Slavery in America 1619 - 1860

Time Line 1619 first African slaves are brought to the Jamestown colony on a Portuguese slave ship 1641 Massachusetts is the first colony to legalize slavery 1662 Virginia enacts the law of hereditary slavery

Time Line 1787 Northwest Ordinance bans slavery in the Northwest territory and requires the return of fugitive slaves. 1788 The U.S. Constitution is officially adopted. Three fifths law, wherein each slave is counted as 3/5 of a person for representation in Congress and taxation. 1793 The First Fugitive Slave Law is passed, allowing slave owners to cross state lines in the pursuit of fugitives and making it a penal offense to help runaway slaves.

Time Line 1819 U.S. bans international slave trade but interstate (domestic) slave trade continues 1820 Missouri Compromise bans slavery in territory gained in the Louisiana purchase above the southern border of Missouri 1850 Compromise of 1850 admits California to the Union as a free state, allows the slave states of New Mexico and Utah to be decided by popular sovereignty, and bans domestic slave trade in D.C. 

Time Line 1850 Fugitive Slave Law, actively enforced by the federal government, strengthens the rights of slave owners and threatens the rights of free blacks. 1854 The Kansas-Nebraska Act creates the territories of Kansas and Nebraska and allows popular sovereignty to decide the slave status of each. It also repeals the anti-slavery clause of the Missouri Compromise.

Time Line 1856 Proslavery groups in Kansas attack the free soil town of Lawrence. Radical abolitionist, John Brown and his followers strike in retaliation, initiating a wave of violence and destruction, known as "Bleeding Kansas.“ 1857 The U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Dred Scott v. Sanford denies citizenship to all slaves, ex-slaves, and descendants of slaves and denies Congress the right to prohibit slavery in the territories.

Cotton and the Rise of Slavery 17th and 18th centuries most slaves worked on tobacco, rice, and indigo plantations Slave population was relatively low and stable As the soil became depleted due to overplanting and the European demand for tobacco waned, the economic security of the South became questionable English and American textile mills needed cotton and a new industry was born in the South

Cotton and the Rise of Slavery 1793 Eli Whitney invents the Cotton Gin A machine that removes the seeds from cotton One person can now clean upwards of 50 pounds of cotton a day South now has a new cash crop to plant Harvesting of cotton required a tremendous amount of physical labor, which was done by slaves. The use of slave labor increases directly in proportion to the growth of the cotton industry.

Growth of Cotton and Slavery Between 1790 and 1860 the slave population increases by a factor of 5+

Population 1790-1860 678,757 3,636,213 18% Slaves account for a little more than 1/3 of the population of the country. Almost twice what it was in 1790.

Study Guide Question #1 How did the cotton gin contribute to the expansion of slavery? Increased production by making it easier to clean cotton Increased production improved profits, encouraging planters to plant more cotton More cotton required more slaves to harvest and clean it