The Basic Aspects of American Slavery - Essay Example

Working as a slave was one of the best they could achieve in life. This contributed to various problems in handling the issue. The basic aspect of American slavery was that many Americans were incredibly divided about the idea of slavery.

The North fought towards the abolition of slavery while the Southern economy was in high demand of cheap labor provided by the slaves. Slavery was for economic factors since the English settler required slaves to provide labor in their huge farms.

During the 1680s through to the 17th century, the population of indentured servants declined and the need for more labor force was required for the huge tobacco plantations. To the farmers or tobacco planters, slavery was the ideal labor because it was cheap was of solving the shortage of labor. Planters had an abundance of land while suffering losses because they lacked laborers. Nonetheless, the status of the slave was predetermined by the material conditions of the slave life. During the early colonial period, both indentured servants and slaves got better treatment than the black slaves. They also belonged to the poorest ranks in the society, thus; they barely enjoyed greater freedoms.
As with many of the aspects of the history regarding slavery, the dynamics of urban existence for the enslaved went from one region to another between historical periods. Many colonies such as the Northern colony and low country such as Carolinas began moving from cities to the countryside, thus; focusing more on agricultural production, in the lower valley of Mississippi. For example, in 1763, a quarter of the black populace of Louisiana resided on small tracks in distinct near the city of New Orleans. Nonetheless, the circumstances were to be altered in subsequent periods.

By the year 1800 do you think slavery was growing, or was it in the state of decay some of the Founders had hoped for?
In the late 1700 and 1800, slavery was beginning its state decay as some of its founders had hoped. This is justified by the fact that in 1860, roughly 140,000 slaves abandoned some of their duties and had begun living in the towns and cities throughout the South. For instance in Charleston, South Carolina alone, there were roughly 40,000 enslaved individuals constituting a third of the city’s populace. A similar number was witnessed in other states such as Alabama, Virginia, Richmond, and Mobile. Many of the planters or slave masters had begun giving the urban enslaved less arduous physical labor. They were given simple jobs in warehouses, cotton presses, shipyards, and brickyards while others were assigned duties as masons, butchers, and tailors (Morgan, 153).

It is evident that in Southern cities, slavery was not a good idea amongst many. As the slaves worked in the building industries and later became skilled tradesmen. These urban slaves had begun sleeping in the same lodgings as their masters, usually in the backroom or an attic. Many of the wealthy proprietors preferred building a house for the senior slaves such as drivers, cooks, among other servants. The slaves were further subjected to a practice of hiring that made them a route to independence in their way of life. Slave owners began renting slaves to others and money raised helped both the slaves and their owners. Above all, solving slavery was a problem because of the predominant factors such as the incapability of many to accept that servitude was a problem, engagements between the North and South, and the frantic state of the slaves. Eventually, all these factors led to the abolition of slavery in America.