Professional Documents
Culture Documents
October 6,2017
Slavery in America
When America was being colonized by Europeans, Spanish, and the French they started
to grow crops producing tobacco, cotton, rice and sugar these crops needed people to maintain
them and this is where slavery became a huge part of America. When slavery first started many
people found ways to justify slavery. Even though people found ways to justify slavery the
people that were forced into slavery had very poor quality of life and were stripped of all their
freedoms as a human being. Even in the hardships of their lives the salves found hope and a way
to get through their hard ships that were dealt to them. There were also people that fought for
blacks rights whether they were slaves or if they were free. These people that stood up for their
right were able to change the way slaves lived their lives.
People that owned plantations needed people to help them plant, grow and maintain their
crops this is where slavery started in America. Slaves were considered property and not as
human beings. Southern whites frequently used paternalism as the premise that white
slaveholders acted in the best interest of slaves by taking responsibility for their care, feeding,
discipline and even their Christian morality as a justification of slavery (pg.153). The north and
south had different perspectives on slavery. The North had expectations for government to create
an economic opportunity and relied on free labor. The southern states relied on agriculture and
depended on slavery. The result created dissimilar social and cultural systems, as well as an
alternative view of the role of government (pg. 148). Even though the Northern people did not
directly rely on slavery they indirectly relied on slave labor in one way or another for jobs,
The quality of life for slaves was very poor and cruel. The slaveholders used both
psychological and physical violence to prevent slaves from disobeying their wishes (pg.154).
The most efficient way to keep the slaves in line was threatening them to sell them off. The lash
was the most common and most cruel form of punishment. Whippings sometimes left slaves
severely injured or even dead. Slave masters also used punishment gear like neck braces, balls
and chains, leg irons and paddles with holes to produce blood blisters (pg.154). Slaves lived their
lives in fear of both physical violence and separation from their family and friends.
Slave life varied greatly depending on many factors most slaves worked out on the fields
and worked from sun up to sun down six days a week. The plantation slaves lived in small
shacks with a dirt floor and little or no furniture. If you were a domestic slave you lived a much
better life and lived in better living quarters and received much better food. In many cases, a
class system developed with in the slave community. Domestic slaves did not often associate
themselves with plantation slaves. They often aspired to arrange courtships for their children
with other domestic slaves.2 The division of slaves in different classes often causes violence and
hatred between the slaves. There were also two different kinds of labor system between the
slaves.
The first one is the gang system which is a system of division of labor with slavery on the
plantation. This is the more brutal of the two main types of labor systems. The other form is the
task system which was less harsh and allowed the slaves more self-governance than did the gang
system. The gang system was continuous work thought the day and the task system allowed the
slaves to be done with their day once they had completed their tasks for the day. It gave them a
little bit more freedom than the gang system. Even through the hard labor they were forced to do
They successfully created a semi-independent culture. The base of their culture was
family and religion. Even though they were physically enslaved their self-esteem was not.1 The
slaves had their African traditions of music, dance, religion and even medicine. They also
believed in strong family structure. They had strong family bonds and they would even name
their children after other family members such as grandparents or cousins. The slaves also relied
on religion to be spiritually free. Slavery was very cruel to humans and stripped them of all their
The most common form of rebellion was the silent rebellion or the day to day
rebellion.1 This involved doing poor work or breaking tools so that they could not do the work
that is forced upon them, they would even abuse animals, they would do anything that disturbed
the day to day operation of the plantation was considered silent rebellion. Some serious crimes
were also committed in rebellion as well such as arson, poisoning and assaults. The most
effective form of rebellion was to escape. There was also people that found slavery inhumane
and were fighting for the rights of the slaves and black people.
These people were called abolitionist, they worked very hard to end slavery. They used a
different approach to end slavery, they opposed the use of violence to end slavery. Influenced by
evangelical Protestantism abolitionists they used moral suasion relied on dramatic narratives,
often from former slaves about horrors of slavery, arguing that slavery destroys families, as
children were sold and taken away from their mothers and fathers (pg.180). This strategy
resonated with many women. In 1833 the American Anti-slavery society (AASS) was founded.
By 1838 has 250,000 members, these members were all fighting for the rights of slaves and
demanded immediate moral action to end slavery (pg.181). All these people fight for the slavery
rights did end up being successful and President Lincoln passed the Emancipation Proclamation
Inconclusion Slavery was very prominent in America and is what help found the
economic success in America in the early 1800s. Many people that were in power and owned
land justified slavery as giving work to people and taking care of them, but their life was horrible
and took away their rights. Slaves had a very hard life and their slave masters were usually very
inhumane and abused their slaves. There was different labor systems and classes between the
slaves. There was the plantation slaves and domestic slaves which domestic slaves were treated
much better. The slaves also worked under the gang system which was brutal work all day long
and the task system which gave slaves a little bit more freedom and let them do as they pleased
after their tasks were completed. The slaves and abolitionist all worked and fought for the rights
of slaves and black people in general and ended up being successful from all their work they
dedicated.
Bibliography
American Civilization, A Brief History. HIST 1700. Open Stax College 2014
History 111- History of American People to 1865, Liberty- Chapter 11. April 4,2015
https://cmaeda01.wordpress.com/2015/04/04/liberty-chapter-11/
U.S. History- Pre-Columbian to the New Millennium, Slave Life and Slave Codes. 2017
http://www.ushistory.org/us/27b.asp
Image:
Slavery in America
http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/slavery/pictures/slave-life/slave-family-in-
cotton-field-near-savannah