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Help! I need some ideas for writing an essay about the slavery throught the entire US history.
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Essay: Slavery Throughout America's History?
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In 1800 the population of the United States included 893,602 slaves, of which only 36,505 were in the northern states. Vermont, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey provided for the emancipation of their slaves before 1804, most of them by gradual measures. The 3,953,760 slaves at the census of 1860 were in the southern states.
Eminent statesmen from the earliest period of the national existence, such as George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton, regarded slavery as evil and inconsistent with the principles of the Declaration of Independence. The Society of Friends (Quakers) uniformly opposed slavery and agitated against it. The Presbyterian church made several formal declarations against it between 1787 and 1836. The Methodist Episcopal church always cherished strong antislavery views, but in 1844, when one of its bishops was suspended for refusing to emancipate slaves he had inherited through his wife, a secession took place and the Methodist Episcopal Church, South was formed. Individuals and groups of people of almost all sects defended slavery. On the whole, antislavery views grew steadily; but many who personally held strong antislavery opinions hesitated to join actively in abolitionist agitation, unwilling to dispute what many citizens held to be their rights. The 13th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, abolishing slavery throughout the United States, was ratified in 1865.
Slavery in the Americas was generally harsh, but it varied from time to time and place to place. The Caribbean and Brazilian sugar plantations required a consistently high supply of labor for centuries. In other areas—the frontiers of southern Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, and Colombia—slavery was relatively unimportant to the economy.
To tame the wilderness, build cities, establish plantations, and exploit mineral wealth, the Europeans needed more laborers than they could recruit from among their own metropolitan masses. In the early 16th century, the Spanish tried unsuccessfully to subjugate and enslave the native populations of the West Indies. Slavery was considered the most desirable system of labor organization because it allowed the master almost absolute control over the life and productivity of the laborer. The rapid disintegration of local indigenous societies and the subsequent decimation of the native peoples by warfare and European diseases severely exacerbated the labor situation, increasing the demand for imported workers.
African slaves constituted the highest proportion of laborers on the islands and around the Caribbean lowlands where the native population had died. The same was true in the northeastern coastlands of Brazil—especially the rich agricultural area called the Reconcavo, where the seminomadic Tupinambá and Tupiniquim peoples resisted effective control by the Portuguese—and in some of the Leeward Islands such as Guadeloupe and Dominica, where the Caribs waged a determined resistance to their expulsion and enslavement. In areas of previously dense populations, such as parts of central Mexico or the highlands of Peru, a sufficient number of the Native American inhabitants survived to satisfy a major part of the labor demands of the new colonists. In such cases African slaves supplemented coerced Native American labor.
Underground Railroad
Because of its proximity to the North, the upper South supplied a high proportion of the fugitives. They were usually young adults, male, unattached, and highly skilled; family flights were rare. Traveling by night to avoid detection, escapees used the North Star for guidance. Usually they sought isolated “stations” (farms) or “vigilance committee” agents in towns, where sympathetic free blacks could effectively conceal them. When possible, “conductors” met them at such border points as Cincinnati, Ohio, and Wilmington, Delaware. The lake ports of Detroit, Michigan; Sandusky, Ohio; Erie, Pennsylvania; and Buffalo, New York; were terminals for quick escape to Canada. Harriet Tubman, called the Moses of the blacks, and Levi Coffin, a Cincinnati Quaker, were among the famous rescuers. Professional slave catchers and vigilant officials often seized refugees to gain rewards.
More important than the number arriving safely was the publicity given to this clandestine work, which helped to make northern whites conscious of the evils of slavery. The federal Fugitive Slave Law of 1793 became difficult to enforce as Yankee judges and legislators restricted masters' rights of recovery. A new law, part of the Compromise of 1850, was more stringent, but the activities of the Underground Railroad continued. Outraged at northern defiance of the law, southerners grew increasingly provoked. Antagonism over fugitives and the publicity accorded them were crucial in fueling the flames of sectional mistrust that eventually led to the American C
Eminent statesmen from the earliest period of the national existence, such as George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton, regarded slavery as evil and inconsistent with the principles of the Declaration of Independence. The Society of Friends (Quakers) uniformly opposed slavery and agitated against it. The Presbyterian church made several formal declarations against it between 1787 and 1836. The Methodist Episcopal church always cherished strong antislavery views, but in 1844, when one of its bishops was suspended for refusing to emancipate slaves he had inherited through his wife, a secession took place and the Methodist Episcopal Church, South was formed. Individuals and groups of people of almost all sects defended slavery. On the whole, antislavery views grew steadily; but many who personally held strong antislavery opinions hesitated to join actively in abolitionist agitation, unwilling to dispute what many citizens held to be their rights. The 13th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, abolishing slavery throughout the United States, was ratified in 1865.
Slavery in the Americas was generally harsh, but it varied from time to time and place to place. The Caribbean and Brazilian sugar plantations required a consistently high supply of labor for centuries. In other areas—the frontiers of southern Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, and Colombia—slavery was relatively unimportant to the economy.
To tame the wilderness, build cities, establish plantations, and exploit mineral wealth, the Europeans needed more laborers than they could recruit from among their own metropolitan masses. In the early 16th century, the Spanish tried unsuccessfully to subjugate and enslave the native populations of the West Indies. Slavery was considered the most desirable system of labor organization because it allowed the master almost absolute control over the life and productivity of the laborer. The rapid disintegration of local indigenous societies and the subsequent decimation of the native peoples by warfare and European diseases severely exacerbated the labor situation, increasing the demand for imported workers.
African slaves constituted the highest proportion of laborers on the islands and around the Caribbean lowlands where the native population had died. The same was true in the northeastern coastlands of Brazil—especially the rich agricultural area called the Reconcavo, where the seminomadic Tupinambá and Tupiniquim peoples resisted effective control by the Portuguese—and in some of the Leeward Islands such as Guadeloupe and Dominica, where the Caribs waged a determined resistance to their expulsion and enslavement. In areas of previously dense populations, such as parts of central Mexico or the highlands of Peru, a sufficient number of the Native American inhabitants survived to satisfy a major part of the labor demands of the new colonists. In such cases African slaves supplemented coerced Native American labor.
Underground Railroad
Because of its proximity to the North, the upper South supplied a high proportion of the fugitives. They were usually young adults, male, unattached, and highly skilled; family flights were rare. Traveling by night to avoid detection, escapees used the North Star for guidance. Usually they sought isolated “stations” (farms) or “vigilance committee” agents in towns, where sympathetic free blacks could effectively conceal them. When possible, “conductors” met them at such border points as Cincinnati, Ohio, and Wilmington, Delaware. The lake ports of Detroit, Michigan; Sandusky, Ohio; Erie, Pennsylvania; and Buffalo, New York; were terminals for quick escape to Canada. Harriet Tubman, called the Moses of the blacks, and Levi Coffin, a Cincinnati Quaker, were among the famous rescuers. Professional slave catchers and vigilant officials often seized refugees to gain rewards.
More important than the number arriving safely was the publicity given to this clandestine work, which helped to make northern whites conscious of the evils of slavery. The federal Fugitive Slave Law of 1793 became difficult to enforce as Yankee judges and legislators restricted masters' rights of recovery. A new law, part of the Compromise of 1850, was more stringent, but the activities of the Underground Railroad continued. Outraged at northern defiance of the law, southerners grew increasingly provoked. Antagonism over fugitives and the publicity accorded them were crucial in fueling the flames of sectional mistrust that eventually led to the American C
I will give you the main ideas you elaborate, we can't write a whole essay for you.
1) When the slaves were brought into the Americas and how the slaves were brought into the Americas.
2) The slaves living conditions in the Americas and what jobs the slaves had to do in the Americas.
3) What contributions the slaves gave to the Americas in their times of slavery (A.K.A. fighting in wars (American Revolution), music, etc.)
4) Famous Slaves and Famous Former Slaves (A.K.A. Harriet Tubman, Fredrick Douglas, etc.)
5) Their significance in the American Civil War.
6) The ending of slavery when the American Civil War ended.
Hope this helped!
1) When the slaves were brought into the Americas and how the slaves were brought into the Americas.
2) The slaves living conditions in the Americas and what jobs the slaves had to do in the Americas.
3) What contributions the slaves gave to the Americas in their times of slavery (A.K.A. fighting in wars (American Revolution), music, etc.)
4) Famous Slaves and Famous Former Slaves (A.K.A. Harriet Tubman, Fredrick Douglas, etc.)
5) Their significance in the American Civil War.
6) The ending of slavery when the American Civil War ended.
Hope this helped!