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Brief History of Slavery in America. 1619. First 20 Negroes brought to Jamestown Virginia from West Africa Originally as indentured servants By 1775 there were 400,000 slaves in America 300,000 of them in the South. 1776 Declaration of Independence. Said nothing about slavery
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1619 • First 20 Negroes brought to Jamestown Virginia from West Africa • Originally as indentured servants • By 1775 there were 400,000 slaves in America 300,000 of them in the South
1776 Declaration of Independence • Said nothing about slavery • New England ship owners engaged in slave trade • Southern plantation system needed cheep labor
1787 Northwest Ordinance • New territories of Ohio, Western Pennsylvania, Michigan and Illinois are closed to slavery
Northwest Territory contd. • July 13, 1787 “There shall be formed in said territory, not less than three nor more than five states • Congress later decided to divide the Territory into the 6 states of Ohio (1803), Indiana (1816), Illinois (1818), Michigan (1837), Wisconsin (1848), Minnesota (1858).
1789 U.S. Constitution • 3/5 compromise is necessary to secure ratification of the Constitution • Sets the stage for debate over the nature of the negro – person or property
1793 Cotton Gin • Cotton production is now more profitable than growing tobacco, rice, hemp or indigo • Plantations grow rapidly increasing the need for cheep / free labor
1800 Gabriel Prosser Slave Rebellion • First recorded slave uprising in America • 1804 All Northern States were committed to the elimination of slavery • Little use to northern farmers and mill owners • 1808 Importation of Slaves is prohibited by Federal Law
1817 American Colonization Society Formed • Back to Africa • Negro will never be equal in a White Society • Races should not be mixed
1820 Missouri Compromise • Fears of a Southern Majority in the Senate are overcome by admitting Missouri to US as Slave State • Main is admitted as a Free State • Prohibited slavery in most of what had been the Louisiana Territory
1821 • First Anti – Slave journal published • Benjamin Lundy – white Quaker • “The Genius of Universal Emancipation
1822 Denmark Vesey Slave Revolt • Charleston South Carolina • Vesey was a free Black • 80 Blacks in groups of 6 according to tribel lines • All captured – some returned to owners 35 men including Vesey hanged and 37 sold out of state to eliminate trouble makers
1829 Mexico Outlaws Slavery in Texas • Mexico is a Catholic Country • Catholics opposed slavery • General Santa Anna moved against Texas to enforce the Mexican Constitution • Death of David Walker in Boston
1831 Nat Turner Slave Revolt • Slave Revolt causes fear in Southern Whites • Some southern states Negros outnumber whites 3 to 1 • William Lloyd Garrison begins publishing anti-slave newspaper “The Liberator”
1846 Wilmot Proviso • No slavery in territory acquired from Mexico • Stability in the Senate is threatened if territory is made into several states
Millard Fillmore of East Aurora was President California admitted as a free state Territory of New Mexico and Utah can decide the issue themselves Selling of slaves is banned in Washington D.C. Fugitive Slave Act is passed 1850 – Compromise of 1850
1852 Uncle Tom’s Cabin published • Best Seller • Good story • 20 languages • Tried for balanced portrayal but definitely anti - slave
Southern Reaction • George Fitzhugh • Book – “Cannibals All” • Northern Industrialists are no better than Cannibals
1854 Kansas Nebraska Act • Kansas and Nebraska • Popular sovereignty • Squatter Sovereignty • Bleeding Kansas • Balance in Senate is again in question
1857 Dred Scott vs. Sanford • Slaves are NOT Citizens • Slaves can NOT sue in Federal Courts • Slaves are Property and are protected by the Constitution
1859 John Brown’s Raid • Brown sees self as Moses of the Black Man • Hopes to arm Blacks and stage a rebellion • Attacks the Federal Arsenal at Harpers Ferry Virginia
John Brown & Robert E. Lee • Robert E. Lee dispatched from Washington to put down rebellion in Virginia