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Slavery and the Slave Trade. As I would not be a slave, I would not be a master.—Anonymous American History II.
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Slavery and the Slave Trade As I would not be a slave, I would not be a master.—Anonymous American History II
"The slave system...did incalculable harm to the white people of the South, and benefited nobody but the Negro, in that it served as a vast training school for African savages. Though the regime of the slave plantations was strict it was, on the whole, a kindly one by comparison with what the imported slave had experienced in his own land. It taught him discipline, cleanliness and a conception of moral standards. W.E. Woodward New American History (1936) the most prestigious textbook of the time
“The Negro slaves of the South are the happiest, and, in some sense, the freest people in the world. The children and the aged and infirm work not at all, and yet have all the comforts and necessaries of life provided for them. They enjoy liberty, because they are oppressed neither by care nor labor. The women do little hard work, and are protected from the despotism of their husbands by their masters. The Negro men and stout boys work, on the average, in good weather, not more than nine hours a day....Besides they have their Sabbaths and holidays. The free laborer must work or starve. He is more of a slave than the Negro, because he works longer and harder for less allowance than the slave, and has no holiday, because the cares of life with him begin when its labor end. He has no liberty, and not a single right.” George Fitzhugh Cannibals All or Slaves Without Masters, 1857
“The whole commerce between master and slave is a perpetual exercise of the...most unremitting despotism on the one part, and degrading submissions on the other.....Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleep forever.” Thomas Jefferson, 1782
“…In my opinion, it will not cease, until a crisis shall have been reached, and passed. "A house divided against itself cannot stand." I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved - I do not expect the house to fall - but I do expect it will cease to be divided… Either the opponents of slavery, will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward, till it shall become alike lawful in all the States, old as well as new - North as well as South…” Abraham Lincoln "A House Divided." June 16, 1858
The Beginnings • The history of slavery in America begins with Columbus and the Spanish enslavement of Native American peoples in the Caribbean. • By 1503, Spanish and Portuguese had brought enslaved Africans to Central and South America for work in the gold and silver mines.
Slave Trade • Slaves were often captured and sold by other African tribes during warfare. The captives were then sold to white traders on the coast. • Estimated 10 million Africans brought from Africa to the Americas as slaves. • More than 90% were sent to South/ Central America or the Caribbean. • Only about 500,000 or 4.5 % were brought to British North America
Slavery in British America • First Africans brought to Jamestown in 1619. • These 20 Africans were probably treated more as Indentured Servants rather than slaves and eventually given their freedom. • African population of Virginia grew slowly at first and then exploded rapidly: • 1625: 23 Africans • 1650: 300 Africans • 1700: 1,000 annually
Slavery Evolves • Economics played the determining factor in transferring the role of servant to that of slave for life. • It was cheaper to buy a slave for life than purchase the indenture of a white servant for several years, only to have that person freed at the end of a specified time—then start over again. • By 1663, Virginia had passed laws basing slavery on race and inheritance from their mother. • Other colonies began importing slaves as they realized the potential slavery had for tobacco, sugar and rice plantations.
Triangular Trade • By the late 1600’s , a trade route had developed linking Africa, Europe and America based on slavery, raw materials and finished goods.
Slavery in America • Typically, as cotton became more profitable, an internal slave trade developed. • Between 1790 and 1860, approximately 835,000 slaves were moved from Maryland, Kentucky, Virginia, and the Carolinas to Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas—the “Cotton Belt”. • To be “Sold Down the River” referred to this internal trade in human labor. • New Orleans and Natchez, Mississippi became the internal center of the slave trade.
Slavery-Harsh, Brutal, Dehumanizing • Slave life was harsh, often brutal and always dehumanizing. • Slaves treated on same level as livestock. • Slave Auctions very disruptive to family life—all sold to highest bidder. Those with skills and in peak physical condition brought highest price. • It was said that an infant slave was worth $300 the moment it drew breath • 1850-$400 2005-8,433.00 1850-$1,000 2005-$21,109 1850-$3,000 2005-$63,329
Sale of Slaves • Some slaves, despite the obvious risk, helped determine their own value at the time of sale. • It was a known fact that good-natured healthy looking slaves were in higher demand than “trouble slaves” or slaves who looked unhealthy,
Sale of Slaves • To prepare slaves for sale, merchant traders would do a variety of things: • Exercise the slaves. • Condition the slave’s skin. • Feed the slaves a high-fat diet. • Dress slaves in “nice” but expendable clothes
"The oily auctioneer was inviting the people to pinch his wares. Men came forward to feel the creatures, and looked into their mouths. One snatched a child from its mother's lap. Then the sing-song voice of the auctioneer---he was selling his cattle...High and low, caressing and menacing, he exhorted the crowd to buy. Between the shoutings came moans from the slaves. Finally, two girls were pushed forward, one a quadroon of great beauty, to be pinched and touched..." “The Crisis”
Harriet Jacobs • “On one of these sale days, I saw a mother lead seven children to the auction-block. She knew that some of them would be taken from her; but they took all. The children were sold to a slave-trader, and their mother was bought by a man in her own town. Before night her children were all far away. She begged the trader to tell her where he intended to take them; this he refused to do. How could he, when he knew he would sell them, one by one, wherever he could command the highest price? I met that mother in the street, and her wild, haggard face lives to-day in my mind. She wrung her hands in anguish, and exclaimed, "Gone! All gone! Why don't God kill me?" I had no words wherewith to comfort her. Instances of this kind are of daily, yea, of hourly occurrence. “ Harriet Jacobs Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, 1861
Slavery in Missouri • 1st Slaves (500) to arrive in Missouri were brought Philippe Renault in 1719 from French Haiti to the lead mines west of Ste. Genevieve. • By 1772, there were approximately 198 slaves in St. Louis • 1804: 1,497 • 1850: 5,967
Slave Law St. Louis, Missouri • Slaves are Prohibited from the following: • Read or write (as of 1847) • Smoke in public • Walk with a Cane • Ride in a Carriage without permission. • Marry (State does not recognize slave marriages—may be subject to separation by sale at any time.) • Meet in Church without a white observe present. • All Slaves and Free Blacks must possess a pass at all times. • Free blacks moving into Missouri after 1847 will be “reduced to slavery” if they have not moved from Missouri prior to the first Monday of September 1860—does not apply to free blacks that were here prior to 1847.
Even the little child, who is accustomed to wait on her mistress and her children, will learn, before she is twelve years old, why it is that her mistress hates such and such a one among the slaves. Perhaps the child's own mother is among those hated ones. She listens to violent outbreaks of jealous passion, and cannot help understanding what is the cause. She will become prematurely knowing in evil things. Soon she will learn to tremble when she hears her master's footfall. She will be compelled to realize that she is no longer a child. If God has bestowed beauty upon her, it will prove her greatest curse. That which commands admiration in the white woman only hastens the degradation of the female slave. I know that some are too much brutalized by slavery to feel the humiliation of their position; but many slaves feel it most acutely, and shrink from the memory of it. I cannot tell how much I suffered in the presence of these wrongs, nor how I am still pained by the retrospect. My master met me at every turn, reminding me that I belonged to him, and swearing by heaven and earth that he would compel me to submit to him. If I went out for a breath of fresh air, after a day of unwearied toil, his footsteps dogged me. If I knelt by my mother's grave, his dark shadow fen on me even there. The light heart which nature had given me became heavy with sad forebodings. Harriet Jacobs Incidents in the Life of A Slave Girl, 1861
Slavery Exists! • Some experts estimate there could be anywhere from 10-30 millions slaves around the world…TODAY. • Human Trafficking is now ranked as the second largest criminal industry globally—second only to drug smuggling, and tying with illegal weapons transactions. • The U.S. Department of State estimates that between 15 and 20 THOUSAND individuals are trafficked into the United States to become slaves EACH YEAR. This does not include those U.S. citizens trafficked from city to city within our borders. • www.freedomcenter.org
