Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Slavery
After discussing the issue of slavery in class, whether the Dred Scott case, the slave trade, or the various revolts... why do you think it was such a difficult issue to deal with? Post two comments, the first one being your answer to the question, and the second a response to your classmates.
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I think slavery was such a difficult issue to deal with because it influenced many other vulnerabilities in the United States. For example, slavery greatly impacted the southern economy, in a good way. So, if the idea were to be revoked, the southern economy would plummet. Yes, slavery was not a good thing; however, it effected the economy by making money for Americans and plantation owners, through cotton, tobacco, and other goods. On top of this, during the time when slavery was allowed, it was one of the main sources of strife in the United States. The slave trade enslaved people, originally from Africa, to labor sugar, coffee, cotton, etc. This allowed Americans to frequently trade goods with others, and if the slaves were set free, who would do the laborious, exhausting jobs? Basically, slavery was such a huge issue because Americans needed these slaves to support their own country. I suppose plantation owners needed help taking care of their land, and this fact created a handful of other problems.
ReplyDeleteSlavery was definetly a difficult issue for many reasons. A smaller issue was the violence that was created due to owning slaves. Slaves were constantly revolting and causing terror among the White citizens and the owners did not know what to do about it. However, the biggest issue was the economic aspect of slavery. Slavery greatly impacted the South and also the North which many people did not realize. Since the plantation owners did not have to pay their workers they could produce more cotton for a cheaper price. This cotton would then be shipped up North to be made into textiles at factories and then merchants would sell these goods all around the world. If the slaves were paid workers then the price of cotton would be higher, causing the textiles to be sold for more, maybe even causing some merchants to lose their job. Of course, slavery was inhumane and not right, but it was a difficult issue because it was so important to the economy of the United States, both North and South.
ReplyDeleteWith all of the revolts that were occurring this time, there were reasons for keeping slavery as well. Slavery was a huge part of the economy all through out the States, with cotton, tobacco and sugar these goods made up America's economy in and out of the country. With the slaves, plantation owners were able to grow crops without having to pay for the workers. However, in return would provide housing and some form of food. With this came the issue of where would the slaves go if they were to be freed? No slaves had money or a place to go since they were brought here and then sold. With no help they would be free to go to the North or wherever they choose to reside. This also caused another problem with the population. Slaves were apart of the population. Therefore, if they were freed and able to move the states would lose power in the House of Representatives. This would cause major issues with the South with no benefits.
ReplyDeleteCourtney brings up a good point. Not only did slavery greatly effect the U.S.'s economy, but the slaves also caused chaos and violence amongst the plantations they lived. Slaves were constantly revolting against their plantation owners and other slaves would adopt this chaotic behavior. People knew the slaves had potential to cause murder and cause dangerous riots, such as Nat Turner. The fact that the slaves were constantly causing terror is definitely another reason why slavery was such a huge issue.
ReplyDeleteCourtney brings up a good point. The economy would be affected greatly if slavery was banned in the South. Both the North and South would be deeply affected creating a national problem. However, in addition to what she said it would also affect the economy globally as well. The U.S. trades with several other countries as well. The cotton, sugar, and tobacco are all goods used within trade. without the slaves the plantation owners could not provide the goods equally as fast and become behind on their income. With paid workers as well the plantation owners would have to pay for work instead of the very little they had to provide for the slave. Even the slaves themselves began to become a trade business of its own.
ReplyDeleteErin brings up a great point. People were concerned about what to do with the slaves if they were ever freed. Many people thought that the slaves would be incapable of living life on their own, without guidance from their owners. Many people also thought that the slaves would eventually die off since they would not know how to handle themselves. This is a horrible and foolish thought. Erin also mentioned the issue occuring in the House of Representatives due to the growth in population. With all the free slaves, there would be a lot more people, especially in the North because that is probably where a lot of them would go to find jobs.
ReplyDeleteSlavery was a huge issue, and also difficult to deal with. This is especially because of the violence between the African Americans and Whites. The slave revolts really scared people and they worried that freeing their slaves would only cause more problems. However, it was not only the Blacks that were being violent, it was also the Whites. Many were abusive to their slaves and other African Americans. It went both ways. Also, if slaves were freed, what would they do? The White people assumed that they could not survive on their own at all. Slaves were always put on the back-burner. For example, during the Dred Scott case, decisions were not being made because there were more important issues to deal with at the moment, such as the election.
ReplyDeleteIt is so hard to deal with slavery issue mainly because the slavery played an important role in United States. Americans viewed slave as part of their properties, using them as a tool to make more money. Slowly, owning the slaves became part of the social culture. Wealthy people didnt think slavery was a problem because it was helping them by making more profit. It was hard to changed their concept of anti-slavery while it was absolutely beneficial to them. Also, racism was another big factor. They didnt think black people should had the same freedom as they had, black people should always under the control of the whites. That made the wealthy people unwilling to free the slave.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to what Alexandra said, slavery was a huge part of the economy (especially in the South). Without them, there would be no one to pick the cotton and do all the farming in the fields. They produced cash crops, such as tobacco, cotton, and other goods. Without all this, slaveowners would make no money off of the crops in their farms, and the economy would suffer a downfall.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Erin. Slavery was impacting both North and South base on populations. Since the great numbers of slaves were free to move around the States, it was actually changing the populations of votes. Then it would bring up a political problem. Also, slavery affected the economy. Since the slaves were gone, the plantation owners had to hire new labor force to work on the fields with higher cost. Which would raise the prices of goods that affected all the consumers.
ReplyDeleteSlavery was a controversial issue. Initially, slavery began with the Portuguese in the 1400s. When there was the creation of the New World, Native Americans were used as slaves to work the fields for sugar and tobacco. The point is that slavery existed for a long time, and it became norm (espcially in the South). Slaves were like property; they were auctioned off and advertised in newspapers. Most people in the South could not contemplate what life would be like without slaves. There was the economic aspect to them in which people were able to sell cotton at a more profitable price. Also, there was the concept that slavery was better off here than in Africa. Having a slave was like taming a "wild animal" (the slaves seemed crazy after rebellions). While slavery had positive effects such as the economy, many Northernors and abolistionists viewed slavery as a moral issue. With the economy and different viewpoints (pro and anti slavery people), slavery was a difficult issue to deal with. It's no wonder that before the Constitution, it was ordered that the issue slavery was not to be discussed until 1808.
ReplyDeleteSlavery was a difficult issue to deal with because the North and the South had different views on the matter. It was difficult to figure out what to do with the slaves when/if they were to be set free, and what to do with them during the many slave revolts/rebellions. Also the South needed the slaves to work on the plantations. Without the slaves, who worked for free, the plantation owners would need to hire workers, which would cost money, and they would lose a great deal of the profit they could be making. The slaves basically made the economy down in the South and if the slaves were to be set free immediately all at once, then the Southern economy would suffer.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Stephanie's point that slaves had no place to go even if they were freed. That point was shown in our last blog with the maps in our textbook. She also mentioned that many slaves were abused. In general, masters wanted slaves to reproduce and go to Church. Sometimes, the master and slave would have a kid. The kid was a slave most of the time. In America, any hint of black usually meant that you were a slave. This reemphasizes the idea that many masters did not want to let go of the slaves; they even went into efforts to make sure that there would be reproduction. The masters were dependent on their slaves, and this was one of the factors of why slavery was such a difficult issue to deal with.
ReplyDeleteOne of the many reasons for delaying the freedom of slaves is definatly because of the souths economy. It not be able to survive without the slave trade. It was such a major part of the economy there because the souths econonmy was based on agriculture and they needed slaves to pick and plant for free so the could thrive. Slaves were also stuck between a rock and a hard place, being that without slavery they might not be able to survive on their own. This is simply because they had know where to go and due to racism it would be harder for them to find a good steady job now that the had to compete with other whites to get them. All around it was a huge struggle to get to were we are today, but eventually all the small steps worked out for the better.
ReplyDeleteSlavery back then was very controversal, people argued about which side was right, which was wrong. But in truth, there was no "right side", it was what they believed. But, back then they didn't realize that. So being that slavery was all over the south, made it very difficult to take away right away. I believe that this issue was very difficult was because in many ways, it wasn't okay, but in some, slavery did help out the african-americans. For instance: It gave them a guaranteed job with housing. The food may have no been the best, but it was better than nothing. On other counts, they weren't free, they didn't have rights, they were controlled, beaten and starved in some cases. Children were treated horribly, they started being slaves at a very young age. And as they got older and older, they started to wear out and be treated worse. Now, the argument wasn't settled because they had so many slaves, that the south wanted to keep because their economy stayed in full bloom, but north was very pro-freedom and believed that they needed to have rights. The reason the argument was so controversal was because the south couldn't drop everything at once and expect their economy to stay where it was. Also, if they were to free them, they wouldn't have a place to go, so there fore, they were better to just stay there cause they were guaranteed housing.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what erin said. The south depended so much on agriculture for the economy, and they needed the slaves to help keep the flow of things. Also, she said that slaves didn't have money. She is correct in that statement. Most slaves were not paid for there work, they were provided with housing and food in return of there work. If they were to be freed, they'd have no money, no job, and no house with no food. Slavery to them looks better on that part because they are surviving in one way shape or form.
ReplyDeleteSlavery was such a difficult issue to deal with, because it intertwined with the very fabric of our country. The economy of the North was driven by factories and mills. Textile factories which made up a majority of the industry got cotton from the South. The economy of the South thrived off the selling and exporting of cotton and other farmed goods. Slaves worked on all these farms or plantations, basically keeping them running. So, the slaves drove the southern economy which drove the northern economy. Which basically means slaves drove the country’s economy. If slaves were taken away or given freedom, some would leave the farms cutting output and those that would stay would need to be paid. The cost of cotton would go way up, greatly hurting the country’s economy. Also, the slaves that left would really have no place to go. A sudden surge of people would overcrowd the North and the cities might not be able to handle it. Slavery is a terrible thing and the slaves were treated inhumanely, but there were reasons slavery could not just be taken away.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kayla in saying the slaves were treated very unfairly. They were abused and sexually assaulted. Essentially viewed as property, the slaves were even sold at markets alongside animals and crops. This is what made slavery so terrible, these are people treated like animals. Human beings belittled and whipped, forced to do labor and imprisoned on plantations. If slavery did not tie into the economy, this issue would have been dealt with in the beginning, not tossed aside to deal with later.
ReplyDeleteSlavery was extremely important to the United States economy, without it there is no one to grow the crops for the very popular textile industry. The North's and the South's economy was based off of the crops grown by the slaves. The North needed the crops such as cotton to make textiles and the South made all of their money from selling these goods to the North. Without slavery the entire country's economy would crumble. However their is always two sides to the argument of whether to get rid of slavery or not. The only problem is every point made on one side of the argument can be countered by the other side. For example one would believe freeing all the slaves at once would solve everything when someone else could argue that the slaves would have no where to go and would not be able to survive on their own.
ReplyDeleteJon makes a great point that I completely agree with when he states that the country's economy thrives off of the slaves. Without the slaves producing all of these crops the North and the South lose all of the profit. He also states that the slaves will all move to the cities in the North which is very possible and would of caused a huge overpopulation problem. Slavery was a difficult subject to come to a compromise on but eventually the right decision was made to end slavery.
ReplyDeleteI think that slavery was definitely a difficult issue because it divided the country in several major ways. Politically, the Republican Party and Democratic Party became representatives of North and South because of this defining issue. Socially, the issue caused major unrest because of developing civil rights laws at the time and the northern abolitionist movement. Finally, slaves were crucial to the southern economy, which made it almost impossible to get rid of without harsh economic consequences. With these reasons came much controversy when it came to discussing the existence of slavery. Obviously it wasn't something that was easy to deal with.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Jon as he points out the main differences between the economy of the North and the economy of the South. Both were successful for the most part, but the North was all about factories while the South concentrated more on slavery. With that being said, it is easy to understand why our nation couldn't survive without slaves. Their importance to how the Southern economy functioned and prospered was the main reason for this.
ReplyDeleteSlavery was a very difficult issue. The violence caused by the owning of slaves was an issue inside of Slavery itself. Slaves were always revolting and causing terror among white citizens and owners did not know how to control it. The bigger issue was the economic aspect of slavery because slavery greatly impacted the South and also the North in which most people did not understand. Since all the farming plantation owners did not pay their workers they could produce more cotton for cheaper prices and this cotton would be shipped up north and turned into textiles at factories and then merchants would sell these. If the slaves were paid the workers would have to increase the price of cotton.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Zak about slaves being crucial to economy. He points out that it was almost impossible to get rid of them without harsh economic consequences which is true because if not they had to pay workers to get cotton which would increase the prices of textiles in the north and all around the world.
ReplyDeleteSlavery was such a huge issue to solve because the separation and disagreement of the country, the revolts, and the consequences of ending slavery were so huge that it would cause a split within the country. Slavery could not be brought to an end because the south would either not allow it, or seccede from the union. Also, the economic consequences would be astronomical, prices would skyrocket. The issue of slavery was very important because it was very delicate, it could break the country apart, so it had to be dealt with slowly and carefully, and rash actions would wreak havoc.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Zak and Pasha on their point that Slavery was crucial to the economy. The farmers and plantation owners had to pay their workers absolutely nothing, allowing them to produce mass cotton and sell it at a cheap price. If slavery was ended, in order to maintain their profit these plantation owners would have to hire workers, and then hire prices of their goods in order to make up for the defeceit created by having to hire workers.
ReplyDeleteSlavery was so difficult to deal with for various reasons. If you wanted to abolish slavery, you were proposing action that would also abolish the affluence of many Southern people, particularly plantation owners (the most powerful men of the South); so economically, abolitionists were offensive. If you didn't want to rid the States of slavery, then you supported the existence of an oppressive, unethical system that tortured people because of their skin color. You were offensive morally.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Drew; events like the revolts made slavery a more contentious issue and harder to deal with. Popular opinion was that slaves were stupid; even many abolitionists believed, if emancipated, they would die off. With the revolts, many also believed they were reckless and violent. Combine a lack of intelligence and a dangerous demeanor to get bestiality; in other words, some people viewed slaves as violent animals that could not be directly exposed to society.
ReplyDeleteSlavery was a difficult issue for many reasons. A main reason was because slavery has such a big impact without it the economy would change vastly. Since the slaves were not paid, the slave owners would not have to lose money paying their workers, therefore, the amount of money would only increase. However, if the slaves were paid, the amount of money wouldn’t increase as much or could just stay balanced. Also another problem would be counting slaves as “real people” so the population in the south would grow as well as the north. Although these reasons today seem ridiculous, this is why slavery was such a difficult issue.
ReplyDeleteSlavery was only so difficult because people made it that way. If everyone was on the same page and able to settle on one simple solution, there would be no problem. Unfortunately, it's hard to find a simple solution for a not so simple issue. Slavery was the backbone of the economy in areas and there would be immense economic failure without it. Even the people who wanted to banish slavery could not agree to get rid of it over time or all at once. The intentions for those were good, but they could not act on it considering the innumerous amount of obstacles in the way. Before ANY action took place, they would at least have to come to an agreement.
ReplyDeleteBrielle also brought up a good point. Money was a huge factor of everything. It was the main reason that people didn't want to emancipate the slaves. But it was also the reason that others did. (they thought the slaves deserved money, hence they wouldn't be considered "slaves" anymore) The situation was more than black and white, there were so many areas of gray that people had trouble deciphering what they wanted to do. The money was what really tore the people apart and was just another issue to add to getting rid of slavery altogether.
ReplyDeleteErin brings up a good point with saying where the slaved would go if they were freed. Like she said, where would these slaves go since they have no money or belongings. I agree also with the comment of the population and change the south with having no more benefits. Also Courtney brings up a valid point with the violence from owning slaves and how there were always revolts. I agree with the statements both Erin and Courtney brought up and I think they were also reasons slavery was so difficult.
ReplyDeleteAs the United States grew, slavery proved to be an ongoing issue. Not only in the domestic economy, but furthermore on an international scale, the utilization of slave labor was a significant factor. Through slavery, massive quantities of raw materials were produced allowing there to be a more prosperous market. Thus by eliminating slavery, an extreme economic digression would soon follow. Furthermore, in regards to the Dred Scott decision the moral problems that underlined slavery were revealed. The idea of defining a human being as property is morally wrong and a proved to be a truth that few people wished to address. During the election of 1860, the Dred Scott ruling was for a while dismissed so that the case wouldn’t overshadow the campaign. Contrasting views on slavery between the North and South caused the situation to worsen and only made matters more difficult; for the simple fact that there was no definitive answer whether slavery was right or wrong.
ReplyDeleteMoreover, I agree with Steph and her excerpt on slave revolts. While slaves did take part in some of the violence, primarily free whites were the cause of the revolts. In addition, Nisha brings up a good point on slavery in the south. Because the south had become completely reliant on slave labor, slavery was easily accepted in the southern lifestyle and became part of the regions culture.
ReplyDeleteAs for everything else in politics, solving issues are more difficult than the majority seem to believe. Slavery had become a huge part of the country's lifestyle and solving the uproar was the conflict. Slavery was disputable for many reasons. The south relied on slaves as a profitable way to produce more crops and cotton in a shorter amount of time. Taking slavery out demolished the south's economy as plantation owners would have to spend a lot more money doing this by themselves or having to pay workers to do it for them. The south strongly agreed with slavery. However, morally this was wrong as others would say. The south considered slaves property for the above reasons and therefore people argued that slavery was wrong. Although it was beneficial to the south's economy, and ultimately the northern economy by transporting the cotton and other resources up to make textiles, it was morally wrong. Dred Scott was a true promoter that slavery was wrong. Others believe that if slavery was abolished than the slaves would be counted in the population as people, they would get full rights, and not have any place to live if people were against them. It is very clear that all these contrasting viewpoints were the reasons why slavery was such a difficult issue to resolve amongst the government.
ReplyDeleteCJ brings up a good point when discussing how morally wrong Dred Scott believed slavery was. This case in which had a viewpoint which could have potentially changed the future of slavery was put off for a while. The reason for this, as CJ said, was due to the election of 1860. This was beneficial because if the case had been ruled one way or the other , it could have changed the campaign and other peoples opinions.
ReplyDeleteWhether the debater believed in human rights or simple logistics in terms of the slave's freedom, one thing was certain, no one could agree on the topic for over a century. Despite the obvious contribution to the southern economy, many politicians believed that slaves should not be given their freedom because they would not be able to survive in society. The many revolts in the past gave the slaves a violent and savage persona. It is understandable that some did not want them freed for this reason.
ReplyDeleteBack to economical reasons, the south was blinded by the contributions that slaves made to the farming community. Even with the cotton gin revolutionizing cotton-picking, slave owners did not give in to the industrial nudges of the north which caused the tension to become much larger as the north continued to beat the south technologically.
I really liked what Pete said about abolitionists. He said that in perspective, they were "offensive." Now today they are seen as heroes but that is because slavery is seen as an act of human cruelty. Back in the day (couple hundred years ago), abolitionists challenged the most powerful men of the south by attempting to dismantle their work force. This made them "offensive."
ReplyDeleteSlavery was a very difficult and intense issue for many different reasons. The main issue that slavery brought to us was the economic aspect of it. Slavery greatly affected the South and also the North. Because of the fact that the plantation owners did not have to pay their workers they could produce more goods (cotton) for a cheaper price. These goods would then be sent up to the North to be made into textiles at factories and then merchants would sell these goods all around the world. If the slaves were paid workers then the price of cotton would be higher, which in effect would cause the textiles to be more expensive. A smaller issue behind slavery was the violence that it brought upon us. There were many violent slave revolts because the slaves were obviously angry of their situation.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Peter is saying. He brings up very good points by bringing up the slave revolts and the economical reasons. I really liked what he said about the tension between the north and the south and how the north was beating the south technologically wise.
ReplyDeleteSlavery was difficult to deal with because people felt so strongly about it. Southern plantation owners' livelihoods rested on the existence of slavery, while the lives of millions were ruined because of it. It was a powerful phenomenon that everyone had an opinion on, and when everyone has a different opinion then it's hard to find a compromise.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Brian. He brings up some good points, especially about the economic aspect of slavery -- ridding America of slavery would damage its economic prosperity. Not just Southern plantation owners would be affected; as Mr. O has said, 40 cents of every $1 earned in New York was thanks to slaves. This made it much harder to abolish slavery, because even though it was morally wrong it greatly benefitted many people monetarily.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that the slaves were the route of all of our economic means, made it so difficult to for us to easily ridden ourself of it. Slavery had not existed in the north but could be traced back by the resources that they used when manufacturing products. The South's slavery dependency was far worse as they had almost entirely relied on agriculture. The cheap labor that nobody else would do for literally nothing was the South's easy way to make such large profit margins. The end of Slavery would require a drastic change for the south's method of living
ReplyDeleteAs CJ has stated, not only the United States feared the end of Slavery, but it was an international affair. An abrupt end to slavery would surely bring an economic downfall with it, This left not only the south but many others in a state of question and fear. Thus nobody wanted to make a change as the status quo worked for them, but not for the oppressed people who could not easily make a stand for themselves.
ReplyDelete