The United States changed dramatically in a very short time after the Revolution, the transition was not an easy one, militarily, politically, and culturally. Socially, the new emphasis on egalitarianism and individual rights changed the relationship and roles. America’s call for freedom from British oppression while still being a slave society was undeniably ironic, yet, the Revolutionary movement initiated serious consideration of the issue of slavery. Both Americans and the British made various arguments concerning the irony. As slave-owning and slave trading were accepted routines of colonial life, slavery would play a central part in the language of the revolution.
Significance: Slavery brought Africans to America, challenged this country to look at all men as equals and made us leaders in the world for civil rights of mankind. Cause: The ability for ships to sail to America and the greed of slave ship captains made slavery in a new frontier, America, inevitable. Effect: The widespread supply and demand for slavery caused civil unrest within Africa and turned many groups against one another. Eventually these groups became part of the slave trade and provided slaves from their own tribes. Significance: This vicious cycle caused economic and political unrest, ultimately weakening Africa’s economic, political and social stability.
Because in my perspective, this contradictory proclamation seems to be a political propaganda to support only the whites. Today I stand, as a runaway slave who escaped the grasp of slave owners and harsh Fugitive Slave Laws presented in the Compromise of 1850. However, tension has finally reached a peak between the North and the South due to the secession in 1860. I believe that several key events from 1845-1861 caused all this turmoil and crashed the regional differences between the Union and the Confederacy together. Eventually leading to the outbreak of the Civil war in 1861.
Therefore, slaves demanded leaders of the revolution to follow their self proclaimed creed and abolish slavery. Due to the American Revolution many slaves had not only gained their freedom but well challenged the question of slavery in America. Period of American Revolution is extremely significant in American history. During these times young country went through many changes that forever impacted her history. It is hard to overestimate the effects of on a political, social, economic life of every citizen.
Mississippi was admitted as a slave state to the union because of the intense profitability of cotton and the use of slaves. The war of 1812 would drastically change the relationships of plantation owners and the slaves that they owned. The owners begin to realize if they treated slaves like humans it would likely decrease the odds that the slaves would rebel against them. Slaves begin to migrate into Mississippi very heavily during this time also. The slave trade saw massive amounts of slaves being brought into this area at this time.
Southern states believed that their way of life was being infringed, meaning that slavery was an important institution for their mainly agricultural based economy. The infringement of their way of life was what really caused the succession of the Confederate states and the Civil War. It has been said that the Civil War is the second American Revolution. In many ways, this statement is accurate. The American Revolution was fought because colonists felt the tyrannical government of Great Britain was abusing their authority, and directly affecting their way of life and happiness.
Prior to the Civil War, African Americans were never treated very humanely. The Whites were the dominant race while the African Americans suffered under their commands as slaves who were treated unequally. Because slavery was such a huge issue, it became the reason of the outbreak of the Civil War. The African American troops in the movie Glory fought with their lives in hopes of winning the war to achieve freedom. Their goal was to abolish slavery completely and prevent it from harming many people.
This led to an economic strength that made these states even more adamant about defending the right to own slaves. There was no question that without slavery the antebellum would crumble and thus the South was able to weather the growing number of revolts, rebellions, and northern political opposition that was mounting. Edicts such as the Fugitive Slaves Law attempted to curb the flight of slaves to the Northern states and the Underground Railroad became a serious threat to Southern plantation owners who needed ever more assistance from this free work force to maintain their economic prowess. The Nat Turner revolt as well as the outspoken writings and speeches of the former slave Frederick Douglass contributed to the growing dissent but the South defended their claim to economic security through slavery until it became legally impossible for the to do so after the Civil War. The Thirteenth Amendment formally declared an end to slavery and despite the amount of money and political effort spent defending the right to use slavery, the South was left behind the desires of the North, which was growing economically as a result of industrialization and was home to ever-growing numbers of abolitionist
Even though the North and South tried to reconcile their differences on the issue of slavery by implementing compromises in the 1820’s and 1850’s, both attempts failed, leading up to the Civil War. On March 14, 1794, Eli Whitney’s was granted a patent for the cotton gin. The cotton gin made the job of separating cotton from its seed much easier. The ease of separating the cotton fiber from the seed meant that more raw cotton would be needed to keep up with increased demand. Therefore, a large amount of slaves were needed in the south to work the fields as fast as the cotton gins could separate
Sadly it is here where things went wrong, and the ugly side of human nature reared its face. The residents of the colonies came to the realization that these Africans were a “great” source of cheap labor, thus constituting the institution of slavery. With this by the end of the seventeenth century, the colonies began to establish laws that stated these people that were originally indentured servants were to be slaves for life as well as their children. And this is how slavery got its start in what was to become the “great” country, The United States of America. Not too