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The American Revolution
The American Revolution formed after decades of tensions growing due to Britain's overbearing government. In 1760 King George III cemented his rule by bringing in the more authoritarian Tories into his government. This lead to a series of events leading up to 1776 that increased tensions between the colonists and the British. After the Boston Massacre on March 5th 1770 tensions were growing rapidly. First Massachusetts revolted, who Britain thought were going to be alone, but others rallied too. -
The Cotton Boom
In early America, slave fueled textile companies made up 88 out of 106 American companies who's value was greater than $100,000. This is a product of what historians call the Cotton Boom, where the demand of cotton worldwide was very high, and America had the perfect land to grow it. Due to this demand many southern plantation owners used slaves to pick their cotton instead of paid workers, since a slave was a one-time payment instead of a monthly, or bimonthly wage. -
The Haitian Revolution and its Consequences in America
The Haitian Revolution was a slave revolution in the island nation of Haiti. While not controlled by America at the time, they were very close in proximity, Haiti being only 700 miles from Miami, Florida. Refugees flooded in to America from this war, and enslaved African Americans felt empowered and the white leaders were afraid of them rallied as the Haitian slaves did. This caused a smear campaign on African Americans using this war of independence as an example of their brutality. -
The Modernization of Farming Tools
As time went on, the tools used to farm cotton got far more advanced, and did not need as much manual labor as before. This lead to a stagnation of the slave market as plantation owners did not need as many slaves to produce the same amount of cotton as two decades ago. In the leading years to the American Civil War, many plantation owners employed these new tactics and tools for farming, which increased efficiency but also increased injury from mechanical means and from slavers beating them. -
The American Civil War
During the American Civil War, the Union had significant advantages against the Confederate States of America. The Union had largely unanimous support from northerners, and since the capital and White House were located within it, they had the power of most of the American Army and Navy. This lead them to do maneuvers such as Scotts Great Snake, seen in the attached image, where they would block all of the ports the Confederacy had access to, so they could not import or transport any supplies.