Slavery And Abolition In America

In this paper I will address the following topics: The Industrial Revolution and Slavery and Abolition in America. I hope that by the end of this paper the reader will understand and know; why slavery was created, who created slavery, what ended slavery, and what started the Industrial Revolution. After, reading this paper I hope that you will able to gain knowledge and understanding about these topics.

Slavery

Slavery in America began when the first African slaves were brought to the North American colony of Jamestown, Virginia in 1619 to work in the tobacco crops. Slavery was practiced throughout the American colonies in the 17th and 18th centuries, and African-American slaves helped build the economic foundations of the new nation. The invention

Most slaves lived on large farms or small plantations; many masters owned less than 50 slaves. Slave owners wanted to make sure that they took away their slaves independence. They weren’t allowed to read and write, and their behavior and movement was restricted. Many masters took advantage of the women sexually, and rewarded obedient slave behavior with favors, while disobedient slaves were brutally punished. On plantations there were many different kind of slaves; they varied from privileged house slaves, skilled artisans and field hands. Another invention that gave slave owners a reason to use of slaves was the cotton gin. Eli Whitney patented the cotton gin in 1794. Before, the invention of the cotton gin, cotton seeds had to be removed from the cotton fiber by hand. This invention made cotton a much more profitable crop for farmers. The cotton gin allowed many more farmers to use cotton as their main crop greatly increasing the amount of cotton plantations in the South. The expanding cotton farms needed cheap labor, which also resulted in an increased use of African slaves. This helped the slave-owners to keep them separated and less over power their masters. Slave marriages had no legal basis, but slaves did marry and raise large families. Most slave owners encouraged this practice, but would still try to separate slave families by sale or

The early abolitionists were mainly motivated by religious beliefs; many abolitionist were Quakers. The Quakers believed in equality.

After, the British were defeat in the war in North America, many people returned to Britain, returned with former slaves, making more people in Britain aware of the slavery issues. The presence of former black slaves in England helped start the abolition movement. They began creating newspapers, supported runaways and followed closely legal