Verified Document

Slave Population In The U.S. Term Paper

" And as for this article's information on mortality among slaves in South America, "Death rates among slaves in the Caribbean were one-third higher than in the south...and sometimes Latin American slaves were forced to wear iron masks to keep them from eating dirt or drinking liquor." It was cruel to force slaves in Latin America to produce their own food "in their free time" (Digital History), but that was what was expected of them. So while slaves were dying in huge numbers due to the difficulties of working in the mines and in the sugar cane plantations in Brazil, many slaves in America were actually working indoors in kitchens, doing domestic work, helping white mothers raise the white children. They received, by all accounts, ample food to eat, and even were treated with some dignity in some instances.

While there were no doubt numerous instances of brutality on the part of slave owners, there were also laws in the south, Wahl explains, that protected slaves from terrible mistreatment by their owners. Southern courts "awarded damages more often for injuries to slaves than injuries to other property or persons." Slaves were shielded from brutality "more than free persons,' Wahl continues.

One good reason that slaves were protected in the U.S., and that they were kept reasonably comfortable in many situations is that they were such an important part of the economy, especially in the south. In the book the African slave trade from the fifteenth to the nineteenth century, there are several essays written by a variety of authors on the subject of slave trade. Writing in the book is Joseph E. Inikori ("The slave trade and the Atlantic economies, 1451-1870"), whose essay (p. 64-65) points out that from the period...

Would the exploitation of resources in the America have "come anywhere near to what it was, without the availability of slave labor?" Inikori asks. His answer is no, and so that important economic fact also led to the better treatment of U.S. slaves than the slaves were treated in Brazil.
Also, Inikori points out on page 65 that "in some cases, it was slave labor or nothing"; in other words, immigrants from Europe were not arriving in sufficient numbers to do the work that was needed to keep the cotton production as profitable as it was. That goes for the slaves in the West Indies, too, for free labor was simply not available in sufficient quantity to do the work necessary in the sugar plantations, Inikori notes. "It was slavery or nothing," he wrote.

Works Cited

Cooper, Joseph. The Lost Continent: Slavery and the Slave-Trade in Africa in 1875. London:

Frank Cass & Co. LTD, 1968.

Digital History. "African-American Voices: American Slavery in Comparative Perspective."

2006). Retrieved Dec. 2, 2007, at http:/ / the.net/encyclopedia/article/wahl.slavery.us.

Inikori, Joseph E. "The Slave trade and the Atlantic economies, 1451-1870" in the African

Slave trade from the fifteenth to the nineteenth century. Pp. 56-85. France: UNESCO, 1979

Wahl, Jenny B. "Slavery in the United States." EH.Net Encyclopedia Retrieved Dec. 2, 2007, at http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/black_voices/voices_display.cfm?id=24.

Sources used in this document:
Works Cited

Cooper, Joseph. The Lost Continent: Slavery and the Slave-Trade in Africa in 1875. London:

Frank Cass & Co. LTD, 1968.

Digital History. "African-American Voices: American Slavery in Comparative Perspective."

2006). Retrieved Dec. 2, 2007, at http:/ / the.net/encyclopedia/article/wahl.slavery.us.
Wahl, Jenny B. "Slavery in the United States." EH.Net Encyclopedia Retrieved Dec. 2, 2007, at http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/black_voices/voices_display.cfm?id=24.
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

U.S. Vs. Cecil Price in
Words: 900 Length: 2 Document Type: Term Paper

They were released only to be followed on the highway and shot dead. Attorney General Robert Kennedy who was informed of the disappearance of the three men, arranged for Joseph Sullivan of the FBI to go to Mississippi and investigate the situation together with FBI Meridian-based agent John Proctor. Their findings would be splendidly presented in Court by John Doar, who prosecuted the federal case. Local officials were not sympathetic

U.S. History Abraham Lincoln -
Words: 1833 Length: 5 Document Type: Essay

Soviet Union brought the missiles into Cuba to rile up the American military establishment precisely so that U.S. nuclear missile installations in Turkey and Italy could be brought on the table. Secondly as an ally, Soviet Union was concerned about the fate of Cuba which held a lot of promise for the Communist experiment internationally. The American leadership understood that what they faced in Cuba was a catch 22 situation.

U.S. Government What Reasons Did
Words: 676 Length: 2 Document Type: Term Paper

Property owners were thought to have a more long-term stake in the republic, rather than potentially transient, mobile citizens. Only later was universal suffrage given to all American men, regardless of whether they owned property. The Founding Father's tempering of the direct, democratic will of the populace was further expressed by the fact that in the original constitution, members of the U.S. Senate are elected by the (democratically selected) state

U.S. Immigrants the Black and
Words: 1360 Length: 4 Document Type: Essay

The advent of World War II saw and end of the period of economic turmoil and massive unemployment known as the Great Depression, and thus was a time of increased opportunity for many of the nation's citizens and immigrants, but the experiences of some groups during and following the war were far less positive than others. Some of this was due to the different histories that different immigrant groups

U.S. Domestic and Foreign Policies
Words: 705 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

Far from being contrite, Southerners more emphatically held to the perceived, innate superiority of their race and breeding, comparing themselves to Biblical patriarchs as a means of validating these perceptions and justifying slavery (432). If Perry's journey had demonstrated Northern hubris, Stowe's novel generated its Southern equivalent. Then, there was an ironic unification of the British and the Americans in the development of Samuel Colt's revolver in these years. While

U.S. Urban History Slavery in
Words: 2224 Length: 7 Document Type: Research Paper

Further, while some upward mobility did exist, competition among small business entrepreneurs and economic instability caused by depression and financial panics created just as much downward mobility (Ibid. At 58). Housing among the poor in the cities usually consisted of multiple families (as many as 8) living in homes designed for just one. The price of rent was disproportionately high because the numbers of immigrants in the teeming cities kept

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now