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White Americans In The 1800s Essay

474 Words2 Pages

It is surprising that after all of the obstacles that were put in the way of those that were helping the slaves escape and the runaway slaves that such a high amount of people were actually able to escape enslavement and lead on better lives. Some historians believe that as many as 100,000 slaves escaped via Underground Railroad between the years of 1800 and 1865 alone. While this seems like an extremely high number, in the 1840’s there were over 4 million slaves living in the south. Of those that attempted to escape, a majority of them were caught and returned to their owners. Unfortunately, the number is constantly debated because there were no records that were kept by the slaves or by those helping the slaves during this time for fear …show more content…

first was the aristocratic class, the big slaveholders,... the second and third classes were servants to the first class… the second class included the small slaveholders, the overseers, managers and clerks… the third class was composed of poor, ignorant dirty whites… the first and second class looked down upon the poor white trash…” The slaves were brought up being told to hate the third class, the poor whites, so in return, that caused the poor whites to hate the slaves. This then caused tensions between the slaves and the poorer whites who lived among each other in some cases. The tensions led to stereotyping other races based on the appearance of each other. Another account of a slave says, “After Lincoln took office, a chill settled over many of the plantations of the South. “The white folks begin to treat us different,... they seemed to be strange towards us. Been treat us like we’s one of the family till they got talking about Lincoln and the abolition.” This controversy between the slaves and their owners continued for a majority of Lincoln’s Presidency. Only then, did it subside after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued. “Certainly most Northern whites, in the 1850s, were still racists (particularly by modern standards), and many of them thought about slavery only to the extent that it kept black people in the South and away from them.” This is something that we do not regularly hear about

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Slavery persisted in the United States for many years, causing a break between the North and South that led to the civil war. According to the text, despite its brutality and cruelty, the slave system caused little protest until the 18th century. Some began to criticize slavery for its abuse of the rights of man. The text states in the United States all states north of Maryland abolished slavery between 1777 and 1804. Antislavery feelings had little effect on slavery in the plantations of the Deep South and the West Indies according to the statement in the text.

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691 Words | 3 Pages

Nobody knows for sure how many slaves died on the Underground Railroad. Harriet and the other slaves knew the way north because Harriet knew that on the routes the moss grew on the north side of the trees. Every year over 1000 slaves escaped from there plantation using the Underground Railroad. All of the slaves would sing to let the other slaves know when they could go to the Underground

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Before the American Civil War, we struggled with the concept of slavery based on our economic and moral differences. People who lived in the North believed that slavery should be abolished since they did not grow crops that needed an abundance of slaves. Moreover, they thought that slaves should be treated like all human beings based on the constitution. On the other side, Americans who lived in the South thought slavery should not be abolished as their crops demanded twice as much work than the ones in the North; therefore, they needed much more workers working in their field and that’s where slaves came into view. They also thought that Africans were inferior because of their skin color and origin.

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167 Words | 1 Pages

Created in the early 1800s and assisted by people associated with in the Abolitionist Movement, the underground railroad assisted thousands of slaves departure from enslavement. By one guess of 100,000 slaves make a run from enslavement in the South between 1810 and 1850.The Underground Railroad was a system of classified passages and secure homes used by 19th-century slaves of African ancestors in the United States to make a run to free states and Canada with the help of abolitionists and colleagues who were thoughtful to their purpose. Harriet Tubman assisted hundreds of escaped slaves run to freedom. She never misplaced one of them along the way. As a wanted slave herself, she was assisted along the Underground Railroad by another famous

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“I freed a thousand slaves, I could have freed a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves” , this quote was said by Harriet Tubman, the leader of the underground railroad, she freed some of the slaves, which caused the Southern states to resent the North. The Underground Railroad was a network of safe houses and secret routes, led by Harriet Tubman and a vast number of other people. 19th century enslaved people used the Underground Railroad to free themselves and others from slavery. The slaves went to the Free states and Canada, the Underground Railroad only worked at night, the slaves would move from “station” to “station”, meaning they'd move from safe house to safe house, most of the time it was difficult because of slave catchers

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Americans had rarely accepted outsiders as equals, and that was the case with immigrants coming to the U.S in the 1840s to the 1920s. A time in America where immigrants were not considered inferior to native white Americans did not exist. The hatred of anything non-American, especially with the coming of World War I in 1914, would only cause more Americans to despise immigrants. Part of this was rooted simply in racism, which existed towards groups other than African Americans, but much of it was simply that Americans considered themselves the chosen people while everyone else was below them. Thus, despite immigrants being accepted into America, those immigrants were still treated far worse than white citizens between the 1840s and 1920s, for the prejudice against them was obvious even in the laws created.

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2187 Words | 9 Pages

Even the people helping with the Underground Railroad were risking their lives by accommodating these slaves while they were on the run. The enslaved African Americans would do anything for freedom, even if they had to put their lives in jeopardy or even their families. Most slaves wanted to escape the South where they were bound to die because of how bad the slave owner’s were down there. Some slaves were scared of leaving slavery because that was all they knew. Slaves if they escaped would have troubles finding jobs and a safe place for their family.

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910 Words | 4 Pages

Most Southern cities had ports that allowed access to the to places where slavery was generally banned. White ship captains that were sympathetic and black sailors that were free were infamous for helping slaves escape aboard their ship. Cities were considered opposed to effective slave control. Free blacks had persuaded slaves in the urban areas to join them in their schemes (History,com Staff, 2010).

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531 Words | 3 Pages

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