Slavery in the US

Hey everyone!
Are y’all doing fine back there in Norway? I’m having so much fun in the States, and I’d definitely recommend you guys to travel here someday. Yesterday I was on a museum, which took you back to the slavery trade time in the USA. I learned so much and I was told so many exciting histories, that I almost felt like I was one of the slaves back then. The Slaves were treated so unfair, and there was a lot of racism. Some of them had it so terrible, that my heart aches when I think about it now. Well, enough small-talk, here is what I learned at the museum yesterday:

Slavery in the United States was the legal institution of chattel slavery. Chattel slavery, also called traditional slavery, has got its name because people are treated as the personal property of an owner and are bought and sold as if they were commodities. The Slavery time in the US existed in the 18^th and 19^th centuries, because of severe shortage of labor in North America. Therefore, people were needed to work the land. Most of the slaves was originally from Africa, and came to America by crossing the Atlantic.

The absolutely first slaves came to Virginia in 1619. The Americans thought that there was too much work to do on their plantations, therefore they brought slaves from Africa to do the work for them. The slaves who worked on the plantations, usually planted tobacco in the beginning. By the end of the American revolution, slavery became unprofitable in the Northern and Southern States. That was because of tobacco prices that were dropping. In 1793 invested Eli Whitney the cotton gin. This leaded to that the cotton replaced tobacco, and the slavery became profitable again. This time it was only profitable in South America.

At this point, white southerners were torn between economy and moral. They knew that their economy would be better if they had slaves to work for them, but on the other hand – they felt wrong by treating the slaves as if they were worth less then themselves. They concluded with the economy version, and had this argument: the slaves were fed, clothed and occupied, so they weren’t treated THAT bad. At the same time, northerners started to doubt slavery. They thought that the moral was most important in slave-trade. They sent some of the slaves to Underground Railroad. This was an escape to freedom.

The treatment of slaves in the United States varied by time and place, but was generally brutal and degrading. Terrible things like whipping, execution and sexual abuse of women, including rape, were common. Many families were sold away from each other, sometimes the parents worked on a plantation – and their child worked on another.

 

In March of 1857, the United States Supreme Court declared that all blacks - slaves as well as free - were not and could never become citizens of the United States. This new law was called the “Dred Scott Decision”.

Then the outbreak of the Civil war came, and this changed the future. The Union (northerners) and the Confederation (southerners) fought against each other. In 1861 at the start of the Civil War, President Lincoln began speaking out against the issue of slavery, which he saw as morally wrong. He presented the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. The Union desired to end the slavery but the Confederation believed it was necessary to the country. The Union won the Civil war in 1865, and the slavery was abolished. This leaded to that the slaves would end up forever free, and they could even join the U.S army!

  

So, what do you think about the slavery in the US? It was terrible, right? Well, I hope you enjoyed this post, and found it interesting. I’m already excited about the next post I’m going to write soon! Goodbye for now :)

Lots of love, Synne