Adam Brown - African American History: Slavery, Underground Railroad, People Including Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Frederick Douglass and Rosa Parks

Slavery first started in America when African slaves were brought to Jamestown, Virginia in 1619. The main purpose of acquiring slaves was to have cheap labor that could help out on the farm and help in crop production. These African slaves could soon be found all over the USA and slavery became rampant. The invention of the cotton gin added to the need for slaves and slavery helped to build a new economic foundation for America.

Slavery started out in America while the British still had the country under their control and it continued after the American Revolution. Slavery began as a way of replacing expensive labor with a cheap form of labor and black slaves at that time worked in tobacco, rice and indigo production. Slavery soon became a necessity in America and it induced every person who owned a small piece of land to hire slaves and get them to work on the farm for cheap labor. Slavery was not something that did not face any opposition, but opposition was mostly by states in the North, which did not hold much sway over the politics of the South. The Souths economy soon became dependent on slaves, and that just gave them another reason to fight for slavery.

Many viewed slavery as a similar form of oppression that was faced by the Americans when the British turned their country into a colony. The American Revolution did not change much, and the constitution did not give equal rights to African Americans who were considered to be lower in status than white people.

The next thing that led to the rise of slavery in America was the invention of the cotton gin. The demand for cotton increased in industrialized England, which resulted in the South focusing more on the production of cotton. The economy of the south soon became entirely dependent on the manufacture of cotton because of which the slave trade saw tremendous growth.

Slavery soon led to brutality and inhumane treatment of slaves by their masters. Slavery also resulted in the rise of the abolition movement that aimed at removing all forms of slavery. The abolition movement soon rose to prominence and was led by many free black men, such as Fredrick Douglass, and even had some white supporters. The media at that time extensively covered the topic of slavery and soon many editorials started talking about slavery as a sin.' Many even wanted slavery to stop just because it did not make a lot of economic sense and they believed that there were more efficient ways to produce cotton than with the use of slaves.

The debate on slavery started in America as both white and black people started to realize the problems with slavery. Soon, many slaves began escaping with the help of their supporters who set up the Underground Railroad, which led to thousands of slaves fleeing to the North.

The debate over slavery did not just result in slaves running away, but it also spread to the political arena. This lead to the creation of two sections of states in America- the Union and the Confederates. These two sides were on opposite ends in the debate about slavery, but it did not necessarily mean that the Union was antislavery. The union states were considered to be the Free States and yet, they werent very vocal about antislavery. The Southern states, known as the Confederates, were pro-slavery since their economy was dependent on the ownership of slaves.

This led to the start of the civil war, as many states broke away from the Union and joined the Confederates. The main reason for the civil war at first was not to end slavery but rather the formation of one America, which the Confederate States did not agree to. When Abraham Lincoln became President, it was known that he was an advocate for antislavery, but even then, he did explicitly try to push antislavery reforms.

The war began over many smaller issues but soon became about slavery because the Union states were notably antislavery and the Confederates were pro-slavery. The Union became particularly a hub for African Americans who ran from the South for the haven that they thought the Union was. Abraham Lincoln finally decided to be open about his antislavery policies and reforms and addressed that all slaves in the Union states were free citizens of America.