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Jan 1, 1500
Prior to 1500's
Before the 1500's, slavery was used by the Roman Empire to build their resources. "As many as 35 or 40 percent of its people were enslaved, a total of 2 or 3 million men and women," (Of the People). These men and women grew crops to sustain the Empire. What's the difference between slavery in the Roman Empire and slavery in the Americas? The Roman Empire didn't solely focus on one race of people, they "came from a great variety of ethnic groups," (Of the People). -
Jan 1, 1500
Prior to 1500's continued
In the Americas many of the slaves consisted of Africans, Native Americans, or indentured servants from England. Even in Africa they had slavery. Not only did they practice slavery in Africa, the Muslims that controlled a lot of Africa at the time sold slaves to other nations. -
Africans in Virginia
Slavery in Virginia started off slowly. In 1619 there was a Dutch ship that sold only twenty African slaves to the Virginians. During this time the rest of the colonies slowly converted to using African slavery rather than white servitude. When tobacco started to be produced in the colonies, the colonists needed a lot of slave labor to work on these plantations in order to maximize tobacco production. The more agriculture in the colony the higher number of slaves were needed to work the land. -
Africans in Virgiinia continued
Those who were enslaved consisted of, "strangers...primarily foreigners of a non-Christian religion," (Of the People). -
Virginia: A Slave Society
Around this time, Virginia consisted of approximately 28% slaves. Because they had so many slaves, the government in Virginia decided to create a slave code to control their slaves. This code stated that any child had by a slave is considered a slave, even if the childs father was white In the south it was incredibly difficult for a slave to get enough money to buy their own freedom. "The line between slavery and freedom was one of color," (Of the People). -
Virginia: A Slave Society continued
These laws restricted Africans and solidified the power whites had over their slaves and increased their rights. -
More Labor!
In 1794, Eli Whitney patented the cotton gin. This was an innovative machine that increased the production of cotton. It removed the seeds from the cotton quicker so the plantation owners needed more laborers to pick the cotton to keep up with the production rate. These slaves became a crucial part of the Southern economy. While the South practiced more slavery the numbers of abolitionists in the North grew. -
More Labor! continued
The South had become so dependent on slavery there was no way they were going to give up slavery without a fight. Cotton was in high demand and the slave owners could simply buy more slaves so that they could make more money off these souls. -
Gabriel Prosser
Many former slaves tried to organize revolts and uprising to liberate their fellow slave brothers. One of these men was Gabriel Prosser. Born in Virginia, he was a blacksmith who wanted to take things into his own hands. In 1800, Gabriel planned a revolt that would march into Richmond, Virginia. His group got delayed by a storm. By the time the weather had cleared, word had gotten to the slave owners and the rebellion was stopped. -
Gabriel Prosser continued
Gabriel Prosser was not the only person to try and lead violent revolt against the oppressive white society but he is a good example of the attitude that the slaves harbored towards their masters at the time. -
Compromise
The Missouri Compromise of 1820 was a hot topic back then. Slavery was super controversial and the country was becoming increasingly divided over whether or not slavery should be abolished. Missouri wanted to join with the other states but enter as a slave state, thus they would be able to freely practice slavery. The main problem with Missouri entering as a slave state was that then the number of slave states would outweigh the number of free states and then have more power. -
Compromise continued
This compromise was created to appease both sides of the country, those in support and those opposed to slavery. This compromise brought Maine along with it. Maine would be a free state and Missouri could be a slave state. This compromise also established more of a line where slavery was acceptable, causing the division between in the country to increase. All of these were events that led up to the Civil War in which slavery was fought over. -
Slave Ships
To transport large numbers of slaves to different countries, slave traders had these large ships that they would pack with individuals that they were going to sell for a profit. The conditions on these ships were incredibly inhumane. They were cramped and stuffy. These poor slaves had to make this long journey to a new place under awful conditions. -
Slave Ships contintued
Many of the slaves didn't survive the journey but the slave traders weren't super worried about that because they had copious amounts of other people aboard that they would sell for a profit. Eventually, England banned slave ships, causing an end to external slave trading. The slaves in America could only be traded within the country now.
