading however continued at a rapid pace, during my labor demand from the development of cotton plantations in the deep South. More than 1 million slaves were sold from the upper south, which had a surplus of labor, and taken to the deep South in a forced migration, splitting up many families. You Q music days of African-American culture were developed in the deep South, and the total sleep population in the south eventually reach 4 million before liberation.

During and immediately following the revolutionary war, what laws were passed in most northern states and what movement was developed? What did this cause?

During and immediately following the revolutionary war, abolitionists laws were passed in most northern states develop to abolish slavery. Most of these states had half a higher proportion of free labor that in the south economy and based on different industries.

From the 1830s to the 1860s, a movement to abolish slavery in America gained strength how?

From the 1830s to the 1860s, a movement to abolish slavery in America gained strength in the northern United States, led by free blacks such as Frederick Douglass and white supporters such as William Lloyd Garrison, founder of the radical newspaper The Liberator, and Harriet Beecher Stowe, who published the bestselling antislavery novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin" (1852).

Why was the invention of cotton gin so important?

In the late 18th century, with the land-use to grow tobacco nearly exhausted, the south facing economic crisis, and the continued growth of slavery in America seemed in doubt. Around the same time, the mechanization of the textile industry in England lead to huge demand for American cotton, a southern crop his production was unfortunately limited but the difficulty of removing the seeds from raw cotton fibers by hand. In 1793 are young Yankee school teacher named Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin a simple mechanize device that officially remove the seeds. Is device was widely copied, can you use the Southwood transition from the large-scale production of tobacco to that of cotton gin, I switch that reinforce the regions dependence on slave labor.

When/where/why were the first African slaves brought to North America?

Jamestown, Virginia, 1619 -->to aid in the production of such lucrative crops as tobacco.

The new territories acquired from Britain, France, and Mexico were the subject of what?

Major political compromises

Where did most slaves live?

One large farms or small plantations

What is the Emancipation Proclamation?

President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, as the nation approached its third year of bloody civil war. The proclamation declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free."

Nat Turner's Revolt:

Slave revolts did occur within the system (notably ones led by Gabriel Prosser in Richmond in 1800 and by Denmark Vesey in Charleston in 1822), but few were successful. -->The slave revolt that most terrified white slaveholders was that led by Nat Turner in Southampton County, Virginia, in August 1831. Turner's group, which eventually numbered around 75 blacks, murdered some 60 whites in two days before armed resistance from local whites and the arrival of state militia forces overwhelmed them. Supporters of slavery pointed to Turner's rebellion as evidence that blacks were inherently inferior barbarians requiring an institution such as slavery to discipline them, and fears of similar insurrections led many southern states to further strengthen their slave codes in order to limit the education, movement and assembly of slaves. In the North, the increased repression of southern blacks would only fan the flames of the growing abolition movement.

When slavery was first practiced in North America, was it legal?

Slavery had been practiced in British North America from early colonial days and was legal in all 13 colonies at the time of the Declaration of Independence in 1776.

How was cotton gin used in the north?

Slavery itself was never widespread in the north, though many of the regions businessman grew rich on the sleep train and investments in southern plantations. Between 1774 and 1804, all the northern state of the so-called "peculiar institution" remade actually vital to the south.

Slave owners/masters:

Slaves in the antebellum South constituted about one-third of the southern population. Most slaves lived on large farms or small plantations; many masters owned less than 50 slaves. Slave owners sought to make their slaves completely dependent on them, and a system of restrictive codes governed life among slaves. They were prohibited from learning to read and write, and their behavior and movement was restricted. Many masters took sexual liberties with slave women, and rewarded obedient slave behavior with favors, while rebellious slaves were brutally punished. A strict hierarchy among slaves (from privileged house slaves and skilled artisans down to lowly field hands) helped keep them divided and less likely to organize against their masters. Slave marriages had no legal basis, but slaves did marry and raise large families; most slave owners encouraged this practice, but nonetheless did not hesitate to divide slave families by sale or removal.

British dominance of the slave trade:

So dominant were British ships and merchants that they carried away African captives not only to British colonies in North America and the Caribbean but even to the colonies of their main economic rivals, the French and Spanish, as well as to others'.

What were the Fugitive Slave acts?

The Fugitive Slave Acts were a pair of federal laws that allowed for the capture and return of runaway slaves within the territory of the United States. Enacted by Congress in 1793, the first Fugitive Slave Act authorized local governments to seize and return escaped slaves to their owners and imposed penalties on anyone who aided in their flight. The Fugitive Slave Acts were among the most controversial laws of the early 19th century, and many Northern states passed special legislation in an attempt to circumvent them.

What was the Underground Railroad?

The Underground Railroad was the term used to describe a network of persons who helped escaped slaves on their way to freedom in the northern states or Canada. Although George Washington had commented upon such practices by the Quakers as early as the 1780s, the term gained currency in the 1830s, as northern abolitionists became more vocal and southern suspicions of threats to their peculiar institution grew. The Underground Railroad was neither underground nor a railroad. It got its name because its activities had to be carried out in secret, using darkness or disguise, and because railway terms were used by those involved with system to describe how it worked. -->Various routes were lines, stopping places were called stations, those who aided along the way were conductors and their charges were known as packages or freight. _ -->The network of routes extended through 14 Northern states and "the promised land" of Canada-beyond the reach of fugitive-slave hunters. Those who most actively assisted slaves to escape by way of the "railroad" were members of the free black community (including former slaves like Harriet Tubman Who reportedly made 19 return trips to the south; she helps him 300 slaves escape), Northern abolitionists who had little to no support from white abolitionists, philanthropists and church leaders like Quaker Thomas Garrett. Harriet Beecher Stowe, famous for her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, "vigilance committees" (often biracial in character, and set up in northern cities ) and even a number of individual whites also aided runaways and gained firsthand knowledge of the plight of fugitive slaves through contacts with the Underground Railroad in Cincinnati, Ohio. -->The practice involved more spontaneity than the railroad analogy suggests. By the time escapees reached areas where sympathetic persons might assist them, they had already completed the most difficult part of their journey. -->A successful escape was usually less the product of coordinated assistance and more a matter of the runaways' resourcefulness-and a great deal of luck. -->it may have helped anywhere from 40,000 slaves to 100,000 slaves reach freedom.

Violence of the Atlantic slave trade:

The slave trade not only led to the violent transportation overseas of millions of Africans but also to the deaths of many millions more. Nobody knows the total number of people who died during slave raiding and wars in Africa, during transportation and imprisonment, or in horrendous conditions during the so-called Middle Passage, the voyage from Africa to the Americas.

Where were African slaves generally taken from?

The kidnapping of Africans occurred mainly in the region that now stretches from Senegal to Angola. However, in the 19th century some enslaved Africans were also transported across the Atlantic from parts of eastern and south-eastern Africa.

Where were African slaves imported?

The largest numbers of Africans - almost 5 million - were imported into Brazil, but enslaved Africans were sent to most of the colonies of South and Central America and the Caribbean, as well as to what became the United States. Some Africans were transported to Europe and lived in such countries as Portugal and France as well as in England.

For the majority of African slaves already slaves in Africa?

The majority of kidnapped Africans weren't already slaves in Africa. They were free people who were kidnapped to provide the labour that the European powers required to build their colonies in the Americas.

Transatlantic slave trade:

The transatlantic slave trade is sometimes known as the 'Triangular Trade', since it was three-sided, involving voyages: 1. from Europe to Africa 2. from Africa to the Americas 3. from the Americas back to Europe. The Middle Passage was the stage of the triangular trade in which millions of Africans were shipped to the New World as part of the Atlantic slave trade. Ships departed Europe for African markets with manufactured goods, which were traded for purchased or kidnapped Africans, who were transported across the Atlantic as slaves; the slaves were then sold or traded for raw materials, which would be transported back to Europe to complete the voyage. Voyages on the Middle Passage were large financial undertakings, generally organized by companies or groups of investors rather than individuals.

The Atlantic slave trade:

The transatlantic slave trade was responsible for the forced migration of between 12 - 15 million people from Africa to the Western Hemisphere from the middle of the 15th century to the end of the 19th century. The trafficking of Africans by the major European countries during this period is sometimes referred to by African scholars as the Maafa ('great disaster' in Swahili). It's now considered a crime against humanity.

As the west was developed for settlement, what did the southern states want?

They wanted to keep balance between the number of slave and free states to maintain a political balance of power in Congress.

Slave population after outlawing slavery:

Though the US Congress outlawed the African slave trade in 1808, the domestic trade flourished, and the slave population in the US nearly tripled over the next 50 years. By 1860, it had reached nearly 4,000,000, with more than half living in the cotton producing states of the south.

Uncle Tom's Cabin:

Uncle Tom's Cabin was the best-selling novel of the 19th century and the second best-selling book of that century, following the Bible. It is credited with helping fuel the abolitionist cause in the 1850s. In the first year after it was published, 300,000 copies of the book were sold in the United States; one million copies in Great Britain. Published in 1852, the novel "helped lay the groundwork for the Civil War", according to Will Kaufman. In 1855, three years after it was published, it was called "the most popular novel of our day." -->Stowe, a Connecticut-born teacher at the Hartford Female Seminary and an active abolitionist, featured the character of Uncle Tom, a long-suffering black slave around whom the stories of other characters revolve. The sentimental novel depicts the reality of slavery while also asserting that Christian love can overcome something as destructive as enslavement of fellow human beings. -->Stowe emphasized the horrors that abolitionists had long claimed about slavery. Her depiction of the evil slave owner Simon Legree, a transplanted Yankee who kills the Christ-like Uncle Tom, outraged the North, helped sway British public opinion against the South and inflamed Southern slave owners who tried to refute it by showing some slave owners were humanitarian. It inspired numerous anti-Tom novels, several written and published by women. -->The book and the plays it inspired helped popularize a number of stereotypes about black people. These include the affectionate, dark-skinned "mammy"; the "pickaninny" stereotype of black children; and the "Uncle Tom", or dutiful, long-suffering servant faithful to his white master or mistress. In recent years, the negative associations with Uncle Tom's Cabin have, to an extent, overshadowed the historical impact of the book as a "vital antislavery tool."

What happened when Abraham Lincoln won the 1860 election? In regards to the establishment of the confederation and the succession of states.

When Abraham Lincoln won the 1860 election on the platform of holding the expansion of slavery, seven states broke away to form the confederacy. The first six states just succeed held the greatest number of slaves in the south. Shortly after, the Civil War began when confederate forces attacked the US Army's Fort Sumter. Four additional slave states then succeeded. Due to Union measures such as confiscation acts and Emancipation proclamation in 1863, or effectively ended slavery, even before ratification of the 13th amendment in December 1865 formally ended the legal institution throughout the United States.

What did many abolitionist base their activism on?

While many abolitionists based their activism on the belief that slaveholding was a sin, others were more inclined to the non-religious "free-labor" argument, which held that slaveholding was regressive, inefficient and made little economic sense.

Widespread resistance to the 1793 slave laws led to what?

Widespread resistance to the 1793 law later led to the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which added further provisions regarding runaways and levied even harsher punishments for interfering in their capture. Both laws were formally repealed by an act of Congress in 1864.

Southern ministers and slavery:

With white southern church ministers having adapted to supported slavery, as modified by Christian paternalism, the largest denominations, The Baptist, Methodist and Presbyterian churches split over the issue into regional organizations of the north and south.

What is slavery?

legal institution of human chattel enslavement primarily of Africans and African-Americans, that existed in the United States of America is the 18th and 19th centuries after it gained independence in before the end of the American civil.

When was slavery practiced?

throughout American colonies in the 17th and 18th centuries.