Slavery in the Era of American Independence

Essay Instructions:

Please answer two of the following questions in organized, formal, analytical essays, of at least 800 words each, that you submit together as one file. I do not want you to simply list out page after page of facts and quotes. If you do that, you will not earn a high score, because you will have written a report. You need to think about these questions, draw on what we have covered, and provide convincing answers, backed up with evidence and specific examples, and cited. No citations means no passing grade.
This exam is about showing that you can think about some of the big ideas of the course so far, and deliver original thoughts. You have a while to write these, so I expect them to be well-written. Grammar and mechanics will be part of your grade.
As far as sources go, while I obviously cannot prevent you from googling your way into oblivion, keep in mind that the examples and specifics you provide have to be found in some combination of the textbook, lectures, and primary source documents we have covered. If you’re writing about things that you just found somewhere, that is not going to work. These are not research papers, so please, do not use outside sources – they are prohibited. These essays will go through TurnItIn, so do not bother trying to copy.
Really, I cannot stress this enough – stay off the Web when writing these. Trying to find answers online is the fast track to an academic integrity case, and if there appears to be evidence of an infraction, which can pretty much only come from looking at things that are not the textbook, lecture notes or primary sources, I will not hesitate to report it.
In the era of American independence, private citizens, and then state governments of the new country, began abolishing slavery in some states. In others, slavery did not just grow, but thrived. How do we explain these disparities in this new nation founded on a common set of beliefs and principles?
The English settled in both the Chesapeake and New England, but these regions developed quite differently and had notable distinctions not just in labor practices, but also in settlers’ motivations and goals. These contrasts were there from the early years of settlement, and became more pronounced with time. What are the major differences, and how do we explain them?

The American Revolution raised more questions about equality and human rights than it answered. What questions did it raise, and for whom? How were they answered?

Essay Sample Content Preview:

Student’s Name
Professor’s Name
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American Revolution Period
Disparities in slavery in the era of American independence
Slavery existed in the center and colonies in the North, even though the South had the highest proportion of enslaved people. Enslaved people were also present in other important cities, such as New York and Philadelphia. Enslaved individuals in urban centers were used in various jobs, including construction workers, artisans, craftspeople, sailors, domestic servants, laundresses, and stagecoaches, although they were not required as agricultural labor (Revolution, Constitution, and the People, 222). Holder s frequently contracted out their talented owned laborers and earned their earnings, especially in metropolitan regions. Others worked as domestic staff and had a high social rank. Enslaved people were regarded as property that may be allowed to trade in any case. As a result, laves were a part of the holders' entire wealth (Toward Revolution, 1750-1776, 171). Despite Southern slave-owners having a more significant financial involvement in enslaved people than Northerners, several Northerners also had considerable financial investments in enslaved individuals.
The extensive possession of enslaved people has far-reaching consequences. Throughout the 1760s and 1770s fights with Britain, American Loyalists contended charging the colonists without their permission converted them to enslaved people (Northern Society and the Growth of Wage Labor 1790-1837, 334). Because persons in all of the colonies held enslaved people, this discourse elicited solid emotional responses across the board, helping to alienate colonists against the home country. Furthermore, once colonists began to resist their captivity, it became difficult to ignore slavery's core incongruity: servitude for black individuals and liberty for white individuals (A Meeting of three worlds, 56). The realization of this inconsistency prompted white Americans to reconsider slavery. If Americans choose to keep black persons enslaved, they will have to develop fresh justifications to legitimize slavery.
Claims concerning blacks' innate racial inadequacy evolved at this time to justify the system. Nevertheless, several people in Northern and southern areas sincerely took their progressive ideas during and after the American Revolution, concluding that slavery was immoral (Free labor and slavery 1790-1850, 271). Their enslaved people were liberated or manumitted. Nonetheless, each state chose its approach to the problem. Northern states made laws or issued legitimate judgments that either eradicated slavery consummate or set it on a path to elimination over time. In the South, things were a little unique (Family Labor and the Growth of the Northern Colonies, 1640-1760, 124). Southern states opposed exertions to abolish slavery within their borders since they had a much larger financial commitment to slavery (Servitude, Slavery, and the Growth of the Southern Colonies, 1620-1760, 67).
Although part of (though not all) Southern governments enabled specific slaveholders to set free their enslaved individuals if they so desired, no Southern state passed laws that abolished slavery entirely, either instantly or progressi...

Updated on January 26, 2024

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Slavery in the Era of American Independence

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