Slavery in the American Colonies - Essay Example

Slavery in the American colonies (specifically Virginia and Maryland) begins because of racial attitudes already held by the English. Slaves were taken from the racially oppressed communities. Racism is prevalent since the birth of America. Various types of racial stereotypes existed in American before the advent of slavery. The use of racial stereotypes upgrades or degrades the value of a group in general and ignores the importance and uniqueness of the individual. The black minorities were thus oppressed to the core which made them pushed to the cruel hands of the slave traders. Slaves were taken from the disadvantaged black minorities. Slavery is the child of racism. America since its very beginning practiced cruel racism which does not have any true scientific or biological base. Ethnic segregation and discrimination was very much evident in all areas. This practice started long years back and was followed by people and transferred to the next generations. It later became a political phenomenon. The white majority was found to be proud in their own race (a part of heritage). They were of the belief that they are superior to others in race as well as culture. They tried to put the minorities down in order to strengthen their own group. They developed extreme hatred towards the black minorities and had an overall sense of bigotry. The black minorities were oppressed to the core and were denied all rights. The demands and opinion of the blacks were never considered at all. All political, economic and social activities of the society were planned by the leaders of the superior group in order to give power and authority to white people and to strengthen the dominance of white group over the non-white group. The strange segregation thus totally tampered the unity and cooperation in our society. This eventually developed a situation that ultimately led the society to the practice of slavery. Story of the elimination of slavery from the American land is quite long. Slavery is the core reason the nation witnessed the disastrous civil war. United States started practicing slavery as early as 1619. Towards the closing of American Revolution, majority of the northern states stopped slavery, while the plantation economy of the South continued practicing it. In the years before the Civil War all the issues were centered on the issue of slavery. This started with the debates made on the three-fifths clause on the Constitutional Convention of 1787. It further proceeded with the Compromise of 1820, the anti-slavery Gag Rule, the Nullification Crisis, and finally the Compromise of 1850. In the first half of the nineteenth century slavery was supported by the Southern politicians. They maintained the control of the federal government. Though they had most of their Presidents hailing from the South, they were very serious about maintaining a balance of power in the Senate. New states joined the Union and several compromises appeared to keep an equal number of free and slave states. In 1820, Missouri joined as a slave state and Maine came as a free state. The balance got disrupted in 1850 as Southerners allowed California to come as a free state in return for laws upholding slavery. The balance was later disturbed with the joining of free Oregon and Minnesota. The increase of the gap between free and slave state illustrates the changes happening in each region. When South, with a slow population growth, adopted an agrarian plantation economy, North adopted industrialization. They had large urban areas, with large infrastructures. They witnessed increased birth rates and a large inflow of European immigrants. The increase in population made South to keep a balance in the government. This lead to the addition of several free states. An anti-slavery president was also appointed. The political issue that ultimately took the nation towards the war was nothing but slavery in the western territories acquired during the Mexican-American War. The same case was earlier considered in 1820, when slavery was permitted in the Southern border of Missouri. Rep. David Wilmot tried to prevent slavery as he brought the Wilmot Proviso in Congress. After long debate it got defeated. Attempts were made to solve the issue, but failed. The issue appeared again in 1854 with the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Kansas-Nebraska Act resulted in an arrival of pro- and anti-slavery forces into Kansas. Free Staters and Border Ruffians continued open violence for few years. Even though the pro-slavery forces in Missouri influenced the elections, the President Buchanan accepted the Lecompton Constitution. Though he put it before Congress for Statehood, they rejected it. Congress ordered fresh election. The anti-slavery Wyandotte Constitution got it appeal from Congress in 1859. The fight in Kansas increased the problems between South and North. As the South understood that the control of the government was getting weak, it considered the rights arguments of the states to protect slavery. According to Southerners, federal government has no rights to interfere in the rights of the slaveholders and take their property into a new territory as per the tenth Amendment. They said that government should not interfere with slavery. The issue of slavery got worsened by the coming of the Abolitionist movement in the 1820s and 1830s. Adherents said that slavery is not just a social evil, it is rather a practice which is morally wrong. Abolitionists cried for the freedom of the slaves. They campaigned for anti-slavery causes and demanded the abolition of slavery. They supported anti-slavery causes like Free State movement in Kansas. As abolitionists started popularizing their ideas, there arose an ideological debate with thee Southerners about the morality of the practice of slavery. The anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom's Cabin also gave enough support to abolitionists. The book made the public turn against the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. John Brown, a fervent abolitionist who became popular in the ‘Bleeding Kansas’ used violence and insurrection to fight against slavery. Brown and his men tried to raid the government’s armory. He expected the nation’s slaves to rise up and attacked the armory for obtaining weapons for the insurrection. However US Marines arrived and captured militia. He was tried for treason and later hanged. He predicted that the crimes of the nation will be purged away with blood only. No wonder the nation headed towards the Civil War. This finally resulted in the elimination of slavery from the land of America. References “Toward Slavery,” by Edmund S. Morgan, from American Slavery, American Freedom, W.W. Norton and Company 1975, pages 295-315. Read More