The South Was Very Attached to Slavery Institution - Essay Example

Part A Slavery was seen as a "peculiar of the South that affected the nation as a whole. How did slavery affect or shape the way thatnortherners, particularly Republicans, viewed the South How did these political antislavery activists view African Americans generally What images or stereotypes did antislavery activists-abolitionists like Harriet Beecher Stowe and politicians like Abraham Lincoln-have of white southerners, including planters, non-slaveholders, and southern women Relevant Material: lecture notes, American History, Chapter 11, Chapter 12 ("The Crusade Against Slavery," Chapter 13 ("The Crisis of the 1850s"), and Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin) The South was seen to be very attached to their slavery institution and this was largely because of the need for labour in the tobacco and cotton fields of the American South. However, antislavery movements were not necessarily because they found that racism was abhorrent, on the contrary, for example, in Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, Uncle Tom is the typified exemplary African American that the American North agreed on. Uncle Tom was subservient, docile and strongly Christian. He accepted his fate as well as his position as an inferior according to the Bible. Next, we have to understand the political reason behind the decision to abolish slavery in America as a whole. Abraham Lincoln's policy on slavery was simple, it was an economic decision. Slavery was costly and the Southern states of America did not achieve the urbanisation and industrialisation that was apparent on the North. It was reasoned that because of slavery and its costs of maintenance, rapid industrialisation will have difficulty to penetrate the South. For example, the labour of a free African American was cheaper than the cost of maintaining a slave who's health, food, living and treatment must be accounted for. The other reason for the North's decision to stifle slavery in the South was so that they could obtain money from import tariffs. By stifling the cotton industry of the South and allowing cheaper imported cotton the Northern government could profit better. But in addition, it was also seen from the North that there was contempt of the Southern life and its standards. Robert E. Lee once wrote that the Africans who were displaced were better off here than they were in Africa and the pity was to the Southern whites. But he also believed that their slavery was a 'necessary' evil that would educate the Africans Americans even if it was by the hand of the 'plebeian' South. 2. If nothing else, slavery set the South apart, made it unique. How did the institution of slavery operate, and what was its effect on the slave Analyze the organization of the plantation system and the white racial attitudes that underpinned and justified slavery. How did these beliefs bind together planters and non-slaveholders After considering the institution from the slaveholder's point of view, consider how slaves responded to slavery. What effect did it have on their psyche, families, culture, and the like Relevant Material: lecture notes, American History, Chapter 11; Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin The institution of slavery was divided into two, the domestic sphere and the agricultural sphere. The slaves of the domestic sphere's work were concerned with only the family's wellbeing and needs and worked as butlers, servants, cooks, helps and even wet-nurses to the white families' children. The agricultural sphere was concerned with the planting, harvesting, etc. work. Nearing the civil war most of the slaves were already 2nd and 3rd generation African Americans and have been since birth embedded with the slave psyche. They developed an attitude of ignorance and avoidance of the white man. Their life was bleak and hopeless and yet they maintained faith in Christianity as a means of their own salvation. In actuality, their attitude was similar to the peasant and working classes of Europe, accepting the oppression within their lives. As I have said, characters that were represented in Uncle Tom's cabin and especially Uncle Tom itself was the docile subservience that believed in its providence of God, however, even if they were emancipated from slavery the whites still expected that there would be a 'caste' and 'class' difference. They were merely replacing themselves who were originally working class immigrants from Europe with another group of people. The slaveholders and the plantation owners justified themselves for example the family in which Uncle Tom worked for was cruel and oppressive and they justified their means using the bible, the abolitionists on the other hand also used the bible as a means to justify equality. The oppression placed on by the whites on their slaves created a situation like the African American wet nurse who was like a mother figure, displacing the child's own biological mother, it was known that at one point the white child will understand this difference and treat the slaves indifferently. In addition to being slaves, the family institution, especially the nuclear family often developed a leser attachment towards their children, this was an attitude developed because they know that their children did not belong to them and could easily be separated from them. Part B 1. 1837, an anti-abolitionist mob in Alton, Illinois, shot and killed Elijah Lovejoy, an editor of an abolitionist newspaper. In 1860, Abraham Lincoln of Springfield, Illinois, was elected Republican president of the United States. Trace the course of American antislavery attitudes between the 1830s and 1860. How did the movement evolve from one characterized by radical reformers with little support to one supported by most northerners As you trace the growth of political antislavery pay particular attention to: a) differences between abolitionists and Republicans in philosophy and action; and b) the importance of the following events: the Wilmot Proviso, the Compromise of 1850, Kansas, the Dred Scott case, John Brown's raid, and the election of 1860. Relevant Material: lecture notes, American History, Chapter 13 and Chapter 14 ("The Secession Crisis") a) At the beginning, in the 1830s, not many supported the abolitionist movement especially the Republicans. The abolitionist movement during a period where business was booming meant that they were threatening the whole economic order of the South. Let us begin with the differences between the abolitionists and Republicans themselves. A large majority of the abolitionists were Christian Protestants especially the more notorious Quaker denomination of the Christian church. They preached sobriety, piety and compassion and they believed that man was created equally in the eyes of God. This was contrary to the Republicans who were secular Christians such as the likes of Abraham Lincoln. Although the Republicans' philosophy on anti-slavery was based on the profit and benefit of the state while the abolitionists the merit of their afterlife. b) The Wilmot Proviso was a bill or provision that was intended to resolve the issues on the treaty ending the Mexican-American war. The Wilmot Proviso states that no slavery was to be introduced in any Mexican territory acquired by the Americans. This would be one of the leading problems between the Republicans and the Confederates later on in the Civil War. The clash of interests of especially the North's intention to suppress and form with the South as one government. c) The Dred Scott Case is particularly imperative in part of the abolitionists as well as the Republicans to rally support for the end of slavery. Dred Scott who have travelled to extended areas that did not allow slavery allowed him to claim for freedom himself. However, the Supreme Court of Justice ruled that African Americans can never be citizens whether they were not slaves but were descendants of slaves. d) John Brown's raid was another problem of abolitionists' attempt to integrate Blacks and Whites outside of the scope of law knowing that the Supreme Court of Justice was not in favour of abolitionists and Republicans. John Brown, in an attempt to slow down the federal reserve army, Brown and his men wanted to steal their armory. Brown was found guilty and was hanged. e) The last issue, the election of 1860 set precedence of what was to happen during the Civil War. There were several issues that were unresolved but Abraham Lincoln won the election without the support of any Southern states, a difficult feat to pass but the South was divided and that caused the Confederates to lose the election. The high point of abolition of slavery came at this point when the North realized they had the power to manipulate and control the divided South. 2. One historian has characterized Wilmot's Proviso and the Calhoun resolutions (i.e., the South's response to the proviso) as two blades of shears: neither blade, by itself, would cut very effectively; but the two together could sever the bonds of Union. What were the central assumptions that defined both doctrines How did each appeal to basic elements in American political culture and, by extension, to the heritage of the Revolution Why after nearly half a century, did northerners decide to agitate and give vent to their antislavery feelings How was their antislavery argument limited The central assumption is that both of these issues could be resolved together instead of apart and could have destroyed the Union. But this was not the case, the North also had its fair share of anti-abolitionists, but they were encumbered by a number of other antislavery supporters especially under the Republicans. As I have explained before, although they were against slavery but they were not against the cheaper labour available of freed slaves. It must be understood that the Republicans were in it for the money, there were benefits that could be accosted from abolition and they have accounted for that. Their antislavery argument was limited because they expected that the new working class was of another colour than they themselves, at least for a moment in time there would be a caste and class difference as mentioned by the sociologist John Berreman. Read More