Essay, Research Paper: Events That Effected Slavery

Events that Effected Slavery
Essay submitted by Stephen Schenone

Introduction
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life,
Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness" (Thomas Jefferson). The only problem with this
passage from the Declaration of Independence is that it does not say, "We hold these
truths to be self-evident, that all men and Negroes are created equal, that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life,
Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness" Thomas Jefferson's words were not correct. Not
all men were created equal and these men were slaves. Slavery has existed throughout
the United States for centuries before the present day.

This was the most inhumane treatment any man could go through. The following report
will express the impact of slavery on the history of the united states of America.

The Earliest Slaves in America
In the summer of 1619 a 160-ton ship from the Port of Flushing in Holland sailed into
the Chesapeake Bay. The Dutch ship was under the command of Captain Jope and
piloted by an English man named Marmaduke Raynor. In exchange for supplies Jope sold
more than 20 Negroes to the local authorities in the English colony of Virginia. These
blacks came ashore 12 years after the founding of Jamestown. At first the Virginians
liked white indentured persons who knew their language and their ways, compared to
the newly arrived black slaves. Over time though, the black servants grew accustomed
to the environment and were better than the white indentured servants. The colonists
didn't approve, but because of the need for laborers for Tobacco the acceptance grew.

Slavery grows from demand of cotton
The Revolutionary War won for the Americans a large stretch of wilderness between
the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River. After 1800 settlers began to clear
and plant on the land. Many of these settlers brought slaves with them. One of the
crops which they planted was cotton. When the slaves had to pick the cotton it would
prick them and slow the picking down tremendously. Then a man named Eli Whitney
invented a machine called the Cotton Gin. The Cotton Gin cleaned the short sticky
fibers of the upland cotton. Metal teeth simply pulled the fibers from the seeds. The
invention of this machine made the cotton economy soar. This increased the need for
slaves. They needed more slaves to pick the cotton faster so they could keep up with
the production. The masters were constantly working their slaves from dusk until dawn.
They would load the cotton into wagons and take the crop to the gin. As planters in
the South turned more and more land to growing cotton, the economy could support
more people. In 1790 the South had one million white people, six hundred fifty-seven
thousand black slaves, and thirty-two thousand free black people. Slaves grew in
population rapidly.

Resistance To Slavery
Slaves found many ways to resist white control. Most resistance forms were passive.
Slaves used songs to express their longings to be free, but also spread news for secret
meetings. Some slaves pretended to be sick, broke tools and worked as slow as
possible. Others, ran away. When these slaves were caught, they were punished
severely. Other ways slaves resisted the whites were through means of violence. Some
slaves would try to poison the masters food which scared many plantation owners. The
most violent though were organized riots.

Slavery causes problems Slavery also caused problems where states were concerned.
When Missouri sought admission to the Union in 1819, it proposed a state constitution
which would protect slavery. At that time there were exactly as many slave states as
well as free states in the Union. The house of representatives was dominated by the
North and the Southerners stood to gain control of the senate if Missouri was admitted
as a slave state. Before the Missouri Debate began, Congress used the Northwest
Ordinance to prohibit slavery north and west of the Ohio River. The balance was in
danger of being upset. Slavery also affected this greatly and it later led to the Missouri
Compromise.

The Antislavery movement In the early 1800's an antislavery movement was
developing. Many voices of free slaves from the North and abolitionists were beginning
to speak out against slavery. Abolitionism was a movement for an immediate end to
slavery. Many abolitionists freed slaves from their life of enslavement. Sojourner Truth
was one of the main women abolitionists in the fight against slavery. She not only aided
blacks in their escape, but she spoke to president Lincoln personally about her views.
Free blacks were not the only ones who worked to free slaves. There were also white
abolitionists who worked for the same cause. A newspaper called the Liberator was
started by William Lloyd Garrison supporting abolitionism. This rekindled the flame of the
white antislavery movement In 1852 Harriet Beecher Stowe published a book called
Uncle Tom's cabin. This book told about the evils of slavery, and what slaves had to
live through. Stowe was also against the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. This law enabled
the northerners were permitted to catch runaway slaves who could not defend
themselves in court. This book caused immediate controversy between the North and
the South as soon as it hit the shelves. Three hundred thousand copies were sold of
the book in 1 year.

Kansas-Nebraska Act
Lawmakers knew that a bill was needed to set up a territorial government for Kansas.
And in order to build the railroad, land had to be set aside for the railroad companies.
Yet the issue of slavery blocked these promising plans. Kansas and Nebraska were both
closed to slavery under the Missouri Compromise of 1820. Southerners would not go
along with the railroad unless they saw hope for slavery in these territories. They felt
they had to overturn the Missouri Compromise.

Democrat Stephen A. Douglas started the new debate rolling. Douglas introduced the
Nebraska bill in 1854 to organize a territorial government, which could then open the
way to lay down railroad tracks. Southern senators, however, balked at any bill that
would allow the ban on slavery in the territories to continue.

Douglas reworked his bill. His new proposal divided the area into two territories: that of
Kansas and that of Nebraska. It was implied, but not started, that Kansas would
become a slave state, and Nebraska would be free of slavery. He also proposed an idea
called Popular Sovereignty, or the right of the voters in each territory to decide
whether to become a free or slave state. The bill rendered the Missouri Compromise
meaningless. Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska act in 1854. Antislavery people,
Democrats, and Wigs included, held rallies, demonstrations, and meetings throughout
the North to condemn the Kansas-Nebraska Act. These gatherings helped form a new
political party.

The Underground Railroad
Antislavery forces did more than protect and rescue runaway slaves. In fact, they
helped many slaves escape. A secret network called the Underground Railroad helped
100,000 fugitive slaves to freedom between 1780 and 1865.

The Underground Railroad was not a railroad and it didn't run underground. The
Underground Railroad was a secret complex system of about 3,000 people both blacks
and whites, who helped transport escaped slaves. At night "conductors" led runaways
to freedom, providing food and safe hiding places. The conductors risked great danger
in aiding slaves. The slaves transportation in the Underground Railroad varied. Slaves
traveled on foot, in covered wagons, or in boxes. At the stations the slaves would hide
in attics, barns, cellars, and even secret rooms behind walls or in the floor. Finally at
the end the slaves would settle in one of the fourteen free states or Canada. The most
famous railroad conductor had to be Harriet Tubman who escaped herself from slavery.
Harriet guided more than three hundred slaves to freedom.

The Emancipation Proclamation
Following the bloodshed at Antietam, Lincoln needed to broaden the reasons for
remaining at war. He was still very serious about saving the Union, but he took a firm
stand on slavery as well. Linking the Union with the abolition of slavery in the South
would strengthen his support in the North by pointing out the need to protect the
country and to make it a country where freedom held great value. On September 22,
1862, he issued his first Emancipation Proclamation.

The Emancipation Proclamation would free all slaves in areas still in rebellion. It was a
statement of intent instead of a law, and slaveholders refused to accept it. The
Proclamation also allowed former slaves to enlist in the army. During the war one
hundred and eighty-six thousand blacks served in the Union Army and twenty-nine
thousand served in the Union Navy.

Reconstruction
Before the Civil war was over and General Lee and his troops surrendered, Lincoln
already had a plan of amnesty and reconstruction to be approved by congress. In this
plan, 10% of those who voted in the election of 1860 had to take an oath proclaiming
their loyalty to the United States. Confederate states could then form a new
government and use a new constitution. In this proclamation, slavery was also banned,
but it did not say that blacks had the right to vote or to any other rights.

Another plan the Radicals passed in July 1864, was the Wade-Davis Bill. This bill was a
stricter version of Lincoln's Proclamation of Amnesty. In this bill a majority (51%) had to
take an oath to the United States and take part in drafting a new Constitution. Only
then could that state be remitted to the Union. The bill demanded that Confederates
swear past and present loyalty.

The Wade-Davis bill also required the new state constitutions to outlaw slavery and
declare the Confederate debt unpayable. Confederate bonds and money became
worthless. With the support of the moderates, Congress passed the Wade-Davis bill.
Congress then adjourned, however, and Lincoln refused to sign the bill. This defeated
the Wade-Davis bill. In January 1865, Lincoln compromised by proposing the Thirteenth
Amendment to outlaw slavery. Former Confederate states were required to ratify, or
formally approve, the amendment before rejoining the Union.

Black Codes
In Johnson's plan for reconstruction he gave black voting rights to most whites, but he
only encouraged new states to allow freedmen to vote. The southern states followed
Johnson's policies, but not happily.

None gave blacks the right to vote. Instead, the new state governments tried to bring
back slavery in all but name. They used laws known as Black Codes. The Black Codes
varied from state to state, but everywhere the laws were meant to keep blacks from
being free. Freedman were made to sign labor contracts that bound them to work and
orphans whose parents could not raise them were to work as apprentices.

Freedman's Bureau and Education For Blacks Just before the war's end, Congress
established the Freedman's Bureau. For emergency relief the bureau distributed food to
the needy of both races. Finding jobs was one of its first tasks. It also performed
marriages for blacks.

Education was also very important for blacks. They thought of education as their key
to equal rights. The Freedman's Bureau also helped them in seeking a better education.
More than four thousand schools were established. In the South, the government set
up schools after 1868. They were unfortunately segregated (separated by race).

During this time in 1868, the fifteenth amendment was passed. This amendment gave
everyone the right to vote no matter their race or if they were previously slaves.
Blacks were slowly gaining their rights.

Conclusion
Blacks as you can see suffered through many hardships and losses over time.
Eventually many victories come to them. What we must realize is that all humans
should be treated the same no matter what their race or color is. But this was all in the
past and we need to put it behind us. Instead we should look to the future and
remember "all men are created equal."