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How Did Slavery Affect The Economy

Decent Essays

1) Cotton is King
a) Slavery was pretty close to dying out however the invention of the Cotton Gin made by Eli Whitney sparked another use for slaves i) Cotton was in high demand which made southerners wealthy and the need for more slaves
b) Since the Southerners realized that Britain also relied on the cotton they produced, they thought they had more power than the North
2) The Planter Aristocracy
a) There was a huge social gap between poor people and rich people in the South i) Sir Walter Scott helped spread the idea of living like royalty in the South with his books
b) There were many changes to slaves who were women i) Some of them worked in the house as mistresses and were in charge of all the household chores …show more content…

wanting to own a slave
c) The white southerners who lived near the mountains hated the slave owners and later helped the North in the Civil War
5) Free Blacks: Slaves Without Masters
a) Many of the free slaves owned property, however they had restrictions on jobs as well as testifying against whites in court i) It was very dangerous for free African Americans as they could easily land back into slavery
6) Plantation Slavery
a) The slave trade was illegal however people still smuggled slaves which was one reason of the population of slaves to increase
b) Another reason why the slave population increased was due to reproduction
c) Slaves were investments to the eyes of the Southerners, and they tried not to harm the slaves as this would hurt their investments
d) Most slaves would be sold at auctions which were really disgusting, and many African American families were separated there
7) Life Under the Lash
a) There were lots of variables to how a life of a slave was i) Most slaves were emaciated, had to do very hard work, and were denied the most basic of human rights
b) There were laws that tried to project slaves however it was really hard

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