Expansion and Perpetuation of Black Slavery in the United States
Slavery is not a new topic, especially for historians with the US being one of the largest slave markets. Slaves from Africa and other parts of the world were the main item of trade with the growth of cotton coming along with an increased demand for labor that the Americans could not provide. Therefore, slavery was the next option since the labor from slaves was cheap, and the laws of the land did not necessarily prevent the slave lords from carrying out the trade. Several factors have been associated with the spread and perpetuation of slavery in America right from the labor requirements to the policies set by the rulers. The 18th and 19th century witnessed various attempts to suppress slavery although the trade continued to spread and become stronger since the attempts were done as a cover-up of the reality of the state of the slave trade in the Americas. The period between 1776 and 1860 saw the slave trade spread across the Americas as well as the institutions of trade becoming stronger with most of the slaves being shipped from Africa to work in the tobacco, rice and indigo plantations for little or no pay, with the benefits going to the masters.
The US constitution officially acknowledged the institution of slavery immediately after the revolutionary war of the 1770s. The move by the government was aimed at collecting tax from the slave trade with slaves being equated to three-fifths of a person and the slave owners were given the freedom to possess and repossess a slave so long as the required tax was paid (Littlejohn, 17). The recognition of slavery brought misery and unknown suffering to the slaves since the masters stopped hiding behind the law and were allowed to exploit the labor that the slaves could provide. Additionally, the black slaves were preferred to the white slaves because they were stronger and provided more labor at a cheaper cost. Several events followed the recognition of slavery by the constitution to later spread the trade to other fields that had not been included in the original slave trade.
Tobacco farming grew so fast that the South moved into an economic crisis in the late 18th century since the land was almost exhausted. Also, the market for cotton in England was growing fast due to the mechanization of the textile industry (Burnard, 220). The demand for American cotton was, therefore, growing faster than the rate of production because cotton planting was made difficult by the fact that the cotton seeds could not be easily removed from raw cotton by hand. An invention was required to facilitate the production of seeds for planting because the demand for cotton in England promised a venture worthy engaging in by the Americans. Therefore, Eli Whitney came to the rescue of the cotton farmers in 1793 by inventing a device that could easily remove the seeds for raw cotton fiber and thus large scale plantation was possible. The invention led to a shift in attention from tobacco farming to cotton farming and came with an additional need for the slave trade. South America was the home for slavery since the North was reluctant to allow slavery, and only a few domestic slave masters had slaves.
Slavery was growing faster in the South, and laws were being made in Congress to stop the trade. However, the laws were not strong enough to stop the slave institutions from continuing with the trade, which was already established. Also, the government knew that the demand for cotton in England was a win for the government and that slavery promised sufficient supply of labor, and thus, the supply of cotton was assured. The government was therefore not ready to completely wipe out the trade and remained silent while the south was vigilant in spreading the slave trade.
The laws governing slave marriages played a significant role in the spread of slavery. The slave masters were aware that slave marriages were not defined under any legal basis. However, the slave masters knew that marriages were a way of multiplying the slave population, and thus, the trade was able to improve significantly (Mooney, 1). Therefore, the slave masters allowed the slaves to marry and have families. However, the slave families were not allowed to stay together as children would be separated from their families by selling or being introduced to the cotton plantations. The slave population, therefore, increased fast, and the slave masters had surplus labor that was spread by selling to other masters. Besides, the slave trade grew rapidly in the South with the production of cotton, reaching significantly high levels.
The slave rebellion movements of the first half of the 17th century strengthened the policies governing slavery. The institution of slavery had been controlled by weak policies that had seen the slave masters using lenient methods of making the slaves work (Gruber, n. p). For example, the slaves were allowed to have families, although the slave masters would separate the families by selling the children. The rebellion movements brought a shift in the perception held by the masters towards the slaves. One of the most crucial movements was the rebellion movement of 1831 that was comprised of about 75 strong Africans who were out to kill the white masters. The movement that was led by Nat Turner murdered over 60 whites in a day, and the white masters were shaken. Support had to be sought from the militia to overwhelm the rebels who had turned out to be too strong for the white masters to contain. The results of the rebellion were that the masters decided to discipline the black slaves by making the slave institutions stronger than they were. The masters concluded that the blacks needed an institution such as slavery to discipline them because they were barbaric and could not be allowed to live in freedom. The unrest caused by the conflict between slave supporting states and the free states was spreading, and there was a need to create a state of balance.
The attempts of the conflicting parties to curb the unrest caused by the slavery debate benefitted the slavery supporters. The Missouri compromise of the 1820s was purposely meant to create a balance between the slave states and the Free states (Silverman, 160). The federal government was attempting to restrict slavery, and a debate ensued, ending up in a compromise. Missouri was admitted to the institution of slavery with the promise that the neighboring states would be left as free soils. The admission of Missouri into the institution of slavery meant that slavery had spread to one more state, and the trade was still spreading. The Missouri Compromise was however, not the only compromise in the attempt to solve the debate crisis.
In the year 1850, an attempt was made to answer the question of slavery states that had been won during the Mexican-American war. The attempt was not successful in benefiting the anti-slavery advocates since the society was slowly accepting the benefits of slavery (Balcerski, 153). The tenuous compromise did not last long since the Kansas-Nebraska act was proposed four years after the compromise. The Kansas-Nebraska Act was a blow to the anti-slavery states since it opened doors for slavery in all the new states. Besides, the admission of the new states into slavery widened the market for slaves, and the trade spread significantly.
The Americans were not ready to lose the benefits that came with using the black slaves as laborers. First, plantation farming came with several challenges that were overwhelming to the whites, and only Africans were able to survive the challenges. Additionally, the slave masters did not care about the wellbeing of the slaves, and thus, the slaves could not choose the challenges to face and those to avoid. For example, the harsh weather conditions were not favorable to the whites. However, the blacks were used to such harsh conditions back in Africa and would, therefore, work efficiently to improve the production in the white plantations. Also, the policies made to control the slave institution were strategic in ensuring that slavery spread as fast as possible to provide sufficient labor in the American plantations.
In sum, the period between 1776 and 1860 saw the slave trade spread across the Americas as well as the institutions of trade becoming stronger with the most of slaves being shipped from Africa to work in the tobacco, rice and indigo plantations for little or no pay, with the benefits going to the masters. The acknowledgment of the slave institution in the US constitution started a series of events that led to the spread of slavery across America. Events such as the slave rebellions and the compromises stirred up the need to strengthen the institution of slavery. Generally, the Americans were not ready to let go of the benefits that they were enjoying for having the black slaves around.
Works Cited
Balcerski, Thomas J. “The F Street Mess: How Southern Senators Rewrote the Kansas-Nebraska Act by Alice Elizabeth Malavasic.” The Journal of the Civil War Era 9.1 (2019): 151- 153.
Burnard, Trevor. “The American South and its global commodities.” (2017): 215-217.
Gruber, Abigail. “The Southampton Slave Revolt of 1831: A Case Study in the Revolutionary Capacity of the Baptist Faith.” Visions and Revisions 1 (2017).
Littlejohn, Edward J. “American Law, Slaves, and Freedmen 1619-1860.” Journal of Law in Society 18.1 (2018): 1-18.
Mooney, Paul. Cotton Versus Coal: Economic Growth and Development of Antebellum America from Leading Sector Growth to Diversified Development. Diss. University of Delaware, 2016.
Silverman, Aaron J. “Dividing the Union: Jesse Burgess Thomas and the Making of the Missouri Compromise by Matthew W. Hall.” Journal of Southern History 83.1 (2017): 160-162.