The Entrenchment of Slavery in America - The Antebellum Era

In class, we were asked:

• How did slavery become economically entrenched  in American society by the early 19th century?
• How does a system of slavery based on race affect  human dignity?
• What human characteristics does such a system tend  to ignore?

Slavery was (and still is) a huge part of America’s history. Even though it’s morally unjust, it was ingrained in society for a very long time. It was written into laws, made part of normal life. Slaves weren’t treated as free beings; they were the lowest class possible. A massive portion of the US economy was dominated by slave-produced crops, such as cotton. Here is a map that shows the spread of cotton production and slavery (and their correlation) over time. These slaves were treated as a means of boosting the economy, not as people. To further serve as a way to answer these questions, we were shown the documentary Prince Among Slaves in class. Here’s a trailer for it:

It’s about a man named Abdulrahman Ibrahim Ibn Sori, a former African Prince who was abducted, enslaved, and sent to America. This movie really gave a good perspective of the time period from someone who was enslaved.

Women's Reform: Progress Towards Equality

In class, we were asked the question of how did mid-­19th century American society react to women's demands for equality? Does 21st century society still react differently to men and women?


Throughout history, women have been viewed as gentle stay-at-home types who are classy and work for the family. Here’s some media showing women’s life at home, and some of society’s perceived expectations for them:

Expectations

In the mid-19th century, women in American society made the first major push towards equality among

genders. They were fed up with being treated as second class citizens. Women were supposed to be held in high esteem (and treated as such), though apparently that wasn’t how things actually were: “That man over there says that woman needs to be helped into carriages and lifted over ditches. .. . Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles or gives me any best place. And a'nt I a woman? Look at my arm! I have ploughed, and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And a'nt I a woman? I would work as much and eat as much as a man, when I could get it, and bear the lash as well. And a'nt I a woman? I have borne thirteen children and seen em most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And a'nt I a woman?” - Sojourner Truth (1)


This was a quote from the Seneca Falls Convention (in ‘History is a Weapon’1), one of the first major big pushes in women’s rights. Here’s a list of problems (to be formed into demands) that they made: Link

This Convention sparked many a different view, with some newspapers passing it off as a joke, others strongly disagreeing, but with a few that supported the movement. You can view the reactions here The movement slowly took hold, though, as we can see nowadays.


Today, men and women are treated more equally, though there is still a wage gap, and a huge feminist movement. There’s also a large ‘varigender’ movement for those who don’t conform to male or female, and push for themselves to be recognized and treated just the same. A lot of progress has been made since the 19th century, but we’re not quite there yet.




(1) Zinn, Howard, and Sojourner Truth. History Is A Weapon. 1830.




Other Media: