Morality of Slavery in Early America

          In the 19th century, as the United States started to grow economically, slavery started to become entrenched inside the United States. In 1790 there were 690,000 slaves in America and they were located in the Chesapeake area and the Carolinas. Also during 1790 only 1.5 million pounds of cotton were produced, and it was considered an insignificant part of the nation's economy. However, by 1860 3.954 million were spread out throughout the nation, mostly in the south. And, in 1860 cotton accounted for 57% of the nations total export revenue, 2.28 billion pounds were produced, and it was valued at $191.8 million. This was no coincidence that both of these were increasing around the same time; they came hand in hand. Another part that contributed to both was the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney. This made farming cotton a lot easier, so more production of cotton called for more slaves to work the fields. An interactive map shows the increase of both cotton production and slave population. The south was where cotton was produced, so they depended on slaves. In the north slaves were mostly used as servants, but the textile mills in the north needed the cotton from the south. This shows that the whole economy relied on slavery and cotton production.

          The system used for slavery where it was based on race affects human dignity because it implies that just because of the color of your skin you are automatically considered more or less than another human being. From the beginning of slavery in the Americas, African Americans were told they were less than the whites. Through verbal and physical assault from the whites, the African Americans started to believe this. Then, the government started creating laws that degraded slaves even more. In Article 1, Section 9, Clause 1 of the Founder's Constitution it states "The Migration or 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 is saying that before 1808 importing slaves would not be taxed, but after 1808 they could be, but it could not exceed $10 for each slave. This is putting a price tag on a human being which is taking away their dignity. With laws like these African American slaves were never given a chance to think that they were equal.

          This system of race ignores the liberty and equality of all men and women.  It forces people to think that they are either inferior or superior to others around them. It also created people, who think they are superior, to think of excuses that makes it seem that they are not objectifying a specific race. One example was in George Fitzhugh's "Cannibals All!" he states "The Negro slaves of the South are the happiest, and, in some sense, the freest people in the world." By saying this he shows how ignorant he and all of his followers are for coming up with a statement that covers the truth. Him saying that the slaves were more free than the whites is like if I said that animals in zoos are more free than humans like you and I. With comments like these made by the southerners, the honesty and compassion in whites from the south disappeared as the desire for wealth and greed flourished.

Interactive map:

http://mappinghistory.uoregon.edu/english/US/US18-00.html