My opinion about slavery in America
during the 19th century was that the African American people
suffered a lot to get to the point of the start of the abolishment movement in
1831 which sparked only after the execution of Nat Turner who was a former
black slave and who led a slave rebellion which resulted in murdering 55 white individuals.
To the political men in congress and the government they believed that the constitution
was only meant for the white men when it says “All men are created equal”. To
most Americans they assumed and believed that African Americans were not humans
but animals a lower substance that they were. Blacks were inferior to the eyes
of most American and could never view them as a human being let alone as equal
or a part of their society. Even Thomas Jefferson thought that blacks and
whites could never live together as equals. However, Richard Allen would go
against this thought of blacks being inferior.
Richard Allen was a man that was against
slavery and was trying to buy his freedom from is master to give blacks a sense
of hope. Once he attained his freedom he created the African Methodist Episcopal
Church in 1794 which was the first independent black denomination in America.
With the help of Philadelphia’s Leading Physician Benjamin Rush was a friend of
the black community looking for funds and money for Allen. In Allen’s church
there was organization of antislavery that occurred and the ACS spoke there and
wanted to help the blacks see themselves as free one day. In September 15, 1830
there was a gathering of almost 3,000 black men to attend a conference about
slavery and oppression by Allen himself even if he was an old man.
When the cotton gin was invented it
made slavery more important because the plantation owners needed individuals to
work the machines. However, it made slavery expand westward and the whites were
in dire need of more slaves due to the Enlightenment era. I think it was a great that our nation was
growing in the technology aspect but it was making slavery more necessary than
before in which I do not agree with what the cotton gin offered the nation. However,
on January 1, 1808 the transportation and trade of slavery form Africa or any
part of the world was over, America could not attain any new slaves that had
not been on their soil before 1808. Instead of making slavery less powerful it strengthen
it and the plantation owner were moving to the upper South because in the lower
South starting to view slavery as a horrific act.
Primary Source: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_transcript.html http://www.eliwhitney.org/museum/eli-whitney/cotton-gin
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