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Essay On Slavery In 19th Century America

743 Words3 Pages

During 19th century America, slavery was at its peak. Slavery was brought to the south to provide a source of labor that cut costs. Slavery was a system that made men into property with no rights. Even though slavery brought southern agriculture a sense of stability, slavery also brought many negative changes with it. As stated in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave by Frederick Douglass, slavery could corrupt the best people, the best courts, and even the best christians. One can see the flaws with in slavery and this essay will further prove that slavery was negative for everyone involved.
First, slavery negatively impacted the slave and slaveholders morals. Slavery could infect the kindest of people with a disease that turned them into an unfeeling and cruel master. For example “That cheerful eye, under the influence of slavery, soon became red with rage; that voice, made of all sweet accord, changed to one of harsh and horrid discord; and that angelic face gave place to that of a demon” (Douglass 32). As seen from the quote describing …show more content…

Slavery in the south was the spine of the workforce at the time, binding the slaveholder to a certain amount of profit that was possible. As shown “Rain or shine, work or no work, at the end of each week the money must be forthcoming, or I must give up my privilege”(Douglass 104). Even though slavery was a system that seemed profitable, instead it was a system that reduced the industrial and economic power of the south and of the slaveholder. Consequently the slave was paid in basic human needs. For example “Here,too, the slaves of all other farms received their monthly allowance of food, and their yearly clothing”(Douglass 9). The economic situation of the slave was miserable and unchanging. As can be seen the economic situation of the slave or the slaveholder was not one to brag

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