American slavery in the 1800s

American Slavery in the 1800s

Any discussion of 19th century American history that omits slavery is incomplete, because slavery was such a significant fact of life during that time period that it impacted all people, whether slave or free, and whether they lived in a slave state or a state that prohibited slavery. The impact of slavery on the people of the United States during that time period was multi-faceted and complex. First, slavery expanded during that time period, which created political pressures that led up to the most significant conflict in United States history: the Civil War. Second, slavery in the 1800s was a troubling moral issue that aroused the sentiments of abolitionists on one side, but also focused on property and due process rights on the other side. Third, slavery in the 19th century had racial overtones that had been present, but less significant, in America prior to that time; it was during this time period that involuntary servitude or slavery became inextricably linked to race, which fostered the development of many racist stereotypes; these attitudes continue to shape American thoughts and feelings about race. Taken as a whole, these three components demonstrate that American slavery in the 1800s was significant, not only because of how it impacted society during that time period, but also because of its lingering impact on modern society.

One of the most important components of slavery in the 1800s is that it expanded during that time period. Because slavery became less common, and eventually illegal, in many Northern states and the importation of slaves from Africa became illegal during the 1800s, one may have the impression that slavery was in decline during the 1800s. However, neither of those is true. While industrialization in the North resulted in a decreased reliance on slave labor in that part of the country, agriculture remained the predominant business in the South, and it was largely fueled by slave labor. Moreover, the political goals of the industrial North and the agricultural South were oftentimes at odds, and the most obvious manifestation of the intrinsic differences between the two areas was a dispute over slavery, or, more specifically, over the expansion of slavery into newly acquired territories. Prior to the Louisiana Purchase, there was a basic equilibrium between slaveholding and non-slave states. However, "With the Louisiana Purchase, the question of slavery became both geographical and political, and ushered in a period of national debate between pro- and anti-slavery states to gain political and economic advantage. But by 1820, Congress was embroiled in the debate over how to divide the newly acquired territories into slave and free states."

While several interim decisions helped decide the spread of slavery, allowing for more and more American territories to have slavery, the greatest indication of slavery's expansion during this time period was the Fugitive Slave Act, which basically provided slaveholders with the right to retrieve slaves and return them to servitude, even if they had managed to escape to free states.

While slavery was expanding in the United States in the 1800s, it was not doing so without opposition. There had always been those opposed to slavery in the Americas. In fact, the Quakers, as a religious sect, were opposed to slavery, and even some famous slaveholders wrote extensively about the injustices inherent in slave ownership. However, it was during the 1800s that the abolitionist movement began to become a major social force. "But by the mid-nineteenth century, the ideological contradictions between a national defense of slavery on American soil on the one hand, and the universal freedoms espoused in the Declaration of Independence on the other hand, had created a deep moral schism in the national culture."

The abolitionist movement continued to gain steam during the 30 years immediately prior to the Civil War, transforming, at times, from groups of people educating others about the evils of slavery to groups of people make effective resistance efforts against slavery. In addition, abolitionists became more vociferous; instead of advocating on behalf of a gradual phase-out of slavery in America, many abolitionists argued for the immediate end of slavery. What made many of these arguments more poignant was the fact that many African-Americans, most of them former slaves, took an active role in the abolitionist argument. The three most notable African-American abolitionists were: David Walker, Frederick Douglass, and Sojourner Truth.

Walker was noted for his promotion of violent resistance among slaves and his commitment to helping individual slaves escape from slavery; in fact, a bounty was placed on his head and he died under mysterious circumstances. Douglass and Truth took a more conventional approach to abolition; they did not incite violence by the slaves, but they traveled extensively, speaking out about the evils of slavery, based up on their personal experience as former slaves.

Finally, the 1800s the relationship between race and slavery became solidified. During colonial times it was not unusual for whites to come to the colonies as indentured servants. These servants would basically have sold themselves into slavery for a certain period of time, in order to pay for their passage to the New World. Likewise, even kidnapped slaves could initially save up and purchase their own freedom. Therefore, in the early days of the country, there was a much more fluid border between freeman and slave, and there were not as many racial overtones to slavery. However, as America became more dependent upon slave labor, it became increasingly less advantageous for slave-owners to allow their slaves to buy their freedom. In addition, it became more important, financially, not only for slave-owners to be able to own slaves, but also to exercise total dominion over them. This type of treatment of a human being was seemingly irreconcilable with a country built upon the principle of personal liberty. Therefore, it became important to dehumanize slaves. "False sciences and religious zealotry were the primary fervent justifications for how black slaves were treated…Social and political illusionists who purveyed racial inferiority, genetic deficiencies, primal instinct and infantile proclivities successfully convinced a nation that it was in fact acceptable to treat blacks as property because it was scientifically and religiously sanctioned and preordained."