The Growth of Bad from the Growth of Good

   Recently in class, we began to talk about the start slavery in the United States. By looking at the The Spread of Cotton and Slavery Activity, my class was able to see the large increase in the amount of slaves from 1790 to 1860. Around the time of 1790, cotton was economically insignificant crop in the United States. Following the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney, cotton became more profitable to grow. Because of this, the demand for cotton grew and it eventually became 57% of the nation's total export revenue. By 1860, the south grew 2.28 billion pounds of cotton which made $191.8 million dollars of revenue. Due to the high demands since 1790, there was a high demand for slave labor to pick the cotton. In 1790 when cotton was economically insignificant, there was approximately 690,000 slaves in the United States. By 1860, the number of slaves increased to roughly 3,954,000 slaves due to the large demand in cotton. The United Sates began to rely on the revenue of cotton being that it was 57% of the nations total export revenue. Slavery therefor became entrenched in the U.S. because of labor needed to keep up with the demand of cotton.

All this increase in cotton manufacturing had very negative affects on African slaves. They were captured from their native countries and were forced onto ships where they would eventually over a long and torturous journey land in the United States. Slaves were then bought and traded and would work in humane conditions. My class was able to get a look into the life of a slave by watching a docudrama titled A Prince Among Slaves. The movie told the story of  Abdul-Rahman, an African prince who was captured in war and was brought to America to be enslaved. We watched as he was stripped of his dignity by many including his master, Thomas Foster. Foster did things like refuse to sell him, beat him viciously and cut his hair which devastated and ripped away Rahman's identity. 

                                                                 Abdul Rahman
                                        http://webfuuta.net/pas/alfa_abdul_rahman.jpg

  While Abdul Rahman's original identity was exposed and he was eventually released as a slave, this is not the same story for many other slaves. Slaves were treated like animals and they were forced to live their lives and raise their families within the borders of their masters land.

 As you can tell slavery was a big part of the 19th century. Without it the growth of cotton and the American economy would not have been so successful. But, with the growth of cotton came the growth of slaves and overlooking human life. All Africans in America, free or enslaved were affected by slavery. People at this time tended to overlook the feelings of the the slaves that made up a large percent of the country. They were thought to be more as working machines rather than people. People never put themselves in the shoes of a slave to imagine being ripped from your family or have to work day till night just so you wouldn't get punished. The dignity of the African American slaves were wounded beyond repair.