Aubrie Hepworth

December 1, 2015
Honors Language Arts 11 8B
Q2 Research Project
Slavery in America
Slavery is an issue that has been a part of many countries for hundreds of years and more.
It was the core issue that almost ripped the United States apart by Civil War. Economic, political,
and social disagreements, moral differences, differences in religious beliefs, and differences in
point of view are many of the things that nursed this disagreement over slavery. Yet, many slaves
were mistreated by too many people, both from the North, who claim to be against slavery, and
the South, the ones fighting to keep slavery.
Slavery wasnt always a part of American history. According to the Civil War Trust, when
Europeans first came to the North American continentin the 1500s, National Park Service says
working the land was very taxing and required many hands. Unfortunately, there was a large
deficiency in the amount of people available to work the land, and indentured servants ended up
paying their debts by working the land. This was normal until a Dutch ship brought Africans to
America to sell as slaves (Slavery in the United States). Slavery became common on the North
American continent and the slaves fulfilled the demand for workers in the field. This was very
good for the economy at that time. But the Civil War Trust goes on to say that eventually, by the
end of the Revolutionary war, the need for cotton and tobacco decreased and the need for slaves
became less prominent (Slavery in the United States). Those who founded the United States
had hoped that would happen, and thereby didnt add anything specifically about slavery in the
Declaration of Independence or any of the laws that were made. Although, According to National

Park Service, some of the northerners noted the line in the Declaration of Independence that says
all men are created equal. Many in the North believed this line contradicted with the existence
of slavery and, in turn, slavery started to die out in the North (Slavery and the Civil War). That
is, until the cotton gin was invented by, according to the Civil War Trust, a Northerner named Eli
Whitney in 1793. The cotton gin made it easier for textile mills to use cotton that was grown in
the South, and slavery, instead of fading like many had hoped, became increasingly popular and
necessary for the success of the Southern economy (Slavery in the United States).
Suddenly, many of the Northerners started to disapprove of the Southerners use and total
economic dependence on slaves and slave labor. For some, the disagreement was for religious
and moral reasons, for others, economic reasons or political reasons. According to National Park
Service, many people in the Northern states started to believe that the farmers had a right to
enjoy the fruits of their labor, but that using slave labor was wrongfully taking advantage of
another persons work (Slavery and the Civil War). However, many Southerners argued that
the black man enjoyed being a slave. They also argued that they needed slavery so they could
care for the slaves, arguing that they are too much like children to do it on their own. Slavery
provided food, clothing, and shelter, which are all things many Southerners argued the slaves
wouldnt have been able to provide for themselves had they been left alone. According to March,
some Southerners believed it was the slave owners duty to guide and guard [their slaves] until
their race mature[d], (Brooks, 25). Many Southerners believed that slaves were like little
children that couldnt care for themselves and argued that they were doing these slaves a service
by caring for them and raising them. The speaking character in the book, Mr. Clement, goes on to
say, punish the wayward child but never in anger, (Brooks, 26). They believed they needed to

guide their slaves and punish them when necessary, like a child, only more severely in order to
help the race adapt that they might care for themselves one day.
Slavery became a popular topic of debate, according to National Park Service, especially
when Missouri wanted to become a state as a slave state in 1820. The Missouri Compromise was
formed, stating that Missouri could enter as a slave state if Maine was allowed as a free state, and
that slavery was prohibited in all the states located above Missouris southern boundary
(Slavery and the Civil War). This was called the Mason-Dixon Line. This compromise quieted
the discussion on slavery for a while, but, as National Park Service goes on to state, around the
time of the U.S. victory of the Mexican War, the debate became popular again and the
Compromise of 1850 was passed. The conditions of this compromise were that California was
added as a free state, there needed to be a stronger fugitive slave law, Congress was not to
interfere with slave trafficking in the South, and slave trade was prohibited in the District of
Columbia (Slavery and the Civil War). According to Civil War Trust, Congress ruled that
slaves were subhuman property and that they neither had the right of an American citizen, nor
the right to become one. This became known as the 1857 Dred Scott Decision. Many
Southerners feared the slaves would openly rebel, but this was often not the case. More likely,
slaves would either run away, sabotage machinery, fake illness, or even commit arson or murder
(Slavery in the United States).
While the Southerners argued that slavery benefitted the slaves in many ways, many were
cruel to their slaves. Whipping slaves was a very common form of punishment. There were some
exceptions, those of which treated their slaves mildly, but many were unnecessarily harsh and
cruel to their slaves. There is a sentence in March that reads, Many [slaves] have acquired the
habit of veiling any brilliance of mind under a thick coverlet of blank idiocy, (Brooks, 135).

The slaves would pretend to be unintelligent around their masters for a number of reasons. A
main reason is to avoid punishment. A slave revealing their intelligence to their master would
likely result in either scaring them or setting high expectations for themselves and setting their
masters up for disappointment later when they fail to please. Both of these things could end in
punishment of the slave. Another reason may be to stay out of the spotlight. A slave normally
wouldnt want to be well noticed because this increases chances of displeasing the master and, in
turn, possibly being punished for it. Standing out among the crowd could also increase the
chances of getting sold and separated from family. According to Donald T. Phillips, author of
Lincoln on Leadership, slavery, to Lincoln, was the equivalent on dictatorship, tyranny, and
oppression. Lincoln once said, No man is good enough to govern another man without that
others consent. He believed that any kind of dictatorship violated the very beliefs that the
United States was founded upon and degraded the human being (Phillips). Lincoln, of course,
never meant to use a war as a way to free the slaves. He meant to avoid a war while keeping the
nation united, but shortly after his election, seven states seceded because many of the
Southerners felt that having Lincoln as a president was threatening to their economy and way of
life.
During the war, some fugitive slaves from the Southern states were put to work for the
Union while others were returned back to their owners. But, according to National Park Service,
in August of 1861, if a fugitive slave had been working for the confederacy, the slave was
declared contraband of war and was confiscated to use for the benefit of the Union (Slavery:
Cause and Catalyst). Essentially, these slaves were freed but working for the Union cause rather
than Confederate. Some of the slaves from the South fled into the North and joined contraband
camps, where they would work for pay and have an opportunity to receive education, all

provided by the Union. But, for some of the former slaves who had joined one of these camps, it
wasnt much better than being in slavery. In March, the head of the contraband camp would work
the workers until they could no longer stand (Brooks, 105). This shows that not all men fighting
or working for the Unions side were particularly for or against the abolition of slavery. Many
were fighting for the Union strictly to keep the country together, or to help their brothers in arms.
Not many particularly cared about black rights or freedom. It wasnt until after the
Emancipation Proclamation that all slaves in the South were freed for the purpose of fighting on
the battlefield on the side of the Union, but these newly freed slaves were not allowed to fight
side-by-side with the white men.
Slavery has been part of many different cultures for hundreds of years, yet it nearly tore
apart the United States because of the differences in opinion and the failure to understand another
persons point-of-view. The Northerners, the Southerners, and the Slaves all had different
experiences with slavery and their different opinions about it. Northerners claimed to be against
slavery, but when faced with former slaves, would not fight alongside them. Southerners
believed they needed slavery in order to keep their economy afloat and they would give their
lives to keep their livelihood. Slaves only saw the brutality of their masters and others in varying
degrees. Its no wonder why opinions needed to change and slavery needed to end.

Works Cited
Brooks, Geraldine. March. New York: Penguin Group, 2005. Print.
Phillips, Donald T. "Persuade Rather Than Coerce." Lincoln on Leadership. New York City:
Warner, 1992. 40. Print.
"Slavery and the Civil War." National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior. Web. 1 Dec.
2015.
"Slavery: Cause and Catalyst of the Civil War." National Park Service, Southeast Region,
Division of Interpretation and Education. Web. 1 Dec. 2015.
"Slavery in the United States." America's Civil War Battlefields Civil War Trust. Civil War
Trust, 2014. Web. 1 Dec. 2015.