The white which is a dominant class during the early years of American history have enslaved almost four million African Americans (Sweet 1). Slavery was sometimes called the “peculiar institution” since it could define the entire economic, political, and cultural aspect of the south. Slavery was not originally intended for the African Americans since the early settlers tried to enslave the Native Americans and forced them to work (Engerman et al nd). However, when the European diseases spread in the continent, many of the Native Americans died which forced the early settlers to rely on African Americans for labor. Although the slavery system is known today as inhuman and illegal, slavery was entrenched in the politics, economics and culture of the South. The objective of this essay is to analyze how slavery was established in the Southern politics, culture and economics. It also opts to discuss how the plantation class tried to justify the slavery system and how the African Americans maintain their identity, dignity and freedom.
The economy of the South is predominantly developed by agricultural society. Most of the agricultural traditions in the South are maintained in the modern period. Plantations are more developed than towns in the Southern region due to the abundance of long deep rivers which could provide them good irrigation (Wright 533). Due to the large amount of available land, labor becomes a necessity for the early settlers and the English colonists. They also failed to enslave the Native Americans due to their low population. They turned to the African Americans for labor during the 1600s despite their low population. Eventually, slavery in the southern economy becomes entrenched to meet the labor needs of their agricultural society (Thornton 23).
One of the main reasons why the African Americans had survived the slavery for the economic growth of the Southern Region is that they can endure the hot weather in the plantation sites. The slave trade of the English colonists also becomes a dominant influence for the increase of the population of the African American slaves during the early 1800s. Increasing the population of the slaves is important for the whites to improve the southern economy which solely relies on agricultural plantation (Thornton 23). The African American slaves also cannot fight against the whites since they are being forced to work during the early history and eventually become entrenched also in the politics and culture of the Southern Region (Sweet 6).
One of the main reason for the establishment of the slavery system in the Southern politics is that it is controlled by the white slaveholding planters. The slavery system intended to provide the wealth of the political system of the early American nation (Wright 57). With the growth and the expansion of the English colony, slavery become more entrenched in the politics of the South. The English colonizers crafted laws and policies that would benefit the white slaveholding planters. These laws and policies also enable the expansion of the slave system in the Northern Region of America.
Slavery system is not new to the history since African has always been a slave to the Europeans during their expansion and colonization (Sweet 6). The political system that controlled the North and South America was also governed by the English colonizers, Slavery system was entrenched to the politics of the Southern region since it was influenced by the English colonizers. It was easily supported by the white settlers since the political standing of the people during early 1800s were dependent on the owning of slaves. Usually, English Colonizers and the leaders of the towns and plantation areas were slaveholding planters which could easily modify their political system towards their advantage (Tadman 56).
The cultural establishment of the slavery system into the Southern Region was partly due to the feeling of superiority of the whites. Even though some of the white settlers did not own African American slaves, they easily supported the slavery system since it could provide them the feeling that they are more superior to the blacks (Phillips 69). The culture of white superiority was established even before the Europeans came to the America. They brought the superiority culture together with the emergence of the slave trade. The wealth and population of the southern colonies were diverse and prosperous. They controlled the majority of the Southern economy which also establish the way of life or culture of the people living in the Southern Region (Dresher & Engerman 44).
The culture of slavery was based on the European political and economic methods which greatly influenced the establishment of the American Nation. Since the Southern Region rely solely on agriculture for their food and wealth, the slave system become a benefit for them. The slavery system eventually became a way of life for the people in the Southern Region. The slave system also has some benefits for the African Americans since they could live in the plantation sites and also maintain their culture and customs (Phillips 70).
During the time when there slave system has been questioned due to the use of violence of the rich planter’s class, slaveholders tried to justify the peculiar institution. One of their major justifications is based on the historical fact that most of the early civilizations progress due to the help of the slavery system. They also tried to justify the slavery system through legal actions. The early United States constitution refuse to forbid the slavery since it could protect the overseas trade of slaves which could enable them to return the slave fugitives (Goldfield et al 369).
Another justification that the slaveholding planters made was based on pseudoscientific claims. They crafted empirical studies to show that the African Americans are inherently inferior race due to their small sizes and shapes of cranial structure. All of this justifications were made by the slaveholding planters to cover the main objective of the slave system. They tried to justify it because slave system could provide them large amount of profit (Goldfield et al 370).
Even though the African Americans are suffering from the violence and horrors of the slavery system in the Southern Region, they developed and establish a way of life in which they could maintain their culture and their customs (Wright 540). They passed their traditions such as music and stories of their ancestors to their children in order to maintain their cultural identity and dignity. Due to their large population in the plantation sites, they could maintain their important customs such as dance. After their daily works, they could come together as a group during the night in which they could practice their own traditions which was sometimes respected by the slaveholding planters (Fogel & Engerman 46).
The enslaved African Americans also fought their freedom through revolts and violence. One of the major historical events that characterized their revolt is the Stono Rebellion which resulted to the death of several slaveholding planters. However, these revolts are not successful in restoring their freedom. The freedom of the African American slaves was established through the help of the anti-slavery politicians which was greatly initiated by President Abraham Lincoln (Goldfield et al 373).
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