Just A System

Slavery was a much debated issue in American during the eighteenth and nineteenth century. People began to think that slavery was declining in the eighteenth century, but they would soon find out that they were very wrong. To begin our discussing slavery before the civil war, our class took a look at slavery in the  Founder's Constitution. We found that in the constitution, there was a ten dollar maximum tax on each imported slave. Also in article 4 section 2 clause 3, it states that any enslaved person should not be permitted to escape into another state and if they do, they have to be returned to their work place. The final clause we read says that for every five slaves, three would be counted in the House of Representatives. This document is evidence of slavery being entrenched because people during the time would know this constitution and respect it and take it as slavery being established in the country when it was founded.

Next, we took a look at the cotton gin by reading Cotton is King: Slavery is Entrenched in American Society 

Cotton is King: Slavery is Entrenched in American Society.and watching a  video on the cotton gin.  The cotton gin was invented in 1792 by Eli Whitney to increase the profit margin for cotton by cleaning the sticky seeds from it. Little did he know, this invention would have a huge impact on American history. By looking at a module showing the relationship between the cotton production and slavery after the cotton gin was invented. The spread of cotton and slavery over the course of almost 100 years shows a demarcation in slavery. In 1790, the entire south produced only 1.5 million pounds of cotton. That number rises to 331 million pounds in 1830. Then, it goes onto to rise to 2.28 billion pounds of cotton that was being produced in 1860. Obviously, there is a clear demand and rise in production of cotton. While the amount of cotton that is being produced keeps rising, so does the slave population. In 1790, the slave population is at 690,000. It increases to 2,010,000 slaves in 1830 and to 3,954,000 in 1860. Take a look at these pictures from the module below. 

Then, we started to take a closer look at the morality of slavery. First, we analyzed three documents on Frederick Douglass, George Fitzhugh, and John Brown. John Brown was against slavery. He wanted to lead his men into Harper's Ferry Virginia to gather weapons and create an uprising against slavery. He was stopped and most of his men were killed and captured. Smith didn't believe in peaceful protest. His stride to abolish slavery took him to extreme lengths and his actions cause mixed reactions from the north and harsh reactions in the south. George Douglass was for slavery and thought that it was beneficial to society and protected the poor. He says that slaves are being treated better than the free people of the north. Also, his sates, "negro slaves are the happiest and freest people in the whole world". That is a quite shocking statement to hear today because we know that that is definitely not the case. Frederick Douglas was the first black citizen to hold a high ranking position in society. He was asked to speak at a Fourth of July celebration years prior to the civil war and he made it clear that he didn't feel like celebrating the Fourth of July and liberty was right because there were so many people enslaved.

In groups we were asked to read about one of the three men I described above and create an image surrounded by words form the documents we analyzed about them. My group did John Brown and the image is below.

To further look into slavery, we watched the docudrama Prince Among Slaves. This video told us the story of Abdhul Rhaman. Abdhul was a prince from Futa Jallon until he was sold into slavery. Once he was sold into slavery, his hair which represented his nobility from Futa Jallon was forced cut. He was mocked and given the nickname "prince" when trying to explain his high ranking position from his home. Because of his race, Abdhul Rhaman was forced into slavery and forced to adapt to a new life where he was part of the lowest ranking class. His identity was stripped form his and his life was taken up by unhappiness and working. When a system of slavery is based upon race, it makes people feel as if they are better and worse the others which is no way to think. The system of slavery  ignored everything about their slaves except the fact that they were owned and used to work and make profit. It ignored the fact that these slaves had identities and were all individual people, and instead they were seen as just a system.