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Bailey Dean

AMH 2010

19 October 2017

Slavery and the Effects on Early America

The slave trade was a business that ran from 1502-1807. Slaves in the Americas were

treated horribly. Of the groups enslaved, the majority were Africans, with Indians as the second.

These slaves would then go to work mostly on plantations in the Southern Colonies and the

Caribbean. These slaves would make sugar, plant and harvest crops, and other . Very rarely were

these slaves freed. If they managed to become free, they still lived a very discriminated life.

They could never be educated or live a peaceful life without discrimination. They did not have

all the same God given rights even as stated in the Constitution, all because of their skin

color.The slave trade to the Americas had many affects on the political, social, and economic

environment for slaves and non-slaves.

In Southern colonial America slaves were an important part of life, which meant they

were the center of strict regulations and punishment. Lawmakers passed laws to ensure slaves

were treated as property, not people. The most famous case of these laws is, The Dred Scott

decision. Scott attempted to sue his master in 1847 for his freedom. His master moved into the

free states of Wisconsin and Illinois for two years. Scott was unaware of his ability to claim

freedom after that time. They later moved back down to the South. When his master died, Scott

attempted to buy freedom for himself and his wife. After the offer was refused he went through

the courts. The first time it was turned down, the second him and his wife were ruled as free.

After the Federal Court got involved, they were ruled as slaves because they were black. This
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ruling led to all black people being considered nat as citizens, but as slaves. On a smaller scale

than this one ruling, slaves were not allowed to be far from their masters. In Alabama, a slave

had to carry a pass when more than two miles from their master's residence or be subject to arrest

and punishment (Jewett & Allen 3). Many states didnt even allow this, some allowed slaves to

leave with their master, some not at all. However, the lawmakers did have a form of kindness.

Slaves could be allowed freedom by their masters through some ways. The least likely way is

their masters allowing them to leave. The term from this is called Manumission. Manumission was

sometimes offered because slaves had outlived their usefulness or were held in special favor by their

masters (pbs.org). Manny southen slave codes held slaves in such high value to the master, in

Virgina for example, many were not set free. In other states they were not as valuble over time so

more were free in those areas. These slave codes dictated the very exictance of a slaves life.

This control also affected the social construct of life in the colonies.

The existence of slavery caused many changes in the social life of the American

Colonies. Racism was rampant throughout the colonies. If anyone was of a different skin color,

even a little darker than white, they were treated less than human and risked enslavement.

Tennessee enforced their laws because they feared the black population. Laws were even passed

to limit the amount of free blacks in the state; the laws first passed in 1831 These laws did not

allow free blacks to move into the state and only slaves who were Emancipated before 1836 to

stay free. Most Tennesse slave owners believed that the presence of a free black community

potentially threatened to undermine the institution of slavery (Jewett & Allen 228). Most living

in Tennessee believed that blacks should not be free, thus fearing the free blacks and of what

they might do. The North was also guilty of this racism. As stated by author Gene Dattel, For

all the differences between the white North and white South, they shared a fundamental sense

that the black population was an unwanted source of trouble (108). Even though the North hated
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slavery, the resedents did not want anything to do with the busniess of slavery. Slaves could flee

to the North and hide out there. If they could evade captue then they could consider themselves

free. Yet, new laws were beeing passed to aid in the reenslavement of fudigive slaves.

Congress established a stronger new fugitive slave law. With this new fugitive slave law,

recovering a fugitive slave became simply an adminastrative procidure (Horton & Horton 148-

149). When congress passed tjese laws, the North became involved, but only to help recapture

slaves and sell them back. The North in a few years went from not wanting to get involved to

being one of the main ways of retreaving slaves. Because of this state of mind, blacks were

trapped in the South, slaved to the booming economy.

Thanks to the slaves, the South had a booming economy. The slave trade allowed for the

production of sugar and rum. These two were expensive commodities because the work put into

making them was tremendous. Sugar took days to make and would sell for 0.10 cents a pound

where rum which used sugar cost Slave labor was cheap and replaceable to the economy.

Compared to the money a plantation owner made to the ammount a slave cost, they could still

make a profit. Slaves were also used to produce cash crops such as tobacco, .40 cents a gallon.

Cotton, coffee, and more. In later years, cotton became the most valuable crop to produce. With

the invention of the cotton gin in 1793, slaves could produce up to fifty pounds of cotton a day.

Slaves would be in the field all day, first they would pick cotton, then run it through the cotton

gin. They repeated this step all day with little or no rest. Because of the cheap labor, the South

was able to export this crop to the North and to Europe and make an even larger profit than

before. People would pay lots of money for this crop, so the farmers bought more slaves to work

in the fields. Because of this labor the economy was booming, Slaves may have accounted for

60 percent of the Souths wealth (Datell 67). The slave trade was working wonders for the
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economy of the South. With cheap labor and endless amounts of crops, farmers in the South

were some of the wealthiest people in the country making up to two million a year. An example

of a wealthy state is South Carolina. Farmers in South Carolina, grew rice and indigo on their

plantations, Planters could expect a 20 to 30 percent return on their investment. (Jewett &

Allen). These farmers were some of the wealthiest in the country and took advantage of cotton

when they could. This forming of the economy that the slave trade caused could still be seen in

the early twentieth century as the country enters the first of the World Wars with the booming

stock market.

The Slave trade was horrible in the political and social aspect of its existence, yet shaped

the economy of the South. The effects of slavery on the country and the igniting of the deadly

Civil War, is what brought us to where it is today. The political aspect formed new laws that

were the basis for segregation in the early 1900s is what caused The Civil Rights movement in

the 1960s. This brought full freedom to everyone of all skin color. The social aspect brought

upon Americans a new definition of free and treated equal this was brought through the Civil

Rights movement and other smaller movements and ideologies. People now could walk on the

streets, knowing that they were safe from discrimination and hatred. Finally, the economy shaped

the country into the giant it was as it entered the Great War in the early 1900s. Slavery provided

the basis for the country to excel in the twentieth century and show the world what America can

do. Even though slavery is something horrible with horrible effects on the slaves at the time, had

massive positive effects in the future.

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Works Cited

Dattel, Eugene R. Cotton and Race in the Making of America: The Human Costs of

Economic Power. N.p.: Ivan R Dee, 2011. Print.

Horton, James Oliver., and Lois E. Horton. Slavery and the Making of America. N.p.:

Oxford UP, 2006. Print.

Jewett, Clayton E., and John O. Allen. Slavery in the South: A State-by-state History. N.p.:

Greenwood, 2004. Print.