Apush Slavery Dbq
APUSH DBQ ESSAY From 1775 to 1830, the United States gained their independence and began their formation of a new country. During this period, the ideas of the Revolutionary War had an influence on the African Americans. A number of African Americans were freed but the institution of slavery spread due to social and economic reasons. Both the free African Americans and enslaved confronted and endure the challenges they faced as they fought for rights and equality. The Revolutionary War was a major factor in the development of slavery during that period of time.
During the early months of the war, the Lord Dunmore's Proclamation was written which declared all slaves free if they took up arms against the American colonists. (Doc A) The British took advantage of the slaves' desire for freedom to disrupt the American's war efforts. Antislavery sentiments were circulating in the North due to the ideas of the war. However, in the South, the whites believed that they deserved to own the slaves and that it would secure the freedom that they were fighting for. After the Americans won the war, slavery was abolished in the North and further importation of slaves was prohibited.
However, slavery was still ongoing in the southern and border states. Manumission, the act of freeing slaves, was soon occurring in the 1790's because people started to feel that slavery was bad because it went against the ideals of the Revolutionary War. Venture Smith's Narrative was an example of manumission as the slave paid for his freedom. (Doc F) This was a common act as many slaves were freed as such during the 1790's. The Revolutionary War and the ideals revolving around it contributed to the increased number of free African Americans.
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However, even as more and more slaves were being freed, the institution of slavery was expanding too. The southern areas of the United States had an increasing number of slaves from 1790 to 1830. In 1790, only the southern states along the east coast and an area around the Ohio River had an overwhelming percent of slaves. This increased as in 1830, almost all the southern states up to the Mississippi River had a large group of slaves. (Doc C) A reason for such an increase in slaves was due to the invention of the cotton gin. This led to a revival in slavery due to the increase amount of cotton farms to accommodate the demands from England.
Cotton ruined the farmland and this led to expansion west as the soil exhausted which explains the increasing trend of slaves in the southern states. During the same period, both free African Americans and enslaved ones faced challenges as they tried to gain rights and freedom. Free African Americans felt they had the right to vote and "no taxation without representation". They felt that since they fought along with the colonists in the Revolutionary War for the same ideals then they should have the rights to it instead of it being imposed on them now. Doc B) Even though some African Americans were freed, they were not spared from discrimination and abuse. Free African Americans in Boston had to bear with daily insults and physical abuse on the streets. Images of African American’s deformity were also common placed in areas of cities and towns. (Doc I) David Walker was an abolitionist who called for blacks to take up arms and fight back against the whites. Walker believed that the blacks should be just as free as Americans and it will just end up hurting the Americans if the blacks have to obtain their freedom by fighting. Doc J) There have been frequent slave rebellions in hope of obtaining freedom. The Haitian Revolution led to an increase in slave revolts as slaves gain hope after seeing the successful revolution in Haiti. Both the freed and enslaved African Americans faced their challenges by enduring and taking up arms against the whites. Overall, the Revolutionary War and its ideals led to the manumission of many slaves. The cotton gin was a major factor of the revival of slavery in the south. Both the freed and enslaved African Americans fought for their equality and rights. Due to these changes, the African American's role in society is reconsidered.
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