Role of Slavery in Americas Development - Essay Example

Role of Slavery in America’s Development The Slavery Convention of 1926 defines slavery as “the status or condition of anindividual over whom any or all of the powers attaching to the right of ownership are exercised” (qtd. in Bales 43-44). Therefore, slaves are taken as assets or possessions and they therefore do not have the ability to leave the owner, be it an employer, or a territorial region without a clear permission. Slavery was one of the most imperative and contentious issue in both American politics the society during the nineteenth century. During this period, slavery developed and was progressively identified with the southern prosperity way of life. The American Revolution therefore gave rise to the spread of slavery who were used to carry out labor in the various American states more so in the southern region. The reason why slavery in the South spread faster as compared to the North still remains a substance of contention, however, there is absolutely certain that the concept of slavery had impact on social, political and economic towards the development of America and its society. Slavery has played a significant role in the social development of individuals in America. For instance, the “three-fifths” compromise concept in America, which identified the slaves as fractions of human beings for the purposes of census and population count which resulted to the guarantee of the white men more votes as compared to the blacks in senatorial and presidential elections. This action therefore sweetened the pill through the provision of semi equality, humanism, liberty thus to a small extent meeting the slave’s quest of happiness simply because this concept did not seem to be consistent with the brutal practice of chattel slavery. Chattel slavery the concept that comes into the mind of individuals when they try to imagine and visualize the extent of slavery which existed in America and other parts of the world before and during the Civil War (ORourke 56). In chattel slavery, the slaves were treated like actual possessions and property since individuals were bought, sold, and were not allowed to engage in any sensual societal duty such as voting. The “three-fifth” compromise therefore advanced the brutalizing effect of chattel slavery. This effect was achieved in two ways. To begin with, it gave consideration to the slave as a human, even though it recognized them as less than complete human beings. Secondly, it gave the slaves a chance of participating in important functions such as voting in congress and presidential elections. This concept was the basis of equality principle of the American society and through it, the concept democracy was given birth. It is beyond doubt that democracy has played a relatively huge role in terms of the development in America. Equally important, slavery has played an important role in the economic development of the general American society. Over time, many historians have usually debated on the profitability of slavery to America, and even though this issue might be is contentious, it is undeniable that slavery resulted to an increase in productivity. In addition, slavery has long been directly or indirectly linked to the growth of American industrial development, capitalism, technology, scientific revolution, population, among other aspects. For instance, the creation of the cotton gin was a huge step in the economic development of America through slave trade. When the Southern part of America endeavored to profit from the use of its highly fertile but idle land, slave holders had to ensure that there is production of as much as possible in order for the supply to meet the demand of the market. The invention of the cotton gins therefore allowed the sufficient production of cottons over relatively short periods. In addition, the slave holders introduced the “Gang System” which aimed at ensuring that the slaves produced even more cotton. In this system the individual slaves were given definite tasks to do and were provided with machines to make their work easier and faster. By doing this, the slave holders realized that the slaves were very productive and worked extremely hard even under little supervision. Comparatively, slave holders also strived to promote a strong work ethic through the constant provision of incentives and presents to the slaves who had attained a given number or level of output. These incentives encouraged and motivated the slaves even further thereby making them to work even harder. Therefore, the benefits that Americans got from the growth of the crops, especially cotton, enabled the economic development and expansion of America as a whole which was achieved through domestic use and exports. Fogel and Engerman contend that slavery provided the labor that enthused and perpetuated the America’s economic development (78). They therefore argue that economic development should be largely attributed to the slavery industry which enabled the provision of high quality output using relatively cheap production costs. Furthermore, the two scholars presents various arguments to show that indeed, slavery was the basis of economic development in America. Firstly, slave trade was carried on by people for the primary reason of attaining and safeguarding their various economic interests. Therefore, the aspect of acquiring a slave was usually a highly profitable investment since one could gain cheap labor that was freely and abundantly available. Secondly, slavery was not much affected more so economically by the Civil War since there is absolutely no evidence that economic forces alone would ring the end to the war. In fact, the approach of the Civil War led to the strengthening of slavery, which in turn strengthened the economic system toward attaining even more entrenchment. Thirdly, the wide belief which presents that the “black family” was destroyed by the slave industry through various acts resulting from slave exploitation, sexual harassment, and promiscuity among others is an absolute fairytale. Just as in normal societal setting, the family too was the basic unit of societal organization during the slave trade period. Therefore, slaveholders encouraged and ensured the stability of the slave families in order to safeguard the economic interest of their planters and work assets. Additionally, free agriculture and slave agriculture did not have much different in terms of the economic gain. In fact slave agriculture led to the realization of much more yields due to the concept of economies of large-scale production, and the abundance in the availability of the much needed labor and capital. This factors enabled the attainment of high production output that spurred economic growth in America. Besides the economic and social factors, slavery played a major role in the development of the political structure in America. The long-term nature of racism and Euro-centrism which led to the enactment of laws in America resulted to a legal sanction to discrimination against those of African origin. This was also enforced by the formulation of the Britain laws against racism were which were enacted later. Colonialism and slavery, more so in the Africa countries was based on the racist view that Africans and “black people” in general were unable to govern themselves, as depicted in the openly racist system of apartheid in South Africa (Still 112). Therefore, the colonialists, in this case the Americans, took advantage that the African states couldn’t govern themselves hence stepping in to lead but also ensure that they benefit more than the Africans in terms of raw materials and also setting up laws that limited African states from becoming independent. This was achieved through ensuring that they were dependent on them since even after independence hey would need to establish their political systems but the African states could not manage without help, therefore this showed superiority by the American colonizers. Comparatively, the post-colonial period was, it is now generally accepted, disastrous for the African continent, which is poorer than it was in mid-19th Century and where it is difficult to speak meaningfully of political or economic independence. For much of this period, Africa has been in debt, dependent on the big powers and politically unstable due to autocratic and dictatorial leaders who refuse to hand over power and attract intervention from the international community, also insufficient resources majorly led to underdevelopment of African states because colonialists had robbed African states of raw materials hence were not able to advance by manufacturing end products and instead benefitted Americans. Its economic resources, including its human ones, continue to be exploited mainly for the benefit of other countries as they provide cheap labor which earns the colonizers a fortune but keeps on depressing the African citizens who provide the manual labor. Slavery has therefore had many different impacts on various nations and the world at large. Even though slave trade is a highly in human act that should be always condemned, it has shown positive outcomes more so that can be attributable to the slavery that occurred during the eve of the Civil War. In this period, slavery was initiated and identified with the southern prosperity way of life. The impacts of slavery therefore have enabled the revolution and development of the social, economic and political spheres. Therefore, even though slavery has an extremely negative side, it has also led to major development not only in America but also in other continents as well. Works Cited Bales, Kevin. Understanding Global Slavery: A Reader. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005. Print. Fogel, W., R. & Engerman, S., L. Time on the Cross: The Economics of American Negro Slavery. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1974. Print. ORourke, David K. How Americas First Settlers Invented Chattel Slavery: Dehumanizing Native Americans and Africans with Language, Laws, Guns, and Religion. New York: Lang, 2005. Print. Still, Erica L. Prophetic Remembrance: African American and Black South African Narratives of Trauma. , 2007. Print. Read More