Slavery Entrenched

Since the foundation of the United States, many problems have arisen in its society, such as temperance and domestic violence, but one of the biggest problems that Americans ever faced was slavery.  In class, we had to answer the following questions,”How did slavery become economically entrenched in American Society by the early 19th century?”,” How does a system of slavery based on race affect  human dignity?” and lastly, “What human characteristics does such a system tend  to ignore?”  Slavery became entrenched in american society because slavery was mainly used to harvest crops from the south, primarily cotton.  This cotton would then be transported into the northern states, where there were many manufactories for it to be refined and sold for a higher price.  Slavery became such an essential part of life particularly for the southerners, as it generated great wealth for them at little to no cost.  During this time period, people thought that slavery was declining, as shown in this article on cotton and slavery.  However, this was completely the opposite once the cotton gin was developed, and slave population soared, and the average price for slaves was estimated to have tripled between 1794 and 1825 because plantations could now process cotton dozens of times faster.  From 1800 until 1820,  the slave population in america rose to an estimated 62 percent!  In order to better understand this trend of population growth, we took a look at an interactive map that shows the increase of slavery in specific areas throughout that time period, primarily in the southern states.

A Picture before the cotton gin was developed.  

a picture after the cotton gin was developed.

After we learned about the growth of slavery and its causes, we decided to learn about how a system of slavery based on race affect human dignity, and what human characteristics does such a system tend to ignore?  In order to answer this question, we were then given a person who fought for or against slavery and learned about their actions, and I was assigned John Brown. John Brown was an abolitionist against slavery who murdered slave owners in response to their actions, and he did not believe that slavery could be solved peacefully, and pushed to arm slaves and cause rebellions.  His plan to arm these slaves was by attacking a southern military base in order to steal tons of muskets and ammunition, but his plan didn’t turn out so well and he and his men were either killed or captured and John ended up being  hung for his crimes. As a result of Johns failed attempt at starting a rebellion, he did became a martyr for the abolitionist’s cause.  Although his actions may have seemed completely idiotic, he helped to  inspire northerners to fight for the antislavery cause and helped to grow tensions that eventually lead up to the Civil War.

Finally, we were shown a movie called A Prince Among Slaves. In this video a young African prince named Abdulrahman is captured and is sold as a slave. Abdulrahman is treated cruelly, and is abused by his captors, whom completely ignore his royalty. Through his life, he proved himself to be a leader among slaves, and also saved the life of a white doctor who later tries multiple times to free him from his slavery.  After the government hears about him being a prince, they decide to set him free because they believe that he is Moroccan, who was one of America’s closest allies. The life of Abdulrahman shows the extreme dehumanization that slavery causes,which is shown through the course of his life. In the beginning, Abdulrahman was born to be a king but instead was forced into slavery for a majority of his life, and he never returned to his homeland.  Slavery is formed in such a way that character and individualism are ignored, and instead race is used to show whether or not somebody is worthy of respect, and was one of America’s greatest obstacles in its society.