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Slavery in the time period 1775 to 1830
Slavery in the time period 1775 to 1830
Slavery in the time period 1775 to 1830
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How and Why Jefferson’s Original Draft for the Declaration of Independence was changed to the accepted version. In order for the Declaration of Independence to be adopted it required a unanimous vote. In order to get that unanimous vote Jefferson had to compromise over the mention of slavery and other controversial topics in the document. The second section of the Declaration of Independence, following the introduction, Jefferson writes everything King George has done that has infringed on the colonists rights. In this section there is a specific line the delegates from the southern colonies did not agree with.
When The Second Continental Congress approved of the Declaration of Independence, it purposefully avoided the complicated situation that was slavery. African Americans, both freed and enslaved, were outraged. How could the Founding Fathers write such a riveting and long document for themselves, while completely ignoring the African American struggle for freedom on the basis of skin tone? The hypocrisy was too much for Benjamin Banneker, who took it upon himself to write a letter to Thomas Jefferson about the atrocities of slavery, and persuade him to abolish the practice. In it, Banneker used allusions, a melancholy diction, and deductive reasoning to state his argument against the enslavement of his color.
Thomas Jefferson, the man that once stated, “...all men are created equal...”, still owned slaves and didn’t treat them equal. This is hypocrisy at the highest level, whether or not one only believes in the good of Thomas Jefferson. One could say that Jefferson stating “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal…” could be more important than his personal use of slaves since it was used to unite the country against the prominent nation of Great Britain. His writing in the Declaration of Independence is all about bringing the country together whilst stating certain rights that beings have, such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. He states that the citizens are able to get rid of or alter the government
Both Douglass and Walker maintained that the nation had failed to live up to the ideals of the Declaration of Independence but their reasoning was diverse. Walker believed that the author of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, was a racist. He encouraged blacks to violently resist their masters and he wrote that blacks when faced with possibly enslavement should “kill or be killed” (Levine B: 792). Walker despised whites, categorizing them as “unjust, jealous unmerciful, avaricious and blood thirsty set of beings, always seeking after power and authority” Walker B:
It also included a passage critical of King George III and the slave trade, but were omitted from the final draft, for being too controversial. The Declaration of Independence was a Declaration for international recognition of America’s struggle for freedom and served as an inspiration for colonial peoples around the world seeking
The proclamation promised freedom to any enslaved person or indentured servant who ran away from their patriot masters and joined him and his loyalist army to resist the growing patriot forces. Thousands of enslaved people did join his crusade, which incited outrage among white slave owners, including Thomas Jefferson, an owner of enslaved people himself. In an early draft of the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson wrote (hypocritically) about his distaste for the institution of slavery incited by King George, as well as the crown’s subsequent offer of freedom, writing, “he is now exciting those very people to rise in arms, among us, and to purchase that liberty of which he had deprived them by murdering the people upon whom he also obtruded them; thus paying off former crimes committed against the liberties of one people, with crimes which he urged them to commit against the lives of another” (Library of Congress, 5). Jefferson wrote in opposition to the institution of slavery, but interestingly, found it seemingly more problematic that the crown was now offering the freedom that it had taken away, in return for violence against the colonists, another group of people he thought Britain had continually
“The Declaration of Independence” The United States Declaration of Independence is the statement adopted by the Second Continental Congress meeting at the Pennsylvania State House (now known as Independence Hall) in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776. The Declaration announced that the thirteen American colonies at war with the Kingdom of Great Britain would now regard themselves as thirteen independent sovereign states no longer under British rule. With the Declaration, these states formed a new nation – the United States of America .
Many of us know that the intention of the declaration was to tell the King of England his transgressions against the colonies, and why the colonies wanted to break off from England. In both drafts Jefferson goes on to say how the king taxes the colonies without representation or allowing British soldiers to live in in a civilian's house just because. One thing that Jefferson mentions in the original draft that the greatest sin the crown has done to the colonies is slavery. Jefferson states,” He has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating & carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither.”.
It is evident that The Declaration document did not have a direct positive impact to the black struggle for justice, as it did not mention anything about slaves being entitled to those rights. However, The Declaration of Independence was an inspirational document for slave rebellions. For example, one of the first rebellions was organized in 1800 by a blacksmith Gabriel Prosser and a slave preacher Martin Prosser. Prosser brothers opposed slavery using the language of the Declaration of Independence citing the natural rights of men. (history.com, 2009)
The year is 1776 and the talk of a new document is about. What did the document say? What would change? Would things still be like they are, like, would slavery still be the same or maybe even cease to exist? I’m sure all of the questions above where asked or thought about by the public.
Slavery in the U.S. Constitution After the Unites States declared Independence from Great Britain in 1776, they greatly feared a strong national government that would be like a monarchy like the one Great Britain had. To prevent this tyrannical government from happening in the U.S., a convention of delegates from all thirteen states were brought together to create the U.S.’s first written constitution: the Articles of Confederation. This convention was called the Continental Congress. The Articles of Confederation focused on having a federal government, or a loose alliance of the states.
In 1776 the abolishment of slavery, or the termination of slavery, was not as big of a deal at the time of the signing of the Declaration of Independence because in 1776 the colonies were still trying to break away from the control of the British Empire. In 1776 the Declaration of Independence was written for the “world,” at the time the world meant France. It was written for France because the patriots knew they would need France’s help in order to fight the most powerful navy in the world, the British. Also during this time, the Declaration was written for the colonies because Thomas Jefferson knew that less than 30 percent of the colonials were in favor of a revolution and the rest was either indecisive or didn’t want a revolution. With
Slavery was excluded from the Declaration of Independence due to overwhelming hypocrisy throughout the colonists. Many politicians were divided on the topic, both amongst each other and themselves. They understood that plantations could not exist without a source of cheap labor, but they also understood that the basis for the Declaration of Independence was personal freedom. They realized that slavery violated the basic human right that they were fighting for, but they needed the economic stability it provided. Many politicians, like Thomas Jefferson, owned hundreds of slaves.
The American Revolution brought independence to slaves, colonists, Native Americans, and women. The Revolutionary War made the United States and France allies go against Great Britain. France made a choice to assist the United States military until they received independence from Great Britain. The Revolution had a huge part in slavery, such as bringing conflict between slavery and liberty because the North prohibited slavery. The South did not believe that slavery should be abolished.
Introduction: During the 1800’s, Slavery was an immense problem in the United States. Slaves were people who were harshly forced to work against their will and were often deprived of their basic human rights. Forced marriages, child soldiers, and servants were all considered part of enslaved workers. As a consequence to the abolition people found guilty were severely punished by the law.
