Slavery in the United States of America

In the evolution of global economics, slavery as an economic system is theoretically one step above primitive communalism. At this age of capitalism therefore, it seems thoroughly preposterous to even consider its existence alongside modern existence. It has only been a little over a century however that slavery was abolished in the United States of America. In contrast, slavery had been in existence in the Land of the Free for more than two centuries. In truth, the period of Black slavery in America has not been the one of the country's proudest moments.

What began as indentured slavery introduced by the Dutch in Virginia in 1619 eventually grew into the enslavement of a considerable number of the African race. While the number of imported African slaves numbered only about half a million, their numbers swelled to eight times more by the time slavery was abolished.

At this time slaves were expensive but prized possessions. Just like modern house help, they performed the menial tasks of keeping house but of course without any other corresponding pay other than board and lodging. Their most important and critical use however was as field hands in the large sprawling cotton fields of the south. When the demand for cotton increased, so did the demand for slaves. In any ways it is both sickening and astounding that these plantation owners and the country's economy in general grew rich through the uncompensated toil of other human beings.

To keep slaves in their place, measures were taken to regulate their movements, thoughts and actions. Blacks were just not free to go, say and do what they wanted. Any black who did not abide by the white man's rule underwent legalized violence. In plantations, the rules were even harsher as slaves at work were whipped, assaulted or even killed at the slightest provocation. The slave family as a unit also suffered as children, brothers, sisters, parents, husbands and wives were separated from each other to work for different owners. Not all slave owners were cruel however, there were some who did not believe in the use of force or violence even against slaves. Some slaves were treated well, but despite the good treatment, they undeniably remained slaves except for a number who were allowed to buy their freedom.

In the mid 1700s, the abolitionist movement began to emerge, calling for the abolition of slavery. Although they were equally passionate, they clashed with many aggressive slave owners who did not want to go through the drastic social change that would result from the abolition of slavery. Eventually though, the northern states had begun to gradually abolish slavery among them. It only remained to convince the more unbending south. At this time it was easier for the emerging industrialist north to abolish slavery than for the agricultural south to do the same.

The ensuing tension between north and south eventually resulted to the American Civil War. Although other causes were determined, slavery was a primary reason for the division and the bloody animosity among states. Near the conclusion of the war, Abraham Lincoln's 1863 Emancipation Proclamation brought the much-desired freedom to the African American race. The proclamation however, though guaranteeing freedom could not stem what decades of slavery had done to the American consciousness. Even after freedom had been legally given, the social problem of discrimination which continued after the war was another chapter in the history of the African American people.