African American history assessing the antebellum slavery - Essay Example

African American History Assessing the antebellum slavery Ante means before and bellum means war. It had different categories of slaves working as urban and domestic skilled, rural and agriculture, others living in homes owned by slave holders as well as those who worked in plantations. This slavery is viewed as the highest degree of aristocracy. The aristocrats were very wealthy and owned vast pieces of land which were developed by the slaves. One factor that had an effect on slave institution was need for labor to work in the white farms. Slave trade was viewed by slave masters as necessary evil because there was sparse population and therefore they needed labor to work in their farms. In order to get this labor they had to force the blacks to work in their farms. The effect of this on the slaves is that they were forced to leave their homes to go and provide the required labor. The greatest oppressor of antebellum slaves was lack of education. There were also limited opportunities to professionals. They were denied education because the masters wanted to ensure that accumulation of property was easy. Lack of education was also contributed to by the fact that the slaves no property that could help them subsidize for a good education. As per the nature of work done, slavery involved involuntary servitude. It involved securing labor services by means of force and treating the slaves so acquired as property. Work was assigned according to one’s physical capability where a day’s hours of work ranged from 15-16 hours. Moreover work was not assigned according to sex differentiation. Therefore even pregnant women could find themselves doing hard tasks like hoeing. An accident of birth is what determined the status of the slaves. Human nature coupled with inequality in power is the greatest factor that influenced slavery. The slavery had negative effects on the slaves. Effect of the slave trade on slaves was that they were subjected to very little or no privacy at all. They were put in various concentration camps in very large numbers. As a result there was a lot of overcrowding such that there could be no longer private life for the slaves. There was also a lot of work for the slaves. Due to this they had no free time for them. They were always expected to be working all the time. There was also no time for the family. This was mainly due to the amount of work that they were expected to do. Secondly, due to the manner in which different tasks were allocated to different slaves, it meant that there was little time for the family. They were not able to see each other occasionally. Their children were usually sold or given away by the slave masters therefore they could not be closely knit together as a family. Furthermore, the slaves were not allowed to marry. This was because the slave masters thought that if the slaves were allowed to form families, they could have other responsibilities and thus they could not be able to work as they were expected to. To avoid this, they prohibited them from marrying. Another negative effect of the slavery is that they were subjected to very many rapes. They were raped by other slaves as well as by the slave masters. Profitability of slave trade To the holding master Slave trade though considered as a vice, it brought with it a number of considerable benefits. There were different benefits that accrued to different people. Since this was controlled workforce, coupled with economies of scale, ensured that there was free labor. The greatest beneficiary of this system was the white master. The system ensured that they produced more than they could have if they worked on their own. Benefit of slavery to the slave masters was that they were able to amass great wealth owing to the fact that slaves made doing of work in the firms easier. To the slaves The benefits that accrued to the slaves were that they were able to access better housing, better food and better clothing. There was also increased freedom of movement as well as more chances to escape. The difference in terms of wealth between the masters and the slaves wasn’t that much. This is because the slaves were able to enjoy living a prosperous country life. Non slave holding whites The non-slave holding whites were not opposed to slave trade. They did this because even if they didn’t exploit them their existence gave them some sense of superiority since they had some people they considered inferior to them. Slave system was a basis of the economic and social system of the people in the south. This therefore explains why they vehemently opposed the termination of slave trade. To the south as a section The existence of slave trade improved the economic conditions of the people in the south. This meant that economy of the south grew tremendously. In fact Southern politicians were keen on allowing slavery to extend into new territories. This was primarily because they were concerned with their ability and power to influence. To the North as a section There was some degree of opposition toward slavery and slave trade by the North. The primary reason as to why they were opposed to the slavery was purely based on moral reasons. However, not all Northerners were concerned with this moral issue. In fact they were opposed to abolition of slave trade since its abolition would be detrimental to their economy. This therefore is evidence enough that they reaped economic benefits from slave trade. Slave resistance The slaves used to resist whenever it was possible. However it was not easy for slave’s rebellion to succeed. Therefore slaves only resisted when it was possible to do so especially by employing individual actions. They could also do this by forming a culture that was distinct as well as by means of their religious beliefs. These religious beliefs helped them keep alive their hopes that all was not lost in the face of the existing persecution. The most common type of resistance used by slaves is what was called the day to day resistance. These involved some small acts of rebellion. The slaves employed sabotage that manifested itself in things like setting master’s buildings on fire as well as breaking the tools they used to work with. They imagined that destroying the owner’s property was akin to destroying the master himself however indirectly. Also they used to feign sickness, pretending to be dumb or doing the work slowly. This was done by both men and women in order to get relief to stay away from the existing harsh working conditions. It was easier for women to fake illness because they were expected to give birth to children on behalf of their masters. Therefore, the masters were keen on protecting the child bearing ability of these women. Slaves also used to play on the prejudices of their masters through pretending that they could not understand the instructions that the masters were giving them. Slaves also where it was possible slow down the pace at which they were doing the work. Women who worked in the household used this in order to undermine their masters. One example is given of a woman who was executed in South Carolina because of poisoning the slave master. Many women who were expected to bear children for their masters used birth control methods or deliberately aborted the children to protect them from the slavery they were being subjected to. Plantation slave occupations The crops that were grown in plantations were sugar, tobacco and cotton. These were grown in large scale in farms that were known as plantations. Expansion of Europe increased the demand for the crops and therefore the plantations continued to grow over time. The plantation owners were therefore in need of more slaves to work in these plantations. Most of the slaves were farmers in Africa. They therefore came with rice production knowledge. They were therefore tasked with growing tobacco. When it was planting times, those who worked as house slaves as well as those worked in the fields helped in the farms. Slave children could also work part time in tobacco field. Their tasks involved running errands like watching over their younger siblings. For example, Boatswain was purchased as a young child. As he grew up in the plantation his work as a child involved looking after young children. Later he began working in the farms. He used to plant cotton, weeding as well as harvesting. My heroes in antebellum slavery One of my heroes is Washington. He was a lifelong slave holder. He was not very vocal on slavery but his feelings about slavery were expressed privately. He felt that Africans were equal to white and if given the same opportunity as the Americans they would succeed equally. He wrote a will in which he freed the slaves. Though he owned slaves, he made sure that they received considerable attention. In fact he was deeply involved in their lives. He discouraged overseers from mistreating the slaves and encouraged them to ensure that the slaves received the attention they deserved as people. He made sure that slaves did not work when they were ill and ensured they received medical attention and proper food. Another person whom I consider a hero for me is Jefferson. He was so vocal in opposing slavery. He held that Africans ought to have been treated equally as American and that there was no difference between the two. He advocated for the provision of good conditions of work for the plantation worker, adequate medical cover, and good food as well proper compensation for the work done. He was also a lifelong slave holder. Unlike Washington who was not vocal, Jefferson was very eloquent in championing for the rights of the slaves. He said that slavery had the potential of disturbing the stability of a country. Maria W. Chapman is one of the few women abolitionists in America. She led vigorous campaigns advocating for the equal treatment of all people. She was a spirited song writer whose songs passed out the message of abolishing slave trade. There was Hellen G. Garisson who was the wife of William Lloyd. She published some articles that were calling upon the congress to do away with slavery. The two women were members of Massachusetts Anti-slavery society. However, their spirited companies were curtailed by the fact that there was divided opinion as to what the proper role of women in anti-slavery should be. Some people opined that the role of women should remain purely auxiliary. They also held that women should not compete directly with men and should therefore not take centre stage in campaigning against slavery. However, it is worth noting that despite the many challenges that have been encountered by these women in their quest, which have made considerable and tremendous achievements for abolition of slavery. They have also been calling upon the leaders in America to accord equal treatment to all people including the blacks since all people are equal. Antebellum free black These are the blacks that had not been subjected to the tortuous of slavery. They were very vocal in challenging the injustice of the slavery of the slaves. It is however good to note that their ability to speak out was basically determined by the question of whether they lived in the north or south. Those who lived in the South were in the shadow of slavery and were not in a position to travel freely or assemble freely. Those in the North on the other hand could do this freely. They were very vocal and actively participated in the affairs of the American society. They were deployed as soldiers who engaged in fighting during American Revolution as well as the war that occurred in 1982. They owned land, businesses, and homes and also paid taxes. At some point, those who owned property were allowed to participate in voting. However, they faced some discriminatory laws that were coined in favor of whites. A number of free blacks were also allowed to own slaves. This was by those free blacks who owned plantations in states like Virginia and South Carolina. Moreover, they started their own churches that were later to become the hub of their lives economically, socially as well as intellectually. They also expressed their opinions in newspaper with 1827 marking the first publication of a black newspaper. They also engaged in securing freedom for other blacks even though this was a dangerous engagement. A number of them returned to Africa with the help of American and colonized the present day Liberia. Those who didn’t chose this option focused their energy on achieving a measure of equality as compared to Americans. My perception of freed blacks has totally changed. I initially had the impression that they were fully committed to ensuring freedom of the blacks who were enslaved. I must admit that I am quite shocked to find out that some of them had the audacity to take in their fellow blacks as slaves in their plantations. I consider this as the highest level of betrayal. What was the economic condition of freed blacks from revolutionary war era to civil era? Free blacks were deployed to fight in the American Revolution war as well as the war that occurred in 1827. They were living in a good economic state. They owned houses, carried on business and had big plantation farms. They used to take in fellow Africans as slaves in these plantations. Those free blacks were in some instances allowed to take part in the country’s elections. Civil war It was fought in America between 1861 to1865. Southern slave states broke away from United States to form Confederate States of America. The causes of the war are mainly traced to existing tensions that can be traced back in American history. The greatest cause of war was the institution of slaver and slave trade. The war continued for about four years after which the confederacy were done away with and consequently slave trade was abolished. Slavery was one and in fact the greatest cause of this civil war in America. The greatest cause of the rivalry was the differences between the Southerners and the Northerners economically and socially. The southern states were dissatisfied with the expansion of the institution of slavery as well as the deplorable living conditions of the slaves. They therefore felt the need to break away from America and form their own state. There ensued a fight between slave and non-slave state opponents. These differences in opinions as to whether to uphold or abolish slave trade were therefore the greatest contributors to the existence of civil war in America Works cited Roper, G. L. Antebellum Slavery. Xlibris Corporation. New York. United States. (2009). 336 pages Read More