The impact of agricultural demand on American slavery.
Slavery is defined as the obligation to labor for the master without the consent of the slave. It can simply be said to be forced labor. In United States, slavery existed as a legal institution, and remained a legal feature of the American society until the passage of the thirteen amendments in the United States constitution.
Commercial agricultural involves growing crops like cotton, rice, sugar, coffee and tobacco. The types of crops are normally grown in large farms or plantations and demands intensive labor to plant, tend and to harvest. When European immigrants entered US, they divided the land into plantations where they started growing crops. Consequently, a source of cheap labor was needed for these plantations. In the light of this view, this research will look into the impact of agricultural demand on slavery in America.
History of slavery in United States
Slavery in the US started as early as 16th century when African slaves were transported to Spanish and Portuguese colonies in the Caribbean, Mexico as well as Central and South America. Initially, land owners in the colonies met their labor needs by enslaving a limited number of natives and hiring European servants. These servants committed themselves to work for 4 to 7 years in exchange for their transportation across the Atlantic. The Europeans found it more convenient to sell the Native Americans to work in the Caribbean rather than to turn them into slaves in their own terrain where they could escape freely. With the spread of tobacco farming in 1670s and the reduced number of people willing to sign in as servants in 1680s led to an increased number of slaves from Africa. They replaced the Native American slaves who were found to be more vulnerable to diseases of the European origin.
Slavery and slave transportation to the US were both carried out in a brutal way. 50 of the slaves were reported to die during their transportation with those who were too ill to survive the trip being thrown overboard to drawn. Upon arrival on the American soil, the slaves were treated as property to be freely bought and sold. Some slave owners were kind enough to allow their slaves to marry while others imposed marriages on them. These marriages were not recognized by the state and therefore the slave owners were free to break up a family at any time by selling some of its members. Slave children as young as twelve years of age were sent into the fields to work from dawn to evening.
Slavery spread fast in all the American colonies such that they even began passing laws that regulated slave relations. This means that labor was racialized by courts and the legislature to exclusively apply to blacks and people of the African descent. From around 1619 to 1865, many people of African descent were legally imported by majority of whites in the southern states.
Slavery due to Agricultural demand
There were several economic factors that contributed to slavery. One of the major factors was agriculture. Landowners in the southern states of Virginia, Georgia and South Carolina had resulted to plantation farming but they did not have enough labor for their farms. Since many servants had run away from their contemporary owners or returned home after contracts between them and their masters ended, landowners were left without a source of labor. They had to seek for other sources of labor which lead to the African slavery.
Furthermore, there was a system known as the head- right system which was a way to encourage individuals to establish settlement in areas that had not been settled so as to expand the colonies. The wealthy would have their servants transported to work in these areas and for each slave they transported they would in turn be rewarded fifty acres of land. Consequently, if one wanted a lot of land for cultivation, then one had to contribute a lot of slaves. The wealthy therefore gathered many slaves to sell to the colonies and in return they acquired vast land for plantations.
The demand for raw materials such as cotton and tobacco was on the increase and one needed intensive labor to plant, harvest and work on the land. The cotton boom experienced in the early 19th century triggered the need for more slaves leading to many Africans being taken in as slaves. Majority of slave owners engaged them in machine like systems which were effective for agriculture. Obviously, farms with many slaves were more productive than those with less or no slaves. Subsequently, this made the landowners to source for more slaves depending on the size of the plantation. Slaves were guarded by a managerial or overseers who ensured that they worked more effectively without wasting time.
Tobacco growing changed from small farms to a colony that composed of large scale farms and plantations since it was not profitable when grown in small scale. Growing of tobacco created a problem as it deprived the soil of its nutrients thus forcing the farmers to move towards the northern wheat producing states such as New York. In the northern states, the soil and the climate did not support development of agriculture and thus slaves were not needed.
Rice, which was mainly grown in the south originated from Madagascar and was brought in by the Spanish at the beginning of 18th century. The slaves had prior knowledge of how to cultivate rice thus many cultivators took advantage of this by importing them to work at the many rice plantations in George Town, Savannah and Charles Town. The plantation owners learnt a lot of techniques from the slaves, e.g. they learnt how to flood the fields and dyke the marshes.
Eli Whites invention of the gin machine solved many difficulties faced in cotton production. This new invention in the field of agriculture meant the need for more and more slaves in order to maximize production. The machine was created to ease the tremendous burdens of those who labored to pick the seeds from the cotton. With this new invention, White made it possible to clean fifty pounds of cotton per person per day from one pound of the crop in a day. Prior to invention of the gin, slavery had become less favorable with Americans because there were so many immigrants making labor so cheap that many farmers found it necessary to pay. With the gin, the need for labor became more crucial to the livelihood of those who grew the crop. Larger and larger fields of cotton were cultivated to keep up with the demand increasing the need for laborers to glean the produce.
The influx of immigrants in the United States had produced so many laborers for such tasks but theses people were unwilling to undertake such terrible and difficult work. They knew that they could surely find easier and less painful ways of making a living. This left the land owners with no other option apart from obtaining slaves to work for them. Although the cotton gin is considered to be one of the major inventions in the role of agriculture in America and beyond, it caused the continuance of slavery until its dissolution at the end of the civil war.
Some historians have come up with a three stage division of evolution of slavery. These three stages are the developmental stage, high-profit and the decadent stage. In the developmental stage, the slaves were required to clear virgin forests for planting, build the dikes, dams, roads and buildings necessary for plantation. The slaves were forced to work in dangerous territories beset by disease and sometimes hostile inhabitants. Clearing of land coupled with performing heavy construction job without modern machinery was extremely hard work, especially in the hot, humid climate of the south.
In the high profit phase, the slaves were mercilessly forced to plant, cultivate and harvest the crops for market. If a crop failed, the owner risked losing his initial investment in land and also losing the slaves. If a crop was successful, it earned very high returns which meant that the slaves will be forced to work beyond human endurance. The owners of these slaves argued that it was cheaper to purchase slaves than to breed them meaning that they would rather overwork them to death and then purchase new ones. In the decadent phase of slavery, slave trade relaxed and the labor became less intensive. Usually, this happened in cases where the land became exhausted and the soil nutrients needed to produce large harvest were depleted. Plantation owners would therefore start to grow crops like barley, wheat, corn and vegetables which needed fewer slaves who were not forced to work very hard since cultivation of these crops required less labor.
Slavery was abolished in the north in 1830 leading to the division of the United States into the slavery south and the free north. The southern people still believed in slavery and they wanted to protect it since they believed it would lead to economic destruction if banned. The then president of the United States of America, Abraham Lincoln, wanted to arrest any further spread of slavery. In the late 1850s, the southern states feared that they would lose control of the government to antislavery and the northern states feared that the slaves were already taking control of the government. To some extent, this led to a crisis. Eventually, the American civil war took place and in 1863 the constitution was amended. This brought the civil war to an end and most importantly slavery was abolished.
Importing Africans to work in the plantations as laborers was beneficial to the economy of the south. On the other hand, it resulted to civil war which claimed over a million lives. In the antebellum period, the growth rate of the southern states compared favorably with that of the northern states. In the south, a considerable amount of wealth was held in the hands of the planters. However, the southern states lagged behind commercially more so in the service industry.
Commercial agricultural involves growing crops like cotton, rice, sugar, coffee and tobacco. The types of crops are normally grown in large farms or plantations and demands intensive labor to plant, tend and to harvest. When European immigrants entered US, they divided the land into plantations where they started growing crops. Consequently, a source of cheap labor was needed for these plantations. In the light of this view, this research will look into the impact of agricultural demand on slavery in America.
History of slavery in United States
Slavery in the US started as early as 16th century when African slaves were transported to Spanish and Portuguese colonies in the Caribbean, Mexico as well as Central and South America. Initially, land owners in the colonies met their labor needs by enslaving a limited number of natives and hiring European servants. These servants committed themselves to work for 4 to 7 years in exchange for their transportation across the Atlantic. The Europeans found it more convenient to sell the Native Americans to work in the Caribbean rather than to turn them into slaves in their own terrain where they could escape freely. With the spread of tobacco farming in 1670s and the reduced number of people willing to sign in as servants in 1680s led to an increased number of slaves from Africa. They replaced the Native American slaves who were found to be more vulnerable to diseases of the European origin.
Slavery and slave transportation to the US were both carried out in a brutal way. 50 of the slaves were reported to die during their transportation with those who were too ill to survive the trip being thrown overboard to drawn. Upon arrival on the American soil, the slaves were treated as property to be freely bought and sold. Some slave owners were kind enough to allow their slaves to marry while others imposed marriages on them. These marriages were not recognized by the state and therefore the slave owners were free to break up a family at any time by selling some of its members. Slave children as young as twelve years of age were sent into the fields to work from dawn to evening.
Slavery spread fast in all the American colonies such that they even began passing laws that regulated slave relations. This means that labor was racialized by courts and the legislature to exclusively apply to blacks and people of the African descent. From around 1619 to 1865, many people of African descent were legally imported by majority of whites in the southern states.
Slavery due to Agricultural demand
There were several economic factors that contributed to slavery. One of the major factors was agriculture. Landowners in the southern states of Virginia, Georgia and South Carolina had resulted to plantation farming but they did not have enough labor for their farms. Since many servants had run away from their contemporary owners or returned home after contracts between them and their masters ended, landowners were left without a source of labor. They had to seek for other sources of labor which lead to the African slavery.
Furthermore, there was a system known as the head- right system which was a way to encourage individuals to establish settlement in areas that had not been settled so as to expand the colonies. The wealthy would have their servants transported to work in these areas and for each slave they transported they would in turn be rewarded fifty acres of land. Consequently, if one wanted a lot of land for cultivation, then one had to contribute a lot of slaves. The wealthy therefore gathered many slaves to sell to the colonies and in return they acquired vast land for plantations.
The demand for raw materials such as cotton and tobacco was on the increase and one needed intensive labor to plant, harvest and work on the land. The cotton boom experienced in the early 19th century triggered the need for more slaves leading to many Africans being taken in as slaves. Majority of slave owners engaged them in machine like systems which were effective for agriculture. Obviously, farms with many slaves were more productive than those with less or no slaves. Subsequently, this made the landowners to source for more slaves depending on the size of the plantation. Slaves were guarded by a managerial or overseers who ensured that they worked more effectively without wasting time.
Tobacco growing changed from small farms to a colony that composed of large scale farms and plantations since it was not profitable when grown in small scale. Growing of tobacco created a problem as it deprived the soil of its nutrients thus forcing the farmers to move towards the northern wheat producing states such as New York. In the northern states, the soil and the climate did not support development of agriculture and thus slaves were not needed.
Rice, which was mainly grown in the south originated from Madagascar and was brought in by the Spanish at the beginning of 18th century. The slaves had prior knowledge of how to cultivate rice thus many cultivators took advantage of this by importing them to work at the many rice plantations in George Town, Savannah and Charles Town. The plantation owners learnt a lot of techniques from the slaves, e.g. they learnt how to flood the fields and dyke the marshes.
Eli Whites invention of the gin machine solved many difficulties faced in cotton production. This new invention in the field of agriculture meant the need for more and more slaves in order to maximize production. The machine was created to ease the tremendous burdens of those who labored to pick the seeds from the cotton. With this new invention, White made it possible to clean fifty pounds of cotton per person per day from one pound of the crop in a day. Prior to invention of the gin, slavery had become less favorable with Americans because there were so many immigrants making labor so cheap that many farmers found it necessary to pay. With the gin, the need for labor became more crucial to the livelihood of those who grew the crop. Larger and larger fields of cotton were cultivated to keep up with the demand increasing the need for laborers to glean the produce.
The influx of immigrants in the United States had produced so many laborers for such tasks but theses people were unwilling to undertake such terrible and difficult work. They knew that they could surely find easier and less painful ways of making a living. This left the land owners with no other option apart from obtaining slaves to work for them. Although the cotton gin is considered to be one of the major inventions in the role of agriculture in America and beyond, it caused the continuance of slavery until its dissolution at the end of the civil war.
Some historians have come up with a three stage division of evolution of slavery. These three stages are the developmental stage, high-profit and the decadent stage. In the developmental stage, the slaves were required to clear virgin forests for planting, build the dikes, dams, roads and buildings necessary for plantation. The slaves were forced to work in dangerous territories beset by disease and sometimes hostile inhabitants. Clearing of land coupled with performing heavy construction job without modern machinery was extremely hard work, especially in the hot, humid climate of the south.
In the high profit phase, the slaves were mercilessly forced to plant, cultivate and harvest the crops for market. If a crop failed, the owner risked losing his initial investment in land and also losing the slaves. If a crop was successful, it earned very high returns which meant that the slaves will be forced to work beyond human endurance. The owners of these slaves argued that it was cheaper to purchase slaves than to breed them meaning that they would rather overwork them to death and then purchase new ones. In the decadent phase of slavery, slave trade relaxed and the labor became less intensive. Usually, this happened in cases where the land became exhausted and the soil nutrients needed to produce large harvest were depleted. Plantation owners would therefore start to grow crops like barley, wheat, corn and vegetables which needed fewer slaves who were not forced to work very hard since cultivation of these crops required less labor.
Slavery was abolished in the north in 1830 leading to the division of the United States into the slavery south and the free north. The southern people still believed in slavery and they wanted to protect it since they believed it would lead to economic destruction if banned. The then president of the United States of America, Abraham Lincoln, wanted to arrest any further spread of slavery. In the late 1850s, the southern states feared that they would lose control of the government to antislavery and the northern states feared that the slaves were already taking control of the government. To some extent, this led to a crisis. Eventually, the American civil war took place and in 1863 the constitution was amended. This brought the civil war to an end and most importantly slavery was abolished.
Importing Africans to work in the plantations as laborers was beneficial to the economy of the south. On the other hand, it resulted to civil war which claimed over a million lives. In the antebellum period, the growth rate of the southern states compared favorably with that of the northern states. In the south, a considerable amount of wealth was held in the hands of the planters. However, the southern states lagged behind commercially more so in the service industry.
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