History/ Slavery Movie Review Example

1. Describe the emergence of abolitionism in American society and its significance. Give examples.
2. Describe the distribution of slavery in the South. Describe slave culture and how it helped slaves bear up under the pressures of slavery. How did southern whites defend slavery?
The Southern states of America were growing in economic power through their plantation system. After the first plantations were expanding and the new were emerging, the plantation owners needed more people, in particular, slaves for work, and, thus, more slaves have been brought from Africa. Gradually, the number of slaves started rising and reached 4 million by 1860, and it was impossible that this number of people, who shared the same fate, would not create their own culture that would support them in their struggles. In order to relieve their painful condition, slaves started composing folk tales that told about the aspirations for better life of all enslaved people. These tales were passed from one generation to another, and as slaves managed to create an unbelievably powerful communication system throughout the whole country, the tales were spread very fast. Christianity mixed with African beliefs was another source of energy and hope for the slaves in their daily life. Spirituality helped them survive everyday hard work and punishments, as they relied on God’s will and mercy and believed that God would relieve them of their hard condition or make them free. Another strong supporting force was family. Members of slave families had a strong bond that kept them hoping and strong as they could be in their condition. Separation of the family weakened its members, and maintaining plantation in a good condition helped ensure that the family would stay together for several generations and fathers and sons would not be sold to other masters.
While the abolitionists argued that slavery was immoral and contradicted Christianity, the white southerners developed several arguments for slavery. Some argued that slavery supported the economics of the United States that would otherwise collapse if all slaves were freed and started to be paid for their labor. Others argued that slaves were treated much better on plantations than the free black people, who had to work in humiliating conditions in the North factories. Some used the racist arguments that emerged at that time and held that slaves were inherently of less value than white people and were designed for manual labor.
3. Describe the doctrine of Manifest Destiny and how it was used to justify American expansion. What was the argument used in expanding slavery? Be specific.
The doctrine of Manifest Destiny was popularized in the middle of 19th century and held that Americans were destined by God to create a new heaven in the western lands of the continent and introduce American liberties and their advantages to the people living in the territories of expansion. At first, people believed that other territories would gradually decide to join the Union when seeing the benefits of the Republic. However, the improvement of technology, the necessity to provide land for new immigrants and generations and to secure trade interests on the west accelerated the expansion. The doctrine did not have a unanimous support of most people in the country, but was rather maintained by those groups that had economic and political interests in expansion. The believers considered that America should become a transcontinental power in order to provide land for future generations, improve trade and prevent Great Britain from collaborating with Mexico in pursuit of weakening the United States. With this in mind, people traveled westward in order to expand agricultural interests. Meanwhile, the slave and plantation owners saw an opportunity to increase their power in the country by increasing the number of slave states. Moreover, the expansion would allow them to increase the population of slaves, as well as move them to other territories in order to decrease the possibility of revolts and rebellion. The southern slave owners were cautious that the abolition of slavery by Great Britain would spread throughout the North American continent. As Texas asked for statehood in the Union, Mexico was attempting to regain its control over the territory, and Great Britain allegedly suggested helping to secure Texas independence in exchange for abolition of slavery. Both, southern and northern states decided to make Texas a state of the Union in order to prevent British imperialism and intrusion. Meanwhile, Texas was a slave state, and expansion to the West led to years of debates over whether the new states should be free of slavery or not. Several times southern states threatened secession in case slavery was abolished in the new lands, and the government decided that some of the states had a right to choose for themselves if they wanted slavery or not. The Missouri Compromise allowed some states to make their own choice on the issue, while demanding the others to be free of slavery.