Slavery in America

Micaela, Byanka, Eric, Mathew Composition 2

Spring 2015

What is the central theme that connects all of your topics

together?

Theme: The evolution of slavery and its role in American

History List topics:

Middle Passage The Institution of Slavery Underground Railroad Emancipation Proclamation

Presenter #1 What is your claim?

That the middle passage was one of the hardest obstacles in slavery’s history.

They were treated like material possessions instead of humans.

They were taken from their homes and sold into slavery.

They were branded with iron knuckles and chained to the walls to keep from communicating with one another.

They were kept in groups of 300 to 500 people.

Their daily routine was more animal like than human

The crew carried guns and whips to beat the slaves and took the chance to beat them at any small wrong doing.

The men were kept away from the woman and children and were treated the toughest since they were seen as the strongest.

In the morning the crew would collect the dead bodies and quickly toss them into the ocean.

Physical and Mental conditions on the ship were low and not being treated

Many slaves died from diseases or suffocated from the lack of oxygen and space provided from the ship.

They were forced to eat a boiled mixed of beans and yams. If they refused to they were punished and not fed for the rest of the day.

Bodies of the slaves that died along the trip were covered in lice and feces.

Objections/rebuttal The slaves were taken from their homes but

promised a better life or they liked to believe they were going onto the new world to greater things.

Before being sold they were fed better, allowed to clean themselves and more freedom on the ship so that they could get healthier and be sold for a better price.

Conclusion The middle passage was one of the hardest

parts of slavery but it was also the part that slaves survive and come out as better people, with an higher perspective of life and an ability to share their story with others.

Presenter #2 What is your claim?

The Underground Railroad was a important part of the history of Slavery in America.

The Underground Railroad had a unique system

The Underground Railroad got it’s name from code words used to travel the slaves

The conducts had the task of protecting there packages

They traveled at night

Important people emerged

Harriet Tubman, a former slave aided people escape slavery using the Underground Railroad.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin detailed the life of a slave

Abolishment took off

Laws aided Southerners

The Fugitive Slave law which demanded that all slaves be returned back to there owners

Bounties put on slaves Slave states and non-slave states

Objections/rebuttal The South wants to expand slavery and

control the slaves by fear and violence. The Underground Railroad helped slaves

move North or Canada to become free

Conclusion The Underground Railroad was an important

part of Slavery in American because it proved that the institution of slavery was wrong and that it was against people’s will.

Presenter #3 What is your claim? Slavery continued in Antebellum America

because of economical prosperity, theological justification, & preservation of social order.

Reason#1 The South = perfect climate zone for “King

Cotton” the higher the demand for cotton = higher demand of slaves

foreign interest (England) = higher demand (slavery influences capitalism)

Very cheap to house, feed, and pay them Profits raked in benefit economy for small

scale plantation owners (micro-economy) and support national commerce (macro-economy)

Reason #2 Jesus never spoke out against slavery

though being widespread and common through ancient Roman world

Abraham had slaves Ten Commandments: “Thou shalt not covet

thy neighbor's house, ... nor his manservant, nor his maidservant”

“Peculiar Institution” was ‘divine’ and Christianity civilized savage heathens

Reason #3 Mass adoption of slavery ~Bacon’s

Rebellion to replace indentured servants (& natives)

The common white folk climbed the social ladder bc of slavery via shift of order from class to race

“peculiar institution” that only South understood

South appreciated ORDER over Liberty

Objections/rebuttal Economy- plantation owners bought more

slaves with profit & couldn’t expand economy

Moses freed the Jews in Egypt from Ramses Race based social order tainted American

culture and identity (colonization—Liberia)

Conclusion Though American slavery was horrible and

unstable, it continued to thrive (especially in South) because of the disputable reasons: economy, religious justification, and appreciation of social order

Presenter #4 What is your claim?

Abolition movement had great affect in the history of Slavery in America

Reason#1 Douglass

Once Garrison’s protégé Great speaker After writing a book about his life he moved

to Great Britain Came to believe slavery could be ended

through political actions in 1851.

Reason #2Garrison

gifted writer and journalist Wanted to persuade the entire nation of the

“sinfulness” of slavery Did not want a Union with slaveholders Wanted a New constitution that was anti-

slavery

Reason #3 Only applied to states that seceded from the Union Garrison backed up Lincoln even though all slaves would

not be free The Emancipation Proclamation was shot down when it

was first proposed It was issued after the victory at the “Battle of Antietham” Lincoln justified the Emancipation Proclamation as a “fit

and necessary war measure” in order to cripple the Confederacy’s use of slaves in the war.

Lead the way for African Americans to fight for their freedom