The Affect of Slavery on the Human Race

We began our topic on slavery by discussing how in the late nineteenth century, slavery had become entrenched in American society, both economically and politically.  The essential question for this lesson was, “How did slavery become entrenched in American society, both economically and politically, by the early 19th century?”  We started the lesson by reading clauses from the Founder’s Constitution.  These clauses described the bands on slavery on the societal effects.  For example in Article 1, Section 9, Clause 1, it states the following, “The migration of Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person.”  This clause explains that minimally, for the next twenty-five years, people can import slaves, but after these twenty-five years, the congress can prohibit the importation of slaves.  However, the Congress can tax the importation of slaves for at least the next twenty-five years, but the tax cannot exceed ten dollars.  We then watched a video, Learning about the Cotton Gin, which depicted a man operating an original cotton gin.  The cotton gin was a machine that extracted seeds from cotton.  This revolutionary invention changed slavery.  Next, we read an article titled, “Cotton is King: Slavery is Entrenched in American Society.”  In the eighteenth century, people believed slavery was decreasing and going to be abolished because slaves escaped during the French and American revolutions and a slave master freed 10,000 slaves.  These facts made it seem likely that slavery was disappearing, but the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney caused slavery to increase dramatically instead.  Between the time Whitney invented the cotton gin in 1792 and 1794, the price of slaves doubled.  The prices of slaves was not the only factor growing, the number of slaves was, too.  We then completed an activity called, The Spread of Cotton and Slavery, which gave us some astonishing statistics.  In 1800, the total slave population in the United States was 893,000.  Most slaves were located east of the Appalachian Mountains.  But, by the year of 1860, the population of slaves had risen to 3,954,000 and slaves were now widespread throughout the southern states.  As more pounds of cotton were being produced throughout these decades, due to the cotton gin, the dollar value of exports also increased.  This caused the revenue in American to be dominated by the production of cotton. Slavery became entrenched economically because the cotton gin required that more slaves work on plantations, increasing the production and exportation of cotton.  Slavery also became entrenched politically in America by the nineteenth century because slaves were working on plantations all throughout the southern states.  Slavery was an awful time in history, that plagued America.

This image shows where cotton was produced in the year of 1800.

This image shows where slaves were located in the year of 1800.

This image shows the correlation between the spread of cotton and slavery by the year of 1860.

This graph shows the statistics of how much money was made in exports due to the amount of pounds of cotton made in that year.

The next topic we discussed in class was the morality of slavery.  The essential question was, “How does a system of slavery based on race affect human dignity?  What human characteristics does such a system tend to ignore?”  We defined human dignity as the value of human individuals.  The first activity we completed in class was reading three documents on Frederick Douglass, George Fitzhugh, and John brown.  Each group was assigned an individual, completed research on the figure, and found a picture of him, and decorated the portrait with descriptive phrases and words.  My group was assigned John Brown.  He brought eighteen men of mixed race to Harpers Ferry, Virginia.  He wanted to start a slave revolt, but instead his men were killed or captured and he was tried for treason.  He was eventually hung.  His idea sparked mixed reactions in the north and fear and revolts in the south.  John Brown was willing to kill for the sake of slavery; he believed a passive, peaceful technique would not abolish slavery.  John Brown is an example of someone who ignored their human dignity and ignored innocent people.  Frederick Douglas escaped slavery and became an abolitionist.  This document in his speech he gave on July 5, 1852, stated that people should not celebrating their freedom because not everyone is free; the slaves are still bonded to their masters.  George Fitzhugh was pro-slavery and wrote articles claiming that slaves lead better lives than free men because they were treated better than workers in the north who were free and getting paid. He believed that slaves were the happiest.  Of course, we recognize that Fitzhugh was completely oblivious to the reality of society, demonstrating a different effect of human dignity.  Slavery allowed some to live oblivious to the harsh circumstances they lived in.   We then read an articled titled, “Comparing 18th-Century Futa Jallon to Antebellum Mississippi.”   We learned that slavery in Futa Jallon, Africa was much different than slavery in Antebellum, Mississippi.  In Futa Jallon slavery was based on religion rather than race.  Slaves were non Muslims.  Slaves worked to obtain their own food and they could own property.  Also, if one of your parents were free you were also free and could reach the highest ranking in society.  Slavery in Mississippi was much different.  Slaves worked on cotton plantations and households.  Slaves in Antebellum were fed by their owners.  We then watched the movie, Prince Among Slaves.  This movie followed the life of Abdul Rahman, who was a twenty-six year old prince in Futa Jallon.  He was returning from a battle when he was captured by African slave traders and eventually brought to Natchez, Mississippi.  The movies follows his life in Mississippi and his fight for freedom.  The system of slavery tended to remove human dignity from people, not allowing them to value every individual.  This system tended to ignore human characteristics such as humanity, respect, kindness, and guilt.  If only more people could have used the system to fuel themselves to fight for the end of slavery in a dignified manner.

Level The Playing Field

In mid-nineteenth century America, women were oppressed.  Society created an image for all women; they were to stay at home in the shadows.  In the Sphere of Women, shown below, a woman is holding a child while looking on to make sure that her other children are learning.  In this image, the house is depicted as thoroughly clean without any objects or rooms that reflect the actual work the mother has to put into caring for her family.  This image demonstrates how women were expected to do all of the housework, without recognition.  The Rights of Women: Laws and Practices lists all of the laws and practices that restricted  women during this time period.  Many laws state the difficulties women had to overcome with when trying to divorce their husbands.  One law states, “Most courts grant custody of the children to men.  Alimony is sometimes awarded to women, but they are not allowed to sue in court to make him pay up.”  Even though women cared for the children, men gained custody which demonstrates extreme hypocrisy.  Another law that is mentioned that shows how society belittles women is, “In most states, it is legal for a man to beat his wife.”  Another practice that was stated was that, “It is considered improper for women to speak in public.”  In response to this oppression, women became involved in the Seneca Falls Convention, which resulted in the Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions.  This declaration stated all of the oppressive laws men had placed on women and how they should be resolved.  The responses to this Declaration were both negative and positive.  In the Oneida Whig article, August 1, 1848, it is stated, “If our ladies will insist on voting and legislating, where, gentlemen, will be our dinners and our elbows?”  This negative comment demonstrates how men saw women as less than them and therefore less equal to them.  Although some harbored negative responses to this declaration, others praised it.  For example, in the North Reformer article, August 3, 1848, it is declared that the Seneca Falls convention and declaration was “the first convention of any kind ever held, and one whose influence shall not ease until woman is guarantied all the rights now enjoyed by the other half of creation.”  Mid-nineteenth century society reacted in different ways to women’s demands for equality.  Some took a selfish standpoint and only thought of what would happen if women gained more rights; still viewing themselves as having a lesser social standing.  While others recognized the logic in women outcry for equality and acknowledged that women will not stop until they achieve their goal of gender equality.

This is an image of the Sphere of Women.

Presently, in the twenty-first century, I believe that society still reacts differently to men and women.  It has improved infinitely since the mid-nineteenth century, but I think there is still room for considerable improvement.  Men are still seen as the smarter and prominent leaders.  Boys dominate higher level math and science classes in school and there has yet to be a woman president.  Men are also paid more money than women, even when they have the exact same occupations and experience levels.  Men are given more opportunities than women.  There is no equivalent term for “slut” for a man; it seems that society only wants this hateful word to be used against women.  In the Philippines Pantene commercial, one can see how society views men and women as they take on the exact same position, but are labeled as completely different people.  Our society has made significant strides in reaching gender equality in the past centuries and should continue making improvements until men and women are seen as equals and real gender equality is achieved.