The+Growth+of+Slavery+in+the+1800's

= Growth of Slavery in the 1800's = By the early 1800s slavery was declining. The business of the slave trade had made less money and was at an all-time low. Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey banned slavery. In 1808, the US banned the transatlantic slave trade

Reasons why slavery began to grow again...
The cotton gin helped greatly increase slavery. In 1793 Eli Whitney patented the cotton gin, a machine that could be used in cotton plantations. Most cotton grown in the south had lots of seeds in it. The gin made it easier to extract the seeds. This made it easier and quicker to make cotton to sell. The faster cotton could be produced the faster it could to be collected. This job required more slaves. In the 1830s, slave migration in Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Florida and Arkansas increased from 530,404 to 943,881. This page talks about Eli Whitney and the cotton gin. There is an animation of how the cotton gin functions and pictures. Interactive [|time line] of slavery in America.

In 1818 the balance of free and slave states was not even. There were ten states that allowed slavery and eleven that didn't. Balance was restored after Alabama entered the Union as a slave state. In 1819 Missouri applied to enter the Union. Missouri had a population of about 10,000 slaves and so wanted to enter the Union as a slave state. The North got angry at this, since it would upset the balance of free and slave states in the House of Representatives. Henry Clay proposed a compromise in which Missouri would enter the Union as a slave state and Maine as a free state. Congress also banned slavery from territory bought in the Louisiana Purchase north of Missouri's Southern boundary. Even though slavery could not spread west, it spread south, going into the Arkansas Territory.

Thirty years later the same issue resurfaced. The U.S had recently fought a war with Mexico and had acquired a vast expanse of land. The question in Congress resurfaced as to whether the territory should be free or a slave territory. California had also increased in size due to the gold rush and it now applied to enter the Union as a free state. This would upset the balance between slave and free states. There was also the debate about Washington D.C. Not only did the city allow slavery but it was home to the biggest slave market in North America. Once again, Senator Clay was the one to propose a compromise. The territories of New Mexico, Utah, Arizona and Nevada would be set up without slavery. The inhabitants of the territories would later decide if they wanted slavery. The slave trade in Washington was abolished but slavery was still allowed. To appease pro-slavery politicians the Fugitive Slave Act was passed. Of all the bills making up the compromise this was the most controversial. It required citizens to help recover runaway slaves.It also denied runaway slaves the right to a a trial by jury. Many slaves that had escaped to the North were found at taken back to the South. Many free blacks were also rounded up and taken to the South. Having no right to a legal defense they were helpless. The slavery population increased. The Compromise of 1850 helped keep the nation together, but it was only temporary. Soon the citizens of this country would get more divided on the issue and this would cause a huge divide in the nation.

In 1831 [|Nat Turner] led a rebellion which was quickly taken down by the militia. This rebellion led to stricter laws in Virginia. People became more confident about buying slaves. The price for slaves went up and the population swelled up again.

In 1836, a gag law was passed stating that no one in Congress could speak about slavery for eight years. Since Congress could not talk about slavery, no laws could be passed against it. After many years slavery was back and more prominent than ever, it could continue to grow unopposed.

Justification of Slavery. Click on the link above to learn about how the South justified slavery.

As slavery continued to expand, opinions started to become more pronounced. Wealthy plantation owners in the South wanted to keep slavery and abolitionists in the North wanted to get rid of it. Those two groups would oppose each other everywhere, from the Senate to the streets. The Radicals and Abolitionists would later get violent. This conflict will prove to be a major cause of the Civil War.

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