Slavery and Abolition
Read this page for more information on abolition, slavery, and the Underground Railroad.
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What is abolition?
Abolition means putting an end to something. The abolition time period long ago was an act to stop slavery. The abolitionist movement occurred around the 1830s. It started as an organized effort to end slavery. The leaders of the movement replicated tactics the people of Britain used when abolishing slavery before. This started due to religious beliefs which were then further fueled by the division of the people. Abolitionists thrived with the belief that all men were created equal in the eyes of God. The Fugitive Slave Act was passed in 1850 by Congress, caused the enslaved either escaped or not to return to their owner, making American citizens collaborate with the capture as well. In 1857, the Supreme Court ruled that all black people didn’t have legal citizenships whether they were free or not, causing resentment and horror from many. Everything eventually led to the start of the Civil War in 1861, between the South and North. Abraham Lincoln was elected as President in 1860 and drove the Civil War to succession in 1865. The cause of the war was not only the tensions of divided opinions upon civilians but government alike, but their economy. How was their economy involved? Southern America was supported by small-scale farms dependent on the black enslaved, which the Northern were threatening to cease their ownership of. The bases of manufacturing and industry were formed and official in Northern America and the need for slaves were terminated, causing a fight between the sides. |
What was slavery then?
Slavery is when one human is owned by another. Slavery started because people were unable to find cheap labor, so people started to import slaves from Africa. Although historians are still unsure when the first slaves were brought to America, it is believed to be in 1619. Twenty men from Africa were brought to Jamestown, Virginia. Then, throughout the 17th and 18th century, large numbers of people on the continent of Africa were kidnapped and taken to America. They were forced to work to help produce crops such as cotton and tobacco. Slaves weren’t just slaved in America; they were also sold to Brazil and Europe. Even though many slaves were brought to America, an even greater number didn’t survive the trip from Africa to America. The trip was long. It could take somewhere from three weeks to several months. The ships were tightly packed with people which meant there was hardly any room and there was barely enough food to go around. There was also no proper sanitation on the boats. This led to many diseases killing both the Africans as well as the ship’s crew. When a man or woman died, their bodies were just tossed into the ocean. During the American Civil War, there were more than 4 million slaves across the United States. Of that 4 million, 95% of those slaves were in the southern states. One of the major reasons the Civil War started was because slavery started to expand to the northern states. In 1860, President Lincoln became president, and he signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This meant that if enslaved people found a way to escape to the North, they would be free. Many slaves used the Underground Railroad to escape into freedom. Many of the freed slaves later joined the military. |
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The Underground Railroad
In the early 1800s, Quaker abolitionist Isaac T. Hopper set up a network in Philadelphia called the Underground Railroad. This was to help slaves escape slavery and into freedom. The name Underground Railroad was used metaphorically not literally. The Underground Railroad was like a railroad. It served the same purpose such as transporting people long distances but it wasn’t underground. Instead, it was through routes and occasional stops at people’s homes. The Underground Railroad was mentioned in 1831 when a slave named Tice Davids escaped from slavery and his owner blamed the “Underground Railroad.” One famous conductor was named Harriet Tubman. After she escaped from her plantation, she went back and brought a lot of slaves into freedom. During the Civil War, the Underground Railroad ended in 1863. Due to the Underground Railroad, one hundred thousand enslaved people were brought into freedom. |
What is slavery now?
Even though it may seem like slavery has ended, it is still going on in many different parts of the world. Over 50 million people worldwide are enslaved today. This is not quite similar to slavery that happened long ago. Slavery now can include human trafficking and people can also be born into slavery. Most people are exploited by others or tricked into slavery because they are trying to escape from poverty and want to improve their lives. Once they fall into this trap, there is no way to leave. Then, their children and their children will also be enslaved. People are enslaved to work in factories, cleaners, picking crops, making clothes, and more. More than a quarter of the slaves today are children. There are also 22 million people who are forced into marriage and of the 22 million, 24% are children. The types of slavery today include human trafficking, forced labor, child slavery, forced marriage, descent-based slavery, debt bonded labor, and more. |
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Works Cited:
"Abolitionist Movement - Definition & Famous Abolitionists - HISTORY." HISTORY, A&E Television Networks, 27 Oct. 2009,
https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/abolitionist-movement. Accessed 22 Nov. 2022.
History.com Editors. "Civil War - Causes, Dates, & Battles - HISTORY." HISTORY, A&E Television Networks, 15 Oct. 2009,
www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/american-civil-war-history. Accessed 22 Nov. 2022.
History.com Editors. "Slavery in America." History,
www.history.com/topics/black-history/slavery. Accessed 22 Nov. 2022.
"The History of Slavery." Restavek Freedom,
restavekfreedom.org/2018/09/11/the-history-of-slavery/. Accessed 22 Nov. 2022.
"Underground Railroad." History, 29 Oct. 2009,
www.history.com/topics/black-history/underground-railroad#what-was-the-underground-railroad. Accessed 22 Nov. 2022.
"What is Modern Slavery?" Anti-Slavery,
www.antislavery.org/slavery-today/modern-slavery/. Accessed 28 Nov. 2022.
https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/abolitionist-movement. Accessed 22 Nov. 2022.
History.com Editors. "Civil War - Causes, Dates, & Battles - HISTORY." HISTORY, A&E Television Networks, 15 Oct. 2009,
www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/american-civil-war-history. Accessed 22 Nov. 2022.
History.com Editors. "Slavery in America." History,
www.history.com/topics/black-history/slavery. Accessed 22 Nov. 2022.
"The History of Slavery." Restavek Freedom,
restavekfreedom.org/2018/09/11/the-history-of-slavery/. Accessed 22 Nov. 2022.
"Underground Railroad." History, 29 Oct. 2009,
www.history.com/topics/black-history/underground-railroad#what-was-the-underground-railroad. Accessed 22 Nov. 2022.
"What is Modern Slavery?" Anti-Slavery,
www.antislavery.org/slavery-today/modern-slavery/. Accessed 28 Nov. 2022.