Slavery Once Again

It all seemed to be going well in the late 18^th century for slaves.  Slavery in the New World was declining.  The American and French Revolutions inspired slaves to revolt and/or run away.  Ideas of liberty and freedom encouraged slave owners in many countries to release their slaves.  Masters had freed 10,000 slaves in 10 years.  But, slavery wasn’t on the road to extinction; not in the late 18^th century.  The number of slaves rapidly increased in the early 19^th century and expanded in many states south west of the Appalachian Mountains in America.  It all started with the invention of the cotton gin. 

Cotton Gin Drawing

The cotton gin separated the sticky green seeds from the white cotton balls in a very efficiently in a way that wasn’t time consuming.  It was invented by Eli Whitney who wanted to help the southern farmers make growing cotton more profitable.  Little did he know that his invention would once again increase the population of slaves. 

Cotton was a huge economic source of revenue and profits in the south during the 1790’s.  The entire South produced about 1.5 million pounds.  After the invention of the cotton gin, cotton production spread a lot.  By 1860, the farmers in the South grew 2.28 billion pounds of cotton in 70 years.  Cotton was 57% of the nation’s total export revenue.  According to statistics from Mapping History, the slave population correlates with the amount of cotton produced. 

In 1790, the total slave population of the United States was approximately 690,000, and most of the slaves were located in the Chesapeake and Carolina areas.  By 1860, the population of slaves had increased to 3,954,000.  The slaves were widespread throughout the South, but were densely concentrated in specific areas.  As more and more cotton was planted, more and more laborers were needed. 

There were many people, Africans and Americans, who fought hard for slavery and against slavery.  John Brown was an abolitionist who worked with the Underground Railroad and the League of Gileadites.  He believed in using violent means to end slavery with the intent of slave revolts.  Some people in the North called him a martyr and supported his motives, but people in the South called Brown a murderer and were completely against his methods and ideas.  He led an unsuccessful raid on the Harper Ferry federal armory which had held weapons.  He was caught and surrounded.  Many people were imprisoned and held hostage for 2 days.  He was put to trial and hanged. 

George Fitzhugh was a lawyer and a writer.  He was against the abolitionist of slavery.  He believed white people were better than blacks.  He travelled to places like Boston to give speeches about how there should not be slavery.  He claimed slaves were the “freest people in the world” because they have to do is work for 8 or 9 hours per day and everything else is provided for them: shelter and food and they know that they only have to work 8 or 9 hours per day.  He spoke about how liberty and equality were destructive and did not bring happiness and how the only right the slaves should have was the right to die. 

People like George Fitzhugh tend to ignore how slaves are human being just like them.  He claims that slaves are freer than an average laborer?  Well most average laborer doesn’t get whipped and beaten to death.  He isn’t separated from his family and taken away from his mother country.  People like Fitzhugh chose to remain ignorant to every hardship that the Africans went through.  They are ignorant to the fact that all men and women should have equal rights because they are all human and they all live in the same soil. 

"Eli Whitney's Patent for the Cotton Gin." National Archives and Records Administration. Accessed February 14, 2015. http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/cotton-gin-patent/#documents.

"Digital History." Digital History. Accessed February 14, 2015. http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/era.cfm?eraID=6&smtID=2.

"Mapping History." Mapping History. Accessed February 14, 2015. http://mappinghistory.uoregon.edu/english/US/US18-00.html.

Bio.com. Accessed February 14, 2015. http://www.biography.com/search/John Brown. 

George Fitzhugh, Cannibals All or Slaves Without Masters, Richmond, Virginia, 1857.

Gerald Danzer et al, The Americans, Evanston, Illinois, McDougall Littell, 1998