Slavery In America

Slavery In America summary: Slavery in America began in the early 17th Century and continued to be practiced for the
next 250 years by the colonies and states. Slaves, mostly from Africa, worked in the production of tobacco crops and later,
cotton. With the invention of the cotton gin in 1793 along with the growing demand for the product in Europe, the use of
slaves in the South became a foundation of their economy.

In the late 18th century, the abolitionist movement began in the north and the country began to divide over the issue
between North and South. In 1820, the Missouri Compromise banned slavery in all new western territories, which
Southern states saw as a threat to the institution of slavery itself. In 1857, the Supreme Court decision known as the Dred
Scott Decision said that Negroes (the term then used to describe the African race) were not citizens and had no rights of
citizenship; therefore, slaves that escaped to free states where not free but remained the property of their owners and must
be returned to them. The decision antagonized many Northerners and breathed new life into the floundering Abolition
Movement.

The election of Abraham Lincoln, a member of the anti-slavery Republican Party, to the presidency in 1860 convinced
many Southerners that slavery would never be permitted to expand into new territories acquired by the US and might
ultimately be abolished. Eleven Southern states attempted to secede from the Union, precipitating the Civil War.

During the war, Abraham Lincoln issued his famous Emancipation Proclamation, freeing slaves in all areas of the country
that were at that time in rebellion. This measure helped prevent European intervention on the side of the South and freed
Union army and navy officers from returning escaped slaves to their owners, but not until after the Union had won the war
and the subsequent passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution were the American slaves officially freed.

Slavery In America
Slavery In America summary: Slavery in America began in the early 17th Century and continued to be practiced for the
next 250 years by the colonies and states. Slaves, mostly from Africa, worked in the production of tobacco crops and later,
cotton. With the invention of the cotton gin in 1793 along with the growing demand for the product in Europe, the use of
slaves in the South became a foundation of their economy.

In the late 18th century, the abolitionist movement began in the north and the country began to divide over the issue
between North and South. In 1820, the Missouri Compromise banned slavery in all new western territories, which
Southern states saw as a threat to the institution of slavery itself. In 1857, the Supreme Court decision known as the Dred
Scott Decision said that Negroes (the term then used to describe the African race) were not citizens and had no rights of
citizenship; therefore, slaves that escaped to free states where not free but remained the property of their owners and must
be returned to them. The decision antagonized many Northerners and breathed new life into the floundering Abolition
Movement.

The election of Abraham Lincoln, a member of the anti-slavery Republican Party, to the presidency in 1860 convinced
many Southerners that slavery would never be permitted to expand into new territories acquired by the US and might
ultimately be abolished. Eleven Southern states attempted to secede from the Union, precipitating the Civil War.

During the war, Abraham Lincoln issued his famous Emancipation Proclamation, freeing slaves in all areas of the country
that were at that time in rebellion. This measure helped prevent European intervention on the side of the South and freed
Union army and navy officers from returning escaped slaves to their owners, but not until after the Union had won the war
and the subsequent passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution were the American slaves officially freed.