Slavery in The United States (essay)

Slavery in The United States

Slavery in the United States began long before the States even existed. When Euorpeans came to North America to colonize it, the land was harsh and unforgiving. There was a severe shortage of workers to clear the land and build houses. There were some white bondservants from Europe that worked, but it wasn't enough. Early in the seventeenth century, a Dutch ship loaded with African slaves introduced a solution-and a problem-to the New World.
After the Revolutionary War, the newly named Americans continued to use African slaves. The slaves were used to grow and harvest cash crops like tobacco and cotton. Slavery in the Northern States eventually nearly died out, with the majority of black slaves in those states working as cooks and tending the yards of wealthy Americans.
However, the Southerners still used black slaves on plantations. The Southerners were defensive of owning slaves. They claimed that black people were, like children, unable to take care of themselves or others. The Southerners said that they were doing African-Americans a favor by feeding, clothing, and providing shelter and work for them.
The slaves had very little to no rights or freedom. Most slaves were allowed one day off a week, usually used to attend black-only churches and to fellowship with other slaves. Their owners worked them hard, every man, woman, and child. They were watched closely by men armed with whips and usually pistols. If a slave stopped working or wasn't working hard enough, the overseers yelled at them or whipped them.
Many people thought that the slaves enjoyed being slaves. They thought that since Africans had different colored skin than they, they Africans were dumb and were satisfied with food, clothing, shelter, and work. While some may have tolerated or even liked their hard life, many did not. Many slaves tried to escape to the North and Canada to get away from their harsh masters. Most did not make it, and some, when caught, were hanged as an example to other slaves.
Fredrick Douglass was an escaped slave who was well educated. He wrote and have speeches that appealed to the white people of America to abolish slavery. Similarly, across the country, abolitionists like William Lloyd Garrison were trying to achieve the same goal.
Some Americans, instead of trying to convince people with their words, decided to do something about it. Thus, the Underground Railroad was begun. It wasn't run by any one person or organization, but rather each person involved were just trying to help in their area. One famous person, Harriet Tubman, escaped using the Underground Railroad, and later travelled back and forth helping other black men and women escape.
In 1846, something happened that changed the country forever. A black slave named Dred Scott sued his dead owner's widow for his and his family's freedom. He took the case to the local court, where it was decided that freedom would not be granted. Scott reappealed, and eventually the case was brought to the Supreme Court. The decision by Chief Justice Roger Taney was that slaves were not citizens of the United States, and therefore had no rights to sue in Federal courts. Dred Scott died in 1858, still a slave.
On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued a document named the Emancipation Proclamation. It declared that "all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free." Two years prior, the North and South began a civil war about slavery. The North was called the Union, and they wanted slavery to end. The South was called the Confederate States of America, they wanted slavery to continue. President Lincoln hoped that with the Emancipation Proclamation, more and more slaves would be set free.
However, the proclamation was limited in many ways. It applied only to states that had seceded from the Union, leaving slavery untouched in border states and parts of the Confederacy that had come under Union control. Most importantly, the freedom it promised depended on Union military victory.
When Robert E. Lee, leader of the Confederacy, surrendered to President Lincoln on April 9, 1865, many slaves were rejoicing. It wasn't until May of that year that the Civil War truly ended, but many thought of thate surrender as the end of the war.
With the end of the war came the need for change. On December 6, 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, passed by Congress on January 31, 1865, is finally ratified. Slavery is abolished.