Slavery

__The South and the Slavery Controversy__

After the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney, growing cotton became wildly profitable and much easier. As a result, slave labor was in higher demand, Furthermore, the South produced more than half of the world's cotton. Many idustrial European countries such as England were dependent on cotton. Therefore, if a civil war was to break out, Southerners believed England would support them.
 * 1) King Cotton
 * The dominance of cotton production led to a one-crop economy
 * The price level was at the mercy of the world conditions
 * 1) The White Majority
 * Even the slaveless whites defended slavery
 * They hoped someday they could own a slave
 * Took pleasure in knowing htat no matter how poorly off they were, they outranked Blacks
 * Anti-black feeling was strong in the North, where people liked the race but no the individual
 * In the South, many liked the people, but not the race
 * 1) Slave Trade
 * Importation was banned in 1808, but smuggling of slaves continued
 * Slave increase was mostly due to natural reproduction
 * Slave auctions were brutal. This brutality and seperation of families is described in Harriet Beecher Stowe's //Uncle Tom's Cabin//
 * 1) Slave Life
 * Characterized by hard work, no civil or political rights, and whipping if orders were not obeyed
 * Laws attmpting to protect slaves were hard to enforce
 * Forced seperation of married couples, paretns, and children
 * Illiterate
 * Rebellions
 * Garbriels Insurrection in Richmond, VA
 * Denmark Vesey in Charleston, SC
 * 1) Early Abolotionism
 * Took off with Second Great Awakening
 * American Colonization Society - Founded for transporting Blacks back to Africa to the Republic of Liberia
 * Most Blacks were opposed to life in Africa
 * Not all slaves were African
 * Charles Finney and Theodore Weld were both among those who detested slavery and preached against it
 * 1) Radical Abolitionism
 * William Lloyd Garrison published the Liberator
 * David Walker - Black Abolitionist, wrote Appeal to the Colored Citizens fo teh World and advocated a bloody end to white supremacy
 * Sojourner Truth - freed black women, fought for black emancipation and women's rights, conductor of Underground Railroad
 * Martin Delaney - Adovocated black relocation to Africa
 * Frederick Douglass
 * Great speaker
 * Fought for Black cause
 * //Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas//
 * Looked to politics to solve the slavery problems
 * Backed the Liberty Party
 * 1) In the South
 * declared slavery, the "peculiar instiution," was a positive good
 * insisted masters taught their slaves religion, made them civilized, treated them well, and gave them "happy" lives
 * many northern freed-blacks were persecuted and harassed, while blacks in the south were treated well
 * Southern House members passed the __Gag Resolution__, which stated all anti-slavery appeals must be tabled without debate