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[ Founding Fathers ] [ Quotes ] [ Freemasonry ] [ Slavery ] [ Steven Waldman ] [ Evolution ]
American Slavery - 1776-1866
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Slavery was close to being outlawed as an institution in 1776.
Some wording changes took it out of the Declaration of Independence.
The words "slaves" and the idea it was being forced upon us by
Great Britain made it through a drafting committee,
but congress eventually struck down that wording before it was
public. Inside the Continental Congress there were pro-slavery sentiments from the deep south where tobacco and rice still
required a slave system (cotton was not being mass-produced at this
time).
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The subject of slavery came up again in 1786 and again in 1791
at Constitutional Conventions. It was again very close to being
outlawed as an institution – especially in 1791 when it had Benjamin
Franklin’s name on the constitutional amendment (he died that year).
It failed after much negotiation. The south had a significant amount
of “property” tied up in slaves and refused to buckle because of the
financial loss. If they could not find a way to be re-compensated
monetarily, it was a deal breaker. Southern congressmen knew the
Constitution was not going to be passed without their help. Madison,
Hamilton, Jefferson, and others believed the survival of America demanded a
Constitution, and anti-slavery proponents were forced to refrain from adding anything to
it about the abolition of slavery.
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The Founding Fathers – almost to a man – were against the
institution of slavery even though many owned slaves themselves.
Their writings on the subject are generally well-documented. In
early discussions, Adams, Madison
and Jefferson all thought slavery would eventually be phased out
without legislation. Unfortunately, all of them
would live to see the cotton plantation system shoot holes in
their early confidence. Slavery grew almost exponentially after
1800. Washington felt strongly that slavery
was morally wrong
and freed his personal slaves on his death bed in 1797 (although he
did not free his wife's slaves from her first marriage). Neither
Jefferson nor Madison freed their slaves. Both men were cash
poor and in debt when they died, but no real reason has ever
been offered.
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The only notable slavery
legislation that was passed prior to the 19th century was a law that would
prohibit the import of slaves from outside the U.S. after 1807. This
was largely irrelevant since by 1800 America's population of slaves
was already adequately reproducing on its own without additional imports.
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In 1791, the Haitian Revolution took place – black slaves
revolting against white masters in a violent upheaval on that
island. The Haitian Revolution did some emotional damage to the
free black cause scaring many prominent American politicians
including (and specifically) Thomas Jefferson. That revolution
inadvertently suggested to American political leaders that because
of the way the Haitian revolution was handled, free blacks could not
rule themselves. It became a historical pro-slavery referendum for
many whites who eventually took on the classic "paternal" aspect of the
antebellum slave-holders ("We have to take care of our black slaves
because they can't take care of themselves”).
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In 1793, the cotton gin was invented by Eli Whitney. It’s not
possible to over-estimate the impact of this invention on southern
culture. Over the next 70 years, the south would develop a deep
attachment to a cotton and the plantation slave system. To put it in
financial perspective,
by 1860 the Deep South as a whole had the 5th highest GNP of any
country in the world solely because of cotton. It was making big money for the south and for
the northern states as well since they did all the cotton
processing. Southern slave owners were invested in every way
possible to the slave system – right up until the Civil War.
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By
the beginnings of the 19th century, the politics of slavery had altered. Although only ¼ of
the southern white population owned slaves, most of those
slave-owners were the ones in power in the state legislatures. They
controlled the laws and the purse strings throughout the south.
These people were also the ones with the most significant property
and plantations. Pro-slavery protectionist laws in the south
continued to be passed at the state level.
Lincoln and Slavery Issues
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