THE HISTORY OF SLAVERY IN AMERICA

1619 - The First African Slaves Are Brought To America

Slavery in the North American colonies begun in an effort to satisfy

the labor needs of the rapidly growing colonies. In the early 17th
century, white European settlers begun to search for cheaper
alternatives to the indentured servants, who were mostly poorer
Europeans. In 1619 a Dutch ship brought 20 Africans ashore at the
British colony of Jamestown, Virginia, marking the beginning of
slavery.

Slavery spread quickly through the American colonies with some

historians claiming that about 6 to 7 million slaves were imported to
the New World during the 18th century alone! The African continent
was soon scavenged for its healthiest and ablest men and women.
Africans were violently transported to America were they were purchased like property. Africans spent their lives laboring
away without any compensation, while often than not they were abused and ill-treated by their “white” masters.

After the American Revolution, many colonists began to link the oppression of black slaves to their own oppression by the
British. Though leaders such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson—both slaveholders from Virginia—took
cautious steps towards limiting slavery in the newly independent nation, the Constitution tacitly acknowledged slavery,
guaranteeing the right to possess any “person held to service or labor”.

1793 – Rise Of The Cotton Industry

In the late 18th century, the rural South—the region where slavery had
taken the strongest hold in North America—faced an immense economic
crisis. The soil used to grow tobacco, which was then the leading cash crop,
was exhausted, while products such as rice and indigo failed to generate
much profit. As a result, the price of slaves was dropping, and the
continued growth of slavery seemed in doubt. Around the same time, the
mechanization of spinning and weaving had revolutionized the textile
industry in England, and the demand for American cotton soon boomed.
The laborious process of removing the seeds from raw cotton fibers had to
be done by hand.

The growing southern cotton industry made slavery an ever more vital part of the national economy. Soon the prospect
of slave rebellion begun to concern slaveholders who regarded slaves as property. In 1793,
Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act, which made it a federal crime to assist a slave trying to
escape. This law helped enshrine and legitimize slavery as an enduring American institution.

1831: Abolitionism and Nat Turner’s Revolt

In August 1831, Nat Turner struck fear into the hearts of white Southerners by leading the only
effective slave rebellion in U.S. history. On August 21, 1831, he and a small band of followers
murdered their owners and set off toward the town of Jerusalem, where they planned to capture
an armory and gather more recruits. The group of 75 Africans murdered some 60 whites in two
days before militia forces overwhelmed them just outside Jerusalem. Some 100 slaves, including innocent bystanders, lost
their lives in the struggle. Turner escaped and spent six weeks on the lamb before he was captured, tried and hanged.

The slaves’ efforts to liberate themselves fueled the early abolition movement in North America. In the early 19th century,
a new brand of radical abolitionism emerged in the North. One of its most eloquent voices was
William Lloyd Garrison, a crusading journalist from Massachusetts, who founded the abolitionist
newspaper The Liberator in 1831 and became known as the most radical of America’s antislavery
activists.

Antislavery northerners—many of them free

blacks—had begun helping fugitive slaves escape
from southern plantations to the North via a loose
network of safe houses as early as the 1780s. Known
as the Underground Railroad, the organization
gained real momentum in the 1830s and eventually helped anywhere from
40,000 to 100,000 slaves reach freedom. Harriet Tubman, its most celebrated
conductor, was a former slave who married a free black
man and escaped from Maryland to Philadelphia in
1849.

John Brown was also one of the most famous supporters Underground Railroad out of Missouri. In
1859, he led a small band of fewer than 50 men in a raid against the federal arsenal at Harper’s Ferry,
Virginia. Their aim was to capture enough ammunition to lead a large operation against Virginia’s
slaveholders. Brown’s men, including several blacks, captured and held the arsenal. The government
soon sent troops and was able to overpower them. John Brown was hanged on December 2, 1859;
his trial riveted the nation, and he emerged as an eloquent voice against the injustice of slavery and
a martyr to the abolitionist cause.

The 1860s The Abolition of Slavery and the Civil War

The election of the anti-slavery Republican Abraham Lincoln as president in 1860 would
begin severing ties with the Union, sparking the bloodiest conflict in American history.
The Civil War at its outset was not a war to abolish slavery, Lincoln sought first and
foremost to preserve the Union, and he knew that few would have supported a war
against slavery.

On January 1, 1863, he made it official that slaves within any State, or designated part of
a State in rebellion,” shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free”, freeing some 3
million black slaves. His act was seen as a final provocation to the Southerners and a Civil
War soon broke out between the North and the South. Some 186,000 black soldiers joined the Union Army and by the
time the war ended in 1865, 38,000 lost their lives. The total number of dead at war’s end was 620,000 (out of a population
of some 35 million), making it the costliest conflict in American history!
Exercise 1: Mark the following statements as True or False according to the text:
True False
1. In the early 17th century, before slavery, white European settlers used white servants. l
2. 1619 a Dutch ship brought 120 Africans ashore Virginia. l
3. About 6-7 million slaves were imported to the New World during the 18th century. l
4. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson did not own any slaves of their own. l
5. Cotton fields helped spread slavery in the South. l
6. The Fugitive Slave Act made it a federal crime to assist a slave escape. l
7. Nat Turner was a white abolitionist. l
th
8. Antislavery northerners helped slaves escape from southern plantations during the 19 century. l
9. John Brown was buried alive for revolting against the government. l
10. Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery in 1863. l

Exercise 2: Read the text and underline any unknown words, discuss the meaning of these words in class or look up
their definitions online.

Exercise3: Read the text again and answer the questions below:

1. What was Africa scavenged for during the 18th century?

___For healthier and ablest men
______________________________________________________________________________________
2. Why did the tobacco industry fail during the 18th century?
_Becuase they overused the land and it got tired
________________________________________________________________________________________
3. Which event led to an increase in demand for cotton?
____The British liked very much the cotton
_____________________________________________________________________________________
4. What did Nat Turner do in Jerusalem?
___To gather more recruits
______________________________________________________________________________________
5. Who was William Lloyd Garrison?
___ crusading journalist from Massachusetts, who founded the abolitionist newspaper
______________________________________________________________________________________
6. What was John Brown’s plan after the raid against the federal arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia?
 ______ Their aim was to capture enough ammunition to lead a large operation against Virginia’s
slaveholders.___________________________________________________________________________________
7. How did John Brown die?
_____He got hanged
____________________________________________________________________________________
8. Who abolished slavery?
_On January 1, 1863, he made it official that slaves within any State, or designated part of a State in rebellion,” shall
be then, thenceforward, and forever free”, freeing some 3 million black
slaves________________________________________________________________________________________
9. How many slaves did Lincoln free on January 1, 1863 with the official abolition of slavery?
___3 million
______________________________________________________________________________________
10. How many people died in the American Civil War?
__38000_______________________________________________________________________________________

Exercise 4: Fill in the gaps using the words below…

Does slavery still exist?

, abuse, , , , tr, dowry, ,

Nigeria was the last country to 1. _Abolish _________ slavery in 1936. However, in
many parts of the world today, millions of people are working as 2.
slaves_________. Children fighting in the 3.__army ________, or working for no
4._pay_________; women moved from their own countries to work in the human 5.
___trafficking __________, or in people’s houses; people working for many years to
pay back a small loan. These are all types of modern 6._s_________.

Children are also being sold by their parents to work as cheap farmworkers in 7.
__plantations _________ in India while young girls are often married off at a very
young age in exchange for a small 8._dowry ________. Groups such as the United Nations or Anti-Slavery International
are fighting against these problems. Other organizations such as Unicef are also trying to 9. _educate ____________
parents about the importance of children’s rights. Unfortunately, there is still a very long way to go before we can safely
say that our world is free of all forms of slavery and 10. _abuse _______!

Exercise 5: Discuss the following questions in class…

1. What forms of slavery do you know of?
2. Is there slavery today in your country?
3. Do you think families that are rich now because
their ancestors had slaves owe something to the
descendants of the slaves?
4. How can the world allow slavery to continue
today?
6. Have lessons been learned from slavery?
7. Do you think slavery will ever disappear?
8. If people earn less than the minimum wage, are
they like slaves?
9. Are child workers the same as slaves?
10. What do you think slave masters thought of their
slaves?
 5. Is the trade in slaves to America the biggest crime 11. Are we all slaves to money?
against humanity in human history? 12. How has slavery changed the world?

Exercise 5: Match the words to their definitions

a. abolish 1. ______ a country or area controlled in an official,

b. cap political way by a more powerful country.
2. _b capture _____ catch someone and make them your
c. colony
prisoner.
d. export 3. ____a__ officially end a system.
e. missionary 4. __d____ send goods to another country in order to sell
them there.
f. mistreat
5. __f____ to treat a person or animal badly, cruelly or
g. moral unfairly.
h. plantation 6. __e____ someone who travels to another country to
teach people about the Christian religion.
i. prohibit
7. __h____ an area of land in a hot country where a crop
j. servitude is grown.
8. __g____ behaving in a way that most people think is
correct and honest.
9. __i____ to officially forbid something.
10. __j____ the state of being under the control of
someone else and of having no freedom.