The Time of Slavery Chapter 16, Lesson 1

The Big Picture  Slavery, was part of a larger issue – the economy.  The North was based largely on factories and the South was based largely on agriculture.  The immigrants did most of the work in factories & slaves did most of the agricultural work.

The Big Picture  Immigrants came from mainly Ireland and Germany.  By 1850 the difference of factory versus agriculture created 2 distinct ways of life in the U.S. - one Northern and one Southern.

North and South / 2 points of view about slavery  In the south, cotton was grown on large plantations, which produced the South’s wealth.  In 1860 about four million African American’s did the most difficult work of picking and cleaning cotton.  This became 2/3 rd of the world’s supply of cotton.  The saying for the south was “Cotton is king.”

North/South & points of view continued…  1 view: Cotton made up about ½ of all goods exported from the U.S.  2 view: enslaved people were better off than immigrants and other workers in the North.  3 view: others saw slavery as an unjust and terrible cruelty.

Resisting Slavery  In 1808, Congress made importing slaves illegal, however, they were still brought into the country illegally.  Nat Turner: led a revolt killing 60 men, women, and children from slave-owning families.  He hid for 6 week until he was caught and then each member of the rebellion was hanged.

Nat Turner Rebellion  This led to whites being terrified and killing innocent enslaved and free blacks.  It even led to forbidding African Americans to gather in public places and holding religious services.

Frederick Douglass  At this time, slaves were not given the opportunity to learn to read or write.  Douglass one day heard his owner reading from the Bible and asked her to teach him.  He decided, even against his owner’s will, that he wanted to learn.  He gave poor white children bread in exchange for reading lessons.

Frederick Douglass continued..  He had eventually learned to read & write.  At age 20 a friend gave him a train ticket to the North.  He went to New York and “A new world opened upon me,” he wrote.  He then went on to speak out against slavery and was giving speeches all over the country.

Frederick Douglass  In 1845, he wrote a book entitled, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave.  This was very risky for Douglass, in fear he may be caught, he went to Europe to speak out against slavery.

Free African Americans  By 1850, 430,000 free African Americans were living in the U.S.  Some had been freed when slavery ended in the north, some southern whites freed slaves after the American Revolution, and others bought their way back to Africa to their own country.

Prejudice in the North  Douglass was overjoyed to be free, however, he learned too that it was very difficult for blacks still in the north.  It was hard to come by work and had to stoop to collecting trash & digging cellars.  Because of the prejudice, most skilled work was off limits to African Americans.

Prejudice in the North  They were barred from public places.  Blacks were forced to sit in separate sections in white churches.  They could not vote.

Building Communities  They founded their own communities such as Weeksville & Umbler.  Set up organizations run by Baptist & Methodist church groups.  The churches helped establish schools, organized social events, and helped escaping slaves.

Ulysses S. Grant  Union  Interesting Fact: