Antebellum Slavery

           By the early 19th century slavery had become economically entrenched in American society. But why? To put it simply, cotton is to blame. By the late 18th century, slavey was declining and the cotton industry was almost non existent. In 1793, Eli Whiteney's invented the cotton gin which easily removed seeds from cotton. This made cotton easier and more profitable to grow. As the demand for cotton grew, so did the slave industry. Slaves could bring in $500 dollars a piece in 1794, but as cotton became more profitable, that number tripled to $1500 in 1825. The more cotton being produced, the more slave labor needed to pick and process the Cotton. By 1860, the cotton producing states in the south produced 2.28 billion pounds of cotton. This was 57% of the nations total export revenues. At the time, the total slave population of the United States was estimated to be approximately 3,954,000. Compared to 85 million pounds of cotton and 1,191,000 slaves in 1810. By the early 19th century, slavery had become economically entrenched in American society because cotton was in the highest demand out of all crops, and the production of cotton depended on slave labor. http://mappinghistory.uoregon.edu/english/US/US18-00.html

           A system of slavery based on race affects human dignity because people see the whole black 

race as slaves and not worthy of similar freedoms and respect. In document G, it describes a speech that Frederick Douglas gave about the Fourth of July. Douglas spoke about how the Fourth of July is a day of celebration for whites, but a day of boasted liberty and swelling vanity for slaves who don't have this liberty. This system of slavery where slaves are not given the same liberty that is provided 

to whites, takes this liberty away from all blacks. That the Fourth of July is just a reminder that blacks don't have the same freedoms as whites. In document H, George Fitzhugh says that the whole negro race is weak and were born to be slaves. Describing blacks as dumber, inferior, and not worthy of respect.http://www.edline.net/files/_BEHdp_/b9a40a0b44d61aac3745a49013852ec4/Morality_of_Slavery_DBQ_Documents.pdf

          Such a system tends to ignore human characteristics such as god given rights and humane 

treatment. Slaves in the US had no privileges. They were owned by their masters and had no control over their own lives. Slaves were considered property and had a price. Blacks were enslaved by being captured and sold. From that point on, they were no longer considered people and were not treated as such.http://princeamongslaves.org/module/comparing.html