Have you ever wondered how life was for the slaves in the South? Slaves in the South suffered through many consequences. For example, they suffered through many whippings with cow skin if they didn't obey their master, they also got separated from their family mostly the fathers, so, they can be sold to a very mean slave owner. Even if they were living a miserable life on the farms, they had their own culture and they managed to even get married in the farmland or where they worked. Not only did the slaves live on the farm. Before they were sold to other slave owners, they had a free life with their family. To support this explanation, on page 433, there is a quote that is talking about a male slave who got separated from his family. It …show more content…
One of those things was slave codes. Which gave more power to the slave owners and even less power to the slaves on page 434, it says "in existence since the 1700's slave codes were written to prevent the event white southerners dreaded most-became more severe. This shows that the slaves had absolutely no access to freedom to the slave codes another way that the slaves resisted was that they faked an illness, so they can get revenge to their masters on page 437 it gives a specific explanation on how they faked their illness. It says "For the most part enslaved people resisted slavery by working slowly or pretending to be ill. Occasionally resistance took more active forms, such as setting fire to a plantation building or breaking tools. Resistance helped enslaved African Americans endure their lives by striking back at white masters". This demonstrates that slaves also got away with things these were some examples on how the slaves …show more content…
Imagine if the cotton businesses had no slaves the Southerners would have to create their own factories, for example, if they did have to create their own industry, they would have to sell all their slaves and that’s one of the last things that they wanted to do. If the South had no slaves, they would have to do everything all by themselves. According to page 242 it says " planters would have had to sell slaves to raise the money to build factories, most wealthy southerners had their wealth invested in land and slaves. Planters would have had to sell slaves to raise the money to build factories. Most wealthy southerners were unwilling to do this. They believed that an economy based on cotton and slavery would continue to prosper". This shows that Slaves and cotton were very important to the Southerners. In conclusion, slaves in the south were important people because they managed to do so much stuff with the least number of things. For example, they had their own cultures and they kept that religion going on even through the roughest times in their lives like being separated from their family, or even getting a whipping for no reason. These slaves went through so much and they are strong people who couldn't make history the way it is now and
In order to meet the growing demands of sugar and cotton, slavery was the best means for the Southern agricultural owners. Slavery was a cheap and fast way to produce raw materials that could be transported to England. The only expenses of the slaves were meager meals that were necessary to
Southern states believed that it was their divine right to own slaves. The deep south “daily living” contributed to the expansion of slavery (204). Rothman throughout his book explains this and specifically on pg. 21 he talks about life as a slave. He explains how smuggling of slaves, kidnapping of free people, and slave coffles trekking provided way for growth of slavery and growth of antislavery opinions in the North.
They used whips, wooden rods, boots, fists, dogs, and much more to punish the slaves for any type of misconduct regardless of the age or gender of the slave. Threats of separating a slave from family was one of the most feared punishments for slaves. Women were often sexually assaulted or raped by their owners and could not do anything to stand up for themselves. Celia, a slave repeatedly abused and raped by her owner, was hanged and killed for defending herself and killing her master. For five years, Celia has been trying to stand up for herself to avoid being raped but being an African American slave, she could not do anything.
the slaves played a big part in the civil war. The civil war was for four years, from 1861 to 1865. In this battle it was the union against the confederate states of america. the death count in the civil war was more that 620,000, with millions more injured. The north the union army wanted the slaves to be free and to have their own equal rights as a human being.
The treatment of slaves between the North and the South was drastically different. Slaves in the North typically lived in the same house as their master and worked by themselves, or in small groups (pg. 94). Slaves in the South tended to live in large plantations in which they were housed in plantation outbuildings (pg. 104). The difference between the North and the South in housing and working environment had a direct effect on the integration of African Americans into their new American society. When they were housed in the North with their masters and had limited exposure to other slaves, they tended to adopt the ways of their masters.
No matter your stance at the time, one thing became clear: socially, politically and economically, slavery was the fabric of American success and gave birth to the Old South as we know it today. At the center of the entire institution of slavery, and central to its defense, was the economic domination it provided a young country in international markets. In the early 19th century, cotton was a popular commodity and overtook sugar as the main crop produced by slave labor. The production of cotton became the nation’s top priority; America supplied ¾ of the cotton supply to the entire world.
Slave Struggles in the American South In the American South, slaves struggled with how they were treated and how their families got split apart and broken Slaves got chased and beaten, by their owners. They were mistreated and teased for their race. Slaves weren’t aloud to go to school and learn. Physical pain was a part of daily life for slaves. They got mistreated for the work that they gave, and deserved a better life.
They resisted slavery through the rebellion of Non-violent schemes such as sabotaging, malingering and poisoning of their Slave masters. “If a man does not stand for something they fall for anything” (Marshall) and that includes believing that anything is accepted even slavery and slave laws. The Enslaved blacks that resisted inhumane treatment were people who had integrity even if that integrity was chartered towards death. They were many Enslaved blacks who were discontented with their condition on the lodging grounds and sought the satisfaction to improve it in whatever way they can. They can be considered as peace or freedom leaders because they fought back regardless of the circumstances.
Having slaves took jobs away from common people, causing the southern states to fall behind the northern states. That isn’t the only thing that was hurting our economy back then because of the creation the cotton gin. This creation made the economy fail because we focused more on it than industrializing. At the time, even farmers were failing because they didn’t get an education, so they didn’t know how to take care of soil, so they didn’t know about crop rotation. Due to the fact that North Carolina was so isolated, farmers could never even sell out of state because there aren’t any
The South had very little industry. It was based off of an agrarian economy (Document B). Slaves picked cotton off the plantation and the farmers sold the cotton to make money (Document A). The Southern weren't able to keep their money without slaves working for free. Slavery was vital in the South for the economy.
The psychological torture that came with being a slave was probably the most troubling aspect of slavery. As highlighted in the book, slaves were denied their basic human rights and end up being treated not as human beings but as assets. The fact that slavery involved selling and buying of slaves ensured that the fate of many African Americans was at the mercy of their masters. With little and at times no freedom, slaves had no choice on who they would marry. Upon having a family, the children of slaves became by default the property of the parents’ masters and would be sold at the will of these masters (Kolchin 44).
Resistance is a constant feature of American slavery. The African-Americans have resisted and rebelled against their oppressors in many different ways. Suicide has been the most common way to resist slavery, in addition to escaping from the traders before reaching the slaveholders’ houses, or even reaching the European coats. In her novel, Jacobs mentions several different forms of resisting slavery: buying itself, using violence and running away.
Most were left unfed and if they disobeyed orders they were whipped and cruelly beaten. However, the most of the South didn 't see slavery as inhumane. To them slavery was needed, slaves were needed to help farm, as well as make profit for their owners. Slavery was seen as a source of
Slaves sang spirituals and told African folktales. This helped to keep their spirits up and still feel connected to their families. Some were forced to work and tried to escape. The underground railroad helped thousands to escape. In 1831 Nat Turner , a preacher led a slave revolt in Virginia. In 1849 Harriet Tubman escaped and became a part of the Underground Railroad.
Living conditions for slaves were dreadful, with long work hours and low wages. Slave masters separated families and sold off children from their parents, or vice versa. Slaves were prone to severe punishment for even trivial offenses. Whippings and beatings were prevalent. Running away allowed them to get away from all the hostility, if only for a while.