Manifest Destiny & Road to the Civil War & Slavery - Essay Example

More and more cotton plantations came into existence so is the labor to carry on with the plantation related works. The Southern region of America consisted of the creamy layer of the society and they all led a sophisticated life. The cotton industry grew up to become big and constituted about half of the exports made by America in 1845. Though the South had an upper hand in cotton manufacturing, it also helped the North region as the cotton looms are woven in the North. Few autocratic families headed over the dealings in the South and were popularly known as cottonocracy.

A lot of mythical facts were also there at that time and only about few 1,733 families had about some 100+ slaves with them. Women in the South had a great influence on it as well though they were not politically strong like the men they took care on the domestic sphere. It is not that the North did not like slavery that they did not have much of slavery going on. It was just that they did not have a flourishing business like the South and also at times they were jealous of the growth of the South to some extent.

Industry in the North could not compete with South region of America because of availability of the cheap labors in North. There was a popular idea that the North liked blacks and that people in the South hated them is an absolute myth. North region American hated blacks much more than that of the South and one famous belief to support this stand is the saying that the North liked the black race but hated the individuals, on the other hand south hated the race but loved the individuals. Many of the reasons can be attributed to the growth of the slavery system and the slaves.

Growing profits in cotton led to land butchery as there was always a demand for new cotton cultivation land. Smaller farm owners were not able to compete with the large plantation owners and hence they ended up selling their land to the plantation owners. The Cotton Kingdom was not without any downside as well. It was largely dependent on the cotton for its survival and depended on the North for everything. Over importance was given to speculations and invested a lot on land and slaves thus leading to debts.

Owning of slaves were considered to be a great prestige by these white masters and those who could not afford it thought it to be a life time achievement to own slaves of their own. It was not that all the whites were in a superior position. Only a few of the whites were wealthy and served as masters. A larger group of whites were poor and had to eat clay for survival. Though they were poor in status, they considered them above that of the blacks and hated the blacks to the core. Dangerous jobs were given to Irish men than slaves because of fear of losing them.

Slaves are considered to be a valuable investment. There was a period in America which saw up to some 250,000 free blacks by the year 1860. Some of the reasons behind it are the outburst of American Revolution, buying of the freedom by earning enough money and black child born to the white master. Northern whites and Irish people did not get along well with the fact that there are free blacks. Irish considered blacks as a competitor as they worked for lesser wages than the Irish. Though the legality of the bringing in of slaves was stopped, there were some illegal activities carried on.

Slave life is a difficult point for the blacks. They were treated very badly and are whipped for any