Antebellum Slavery

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Antebellum Slavery
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The Roots of Slavery

• Slavery was introduced in North America from the
  Carribean.
• First Africans arrive in 1619 in Jamestown, Va.
• Slavery gradually develops with three defining
  characteristics
• Racial
• Hereditary
• Chattel
• By 1750, all the British North American colonies
  had legalized slavery.

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Defining Slavery

• 1641 Massachusetts first colony to recognize
  slavery as a legal status
• 1663 Virginia declares that children of slave
  mothers are slaves
• 1690 South Carolina Slave Code adopted
  modeled after Barbados Slave Code.
• 1705 Virgina Slave Code adopted
• defines all negro, mulatto, and Indian servants
  as property. Authorizes physical punishments
  including whipping, branding, cutting off ears,
  and mutilation.
• 1740 South Carolina Negro Act
• Response to the Stono Rebellion 1739
• Prohibited slaves from learning to read or write,
  assembling, dressing in clothing other than an
  approved list.

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Slavery During the Revolutionary Period

• 1750 300,000 slaves in America (20 of the
  total population)
• American Revolution begins a discussion about
  freedom the role of slavery in the United
  States
• Following the Revolution, many northern states
  began abolishing slavery
• 1787 Northwest Ordinance bars slavery in the NW
  Territory

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• 1776 Declaration of Independence drafted
  includes a condemnation of the slave trade.
• References to the slave trade are removed at the
  request of southern delegates.

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• 1773-1777 Free blacks in Massachusetts submit
  a series of petitions urging an end to slavery.
• they havewith all other men, a natural and
  unalienable right of freedom

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• 1777-1783 Over 5,000 African-American men serve
  in the Continental Army and Navy
• Many receive their freedom in reward for their
  service.
• By 1790, there will be 60,000 free blacks in the
  US
• 250,000 by 1860

• List of casualties from
• Lexington Concord

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Slavery and the US Constitution

• 1787 Constitutional Convention
• A new, more powerful govt
• Southerners demand protections for slavery
• Protections for slavery in the new Constitution
• No interference with the slave trade for 20
  years
• Fugitive slave law
• Govt will help put down domestic insurrections

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19th Century Slavery

• As America expands, slavery expands.
• US doubles in size from 1800-1831
• Slavery expands west into new territories in the
  South.
• 1793 Cotton Gin

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Population

• US Population/
• Slave Population
• 1780 3.5 million / 575,000
• 1800 5.3 million / 900,000
• 1830 12.8 million / 2.5 million

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Slave Life

• Kin to kint
• 14 hr days
• 4 in 10 live to 60 years
• Dehumanizing slave auctions
• Info WPA Slave Narratives

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Resistance to Slavery

• Running away
• 76 under 35 89 are men
• Underground Railroad
• Organized in the early 1800s
• By 1850, an estimated 50,000-100,000 escape this
  way
• Most runaways leave temporarily, hide-out, then
  are captured or return.

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• Harriet Jacobs

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• Revolt
• The least common form of resistance.
• All major slave revolts in American history are
  thwarted
• 1739 Stono Rebellion S.C.
• 1800 Prossers Plot Va.
• 1822 Denmark Vesey Plot S.C.
• 1831 Nat Turners Rebellion Va.
• 1860 John Browns Raid Va.

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• Sabotage
• Feigning Illnesses
• Work slow downs
• Cultural Resistance
• Slave songs
• Religious practices
• Learning to read / write

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