1700’s - 1860

1. 1700’s - 1860

2. Southern Colonies • Plantation systems • Tobacco, cotton, indigo • Dark blue dye • Heavy slave economy

3. Middle Colonies • Most slaves worked in trade in manufacturing • Construction • Mason • Shipwright • Goldsmith • Glass workers • Moderate slave economy, but much less than southern colonies

4. New England • Slavery less common • New England temperature/short farming period not financial conducive to slavery • Slavery therefore less common • Building houses • Working as house servants • Many more free blacks

5. American Revolution • Calls for freedom • Declaration of Independence gave false hope to slaves • Had a passage about slavery, was removed due to opposition • Lord Dunsmore Proclamation • Any slaves who run away to fight for the British will keep their freedom when British win the war

6. After revolution, blacks hoped the newly won freedom would inspire renewed push for end of slavery. • Didn’t happen • Loyalist blacks leave America- return to England. • Free blacks • Won freedom in Revolutionary war • Released from slavery (emancipated) • Bought freedom • runaways

7. Constitution • Northern Delegates wanted ban of slavery importation • Southern Delegates refused to sign anything with bans in it • Compromise- 20 year suspension on slave trade regulations

8. Representation • North- Slaves were considered property, so the southern states should pay more in property taxes • South- Slaves should be counted towards population numbers, which gave southern states more representatives in government • Compromise- 3/5th Compromise • 5 slaves = 3 people • South gets population, North gets taxes

9. Slavery and Abolition • Abolitionists speak out • Early efforts to end slavery • Quakers, Benjamin Lundy; gradual, approach to end it • American Colonization Society • Free slaves and send them back to Africa • Founded Liberia, 1847 • Most did not want to go • William Lloyd Garrison • Founded the Liberator, 1831 • “I will not retreat a single inch AND I WILL BE HEARD” • Gather followers

10. Abolitionists cont. • African American Abolitionists • Major role in the movement • Personal experiences • David Walker – born to free black mother, born free in NC • Opposed to ACS plan • Worked on Freedom’s Journal (first newspaper operated by African Americans) • Sojourner Truth • Frederick Douglass • Slave in MD, taught himself to read and write, escaped • Powerful speaker • Edited the North Star • Traveled abroad, returned to fight slavery at its source

11. Life under Slavery • Slave Cabins, Family Life, Culture and Christianity • Hardship and misery • No money, little chance for freedom • Few comforts • Families often torn apart • Extended families helped raise kids • Fused African and American elements for culture • After 1808, no foreign slaves • Held onto music, dance, folk stories and clothes • Many accepted Christianity • Spirituals used to communicate secretly

12. Life under Slavery cont. • Slave codes and Resistance to Slavery • Laws to control slaves • No assemblies or education • Needed a pass to leave master’s property • Nat Turner led a major rebellion in 1831 • Killed 55 whites • Armed rebellions were rare • Resisted in other ways • Many escaped via the Underground Railroad

13. Slave owners defend slavery • Some used the Bible to justify it • Some stated slavery benefited blacks • Treated better than industrial workers of the north • Eventually: Social Darwinism defending it

14. Antebellum • Antebellum- period before Civil War • Domestic Slave Trade- internal slave trade • 1808 • International slave trade ban • Britain begins patrolling West African coast for slavers

15. Slave Rebellion • Gabriel’s Conspiracy • August 30, 1800 • Plans to attack Richmond. • Two slaves revealed plans to white authorities • Gabriel arrested and hanged • Louisiana Rebellion • Deslondes, Haitian native initiated revolt • Organized 180 men and women • Over run by troops, 60 killed instantly, the rest executed

16. Slavery and the West • Small communities cropped up in the West • 1860 • 4000 blacks in CA made up 75% of all the nominally free African-Americans in the West • Discriminatory black laws kept free black westerners at a minimum • Still some families made the trip west to try for better economic chances

17. Missouri Compromise • Issue about slave states emerging west of the Mississippi • Northerners didn’t want new slave states • Southerners didn’t feel the North had the right to infringe • Agreement made: For every slave state admitted, a free state had to be approved as well. • Banned slavery north of the 36’ 30” latitude line.

19. Wilmot Proviso • 1846 • David Wilmot • PA congressman introduced a measure to prohibit slavery in any lands acquired from Mexico • “The Negro race already occupy enough of this fair continent…” • Never passed

21. Compromise of 1850 • Gold discovered in 1848 • California quickly expanded • Applied for statehood as a free state • Missouri Compromise would cause a problem • Compromise of 1850 • Allows California to be admitted as a free state and eliminating the slave trade in the District of Columbia • Stronger fugitive slave law for the south

22. Popular Sovereignty • Issue of popular sovereignty • Residents of a territory get to decide for themselves whether to allow Slavery. • States tired of government making decisions about their state status without benefit of the people’s vote

23. Fugitive Slave Act • 1793 • Permitted slave owners to recover slaves who escaped to other states • 1830-40 • 1793 law became too weak • 1850 Fugitive Slave Law • US Marshals, deputies and even ordinary citizens had to help seize suspected runaways • Those who refused could be fined or imprisoned

24. On the section KANSAS-NEBRASKA ACT write: • Nebraska was divided in half so there are 2 territories. • Kansas and Nebraska. • Slavery in each territory would be decided by the voters=Popular Sovereignty. • Results: • Bleeding Kansas-lots of violence • The Democratic Party lost support in the North but gained it in the South. Democrats were pro-slavery. • The Republican Party is created and it gained power among those against slavery.

25. Dred Scott Decision 1857 • Dred Scott was an African American slave who belonged to an Army officer. • He traveled with his owner and lived in 2 free states for several years. • At one point he even traveled alone through free territories to join his master in the South. • He never sued for his freedom while his master was alive. However, shortly after the Army officer died, his widow hired Scott out to someone else. At this point, Scott tried to buy his freedom. He was denied.

26. Abolitionist lawyers took his case and helped him sue for his freedom on the grounds that he had lived in 2 free states and should have been given his freedom. • His case was in the courts for 10 years. Some found in his favor, others found against him. • He decided to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1856. • Of the 9 Supreme Court justices 7 had been appointed by pro-slavery, Southern presidents and 5 were from slave holding families.

27. The Supreme Court ruled that because Scott was black he was not a citizen of the United States and therefore he had no right to sue. • The justices also declared that the Missouri Compromise and its attempt to restrict slavery in territories North of the 36x30 line was unconstitutional. • Northerners were furious and this decision had a huge impact on the 1860 election of the Republican nominee=Abraham Lincoln. • The sons of the man who had owned Dred Scott had paid his legal fees for years trying to help him win his freedom. After the Supreme Court decision, they bought Scott and his wife from the widow and set him free. Scott died 9 months later a free man.

29. On the section DRED SCOTT DECISION write: • The Supreme Court of 1857 ruled that people of African ancestry were not citizens and could not sue in Federal Court for freedom or anything else. • They also ruled that the Missouri Compromise was not legal. They stated the government can not tell states they have to be slave or free. • Results: • Angry anti-slavery voters voted for Abraham Lincoln for president in 1860.