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Role Of Slavery In The 19th Century

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Slavery in the 19th century
In the nineteenth century, slavery was already an established practice in the United States, especially in the Southern states, and it was accompanied by a series of legislations enacted for the regulation of the slave activities and the conduct in relation to the slaves and blacks who were freed from it. Enslaved Africans were a source of menial laborers to the Southerners in order for them to raise the states labor-intensive commercial crops such as sugar, rice, cotton and tobacco. However, owning a slave did not merely mean free labor but the whites also used to the slaves as means of exhibiting their social prestige and political influence in the society. The slave owners encouraged marriages amongst the slaves intending them to be less keen to revolt or run away. However the irony remained that despite having families, the threat of violence, sexual abuse and separation from their loved ones were constantly faced by the slaves from their masters.

Excerpts from Uncle Tom’s Cabin
A fictional novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin , depicted the real tales of former and fugitive enslaved people whom she met in Cincinnati, Ohio. The novel changed the perception of Americans of slavery which was practiced in the nation. This book demanded the country to keep to its word of delivering freedom and equality to all becoming a tipping point for the abolition of slavery and a source of contribution to the American Civil War.
The book
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