Antebellum Slavery

The Roots of Slavery Slavery was introduced in North America from the Carribean. First “Africans” arrive in 1619 in Jamestown, Va. Slavery gradually develops with three defining characteristics: –Racial – Hereditary –Chattel By 1750, all the British North American colonies had legalized slavery.

Defining Slavery –1641: Massachusetts = first colony to recognize slavery as a legal status –1663: Virginia declares that children of slave mothers are slaves; –1690: South Carolina Slave Code adopted – modeled after Barbados Slave Code. –1705: Virgina Slave Code adopted defines all “negro, mulatto, and Indian servants” as property. Authorizes physical punishments including whipping, branding, cutting off ears, and mutilation. –1740: South Carolina “Negro Act” Response to the Stono Rebellion 1739 Prohibited slaves from learning to read or write, assembling, dressing in clothing other than an approved list.

Slavery During the Revolutionary Period 1750 – 300,000 slaves in America (20% of the total population) American Revolution begins a discussion about freedom & the role of slavery in the United States Following the Revolution, many northern states began abolishing slavery 1787 – Northwest Ordinance bars slavery in the NW Territory

1776 – Declaration of Independence drafted; includes a condemnation of the slave trade. References to the slave trade are removed at the request of southern delegates.

: Free blacks in Massachusetts submit a series of petitions urging an end to slavery. “they have…with all other men, a natural and unalienable right of freedom”

– Over 5,000 African-American men serve in the Continental Army and Navy Many receive their freedom in reward for their service. By 1790, there will be 60,000 free blacks in the US; 250,000 by 1860 List of casualties from Lexington & Concord

Slavery and the US Constitution 1787 – Constitutional Convention –A new, more powerful gov’t –Southerners demand protections for slavery Protections for slavery in the new Constitution –No interference with the slave trade for 20 years; –Fugitive slave law; –Gov’t will help put down “domestic insurrections”

19 th Century Slavery As America expands, slavery expands. US doubles in size from Slavery expands west into new territories in the South – Cotton Gin

Population US Population/ Slave Population 1780: 3.5 million / 575, : 5.3 million / 900, : 12.8 million / 2.5 million

Slave Life Kin to kint 14 hr days 4 in 10 live to 60 years Dehumanizing slave auctions Info: WPA Slave Narratives

Resistance to Slavery Running away –76% under 35; 89% are men –Underground Railroad Organized in the early 1800s By 1850, an estimated 50, ,000 escape this way –Most runaways leave temporarily, hide-out, then are captured or return.

Harriet Jacobs

Revolt –The least common form of resistance. –All major slave revolts in American history are thwarted: 1739 Stono Rebellion – S.C Prosser’s Plot – Va Denmark Vesey Plot – S.C Nat Turner’s Rebellion – Va John Brown’s Raid – Va.

Sabotage Feigning Illnesses Work slow downs Cultural Resistance –Slave songs –Religious practices –Learning to read / write