HIS 114 American History II: History Of Slavery In America

Before the emergence of cotton as a primary crop in the south, the invention of the cotton gin, and territorial expansion southward and westward, slavery appeared to be on the decline. These factors, coupled with a rising demand for cotton by the British textile industry, revived the South's agricultural economy.

 

Although cotton could be grown with or without slavery, the expansion of cotton cultivation and slavery occurred together. When slavery was challenged on moral grounds, southerners chose to defend their "peculiar institution," as in the words of John C. Calhoun "a positive good."

erials in the British Cotton Textile industry (Olmstead & Rhode, 2018). Before that, slavery in America was on the decline. Industrial developments had been more in the North as compared to the South, which was still highly dependent of agriculture, especially that of tobacco. Plantation owners saw a chance of flourishing business, but it would require a considerable amount of human capital. This paved the way for a growth of slave trades from various colonial lands, mostly of Africa and the Caribbean (Du Bois, 2017).

It is strongly believed that the then plantation aristocrats, unlike the previous aristocrats of the country, were originally middle class people with bourgeois mentality. Many of them originally came from a background of small-scale yeoman farming. The newness and instability of their aristocracy, along with a fairly enormous political, economic, and social supremacy, prevented them from looking beyond their own benefits and thereby patronizing slavery. Slavery was also hugely supported by a large number of non-aristocratic white southerners who had less or no slaves working under them. This can be attributed to the dependency of many small-scale farmers on cotton gin and financial or other kinds of help, like livestock or modest crops, which they provided to the plantation owners (Olmstead & Rhode, 2018). Many of them had their establishments within these farms and supervised the work of the slaves. Democracy played a huge role for the defence of slavery in the south. The southern states were more democratic than their northern counterparts, with a lot of people participating in political issues, although the elites were at the helm of affairs. Due to the boom of cotton cultivation, small farmers of the south were getting richer and expanding their business (Whittemore, 2017). Some of the extremely poor rural white people called ‘crackers’ enjoyed a better position in the society than the slaves. Separated from the rest of America in terms of slavery, the southerners were a unified mass. Also, in some cases, the slave-master relationship was good. The slaves were controlled by strict laws. The term “peculiar institution” was frequently used by pro-slavery southern elites to represent ‘slavery’, which was believed to have a negative connotation. This superficial coinage problematizes the very ground on which the institution of slavery stands. A reputed figure of the U.S. Senate, John C. Calhoun, had famously made use of this term and called it a “positive good” that has become an integral part of the American society, and is beneficial for its progress (Williams, 2015). His remarks instigated debates among various sections of the society, which continue even today. These factors sufficiently justify why a unified group of southerners, irrespective of whether rich or poor, strongly defended slavery, especially during the 19^th century. Unlike the cultural and literary advancement of the northern states, where black people had more freedom, the southerners were perhaps less educated and aware of the immoralities and monstrosity involved in this system. They treated the slaves less as human beings and more as tools, which can be get rid of at any moment without any hesitation.

The successful attempt of the abolition of slave trade was a masterstroke for the long-term goal of ending slavery in America. The driving force behind this action was the English politician William Wilberforce (Ingram & Silverman, 2016). Complete abolition of the institution of slavery would have been extremely difficult in the beginning as it involved major investments in terms of agriculture and commerce, and the investors were mostly social elites who had sufficient power to call the shots. Therefore, short-term goals were set, wherein it was believed that if slave trade could be stopped, then it would eventually lead to the abolition of slavery.

In conclusion it may be said that, since slavery had a long tradition on American soil, the odds against its abolition were many. Although the British textile industry demanded cotton, which could abundantly be grown in the southern states, execution of slavery was not mandatory for the plantation owners to earn good revenue. The poor local farmers could well be used for that purpose. It was unequal spread of literacy and industrial developments across the country that fuelled such anti-humanitarian attitude among the southerners, otherwise slavery in America could have been ended a long time ago, and much bloodshed could have been prevented.

References

Calomiris, C. W., & Pritchett, J. (2016). Betting on secession: Quantifying political events surrounding slavery and the civil war. American Economic Review, 106(1), 1-23.

Du Bois, W. E. B. (2017). Black Reconstruction in America: Toward a history of the part which black folk played in the attempt to reconstruct democracy in America, 1860-1880. Routledge.

Ingram, P., & Silverman, B. S. (2016). The Cultural Contingency of Structure: Evidence from Entry to the Slave Trade In and Around the Abolition Movement. American Journal of Sociology, 122(3), 755-797.

Olmstead, A. L., & Rhode, P. W. (2018). Cotton, slavery, and the new history of capitalism. Explorations in Economic History, 67, 1-17.

Whittemore, H. N. (2017). Restoring the South: Nostalgia and Memory in Plantation House Preservation.

Williams, J. C. (2015). Slave Contracts and the Thirteenth Amendment. Seattle UL Rev., 39, 1009.