On March 4, 1858, a senator from South Carolina named James H. Hammond gave a speech about his concerns of Kansas and many other events that were happening during this time period. His speech revolved around the cultural, economic, and social differences between the free and slave states. The "King Cotton" speech and the "Mudsill" speech is what Hammond's speech would be referred too.
During this time period, the North and the South had two different systems of labor: free labor and slave labor. Hammond highly thinks that these kinds of labor go along with the different social values between the North and South. Said Hammond, "The South... is satisfied, harmonious, and prosperous" because it has a "class" that does "the menial duties, perform(s)
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During the many events and troubles that were occurring throughout the late 40s and 50s, tensions have increased between the North and South. South was on the edge of secession since they were threatening to get what they want, more land to continue the growth of slavery and expand their operations and sources of income. The North didn't want that to happen since more land given to the South would lead to even more political problems and it would leave the North at a disadvantage. The North and the world were dependent on access to cotton, said Hammond. The commodity that was processed by both northern and European manufactures. Worldwide industry would come to halt if not for the availability of cotton. Hammond then goes on to mention that if the South were to stop producing and selling cotton for 3 years, all places of civilization will start to collapse, and they would feel obligated to help the South and obtain their cotton again. Since the price of cotton increased in the South, it was cheaper to get cotton from Egypt and India and supply it to European …show more content…
Lee, a Mexican-American war veteran and a soon-to-be CSA general. He writes this letter to share his ideas to his wife about the idea of slavery. Both of them are disgusted apparently, since they both think that slavery is a moral and political evil. "In this enlightened age, there are few I believe, but what will acknowledge, that slavery as an institution, is a moral & political evil in any Country. It is useless to expatiate on its disadvantages. I think it however a greater evil to the white man than to the black race, & while my feelings are strongly enlisted in behalf of the latter, my sympathies are stronger for the former. The blacks are immeasurably better off here than in Africa, morally, socially & physically." (Lee E. Robert, December 27, 1856). Lee says that the slaves are better off here than back in Africa, since they need to be disciplined in order to become better people than still being "savages" since they came from an uncivilized country. He believes that God made slavery to "civilize" the black people and they would heavily benefit from this institution. Slaves were actually the real threat, since they heavily outnumbered the white population in the South and easily could revolt and overthrow plantations. Lee was also against the abolitionist since he thinks they are obstructing the South's rights to use
The predominantly agrarian South had few forms of liquid wealth; slaves and land comprised the majority of southern capital. The cultivation of cotton and the profits made by its sales was paramount to the economy and so with the loss of northern buyers, the Confederate’s economic status was destined for failure.
"Forgiveness" and "racism" are two words that usually do not go together. Surprisingly enough Picking Cotton tells the story of how Jennifer Thompson and Ronald Cotton showed the upmost forgiveness for a wrongful conviction that in part was caused due to the racism. Racism was surely present in the South in the early 1900 's, but historically one does not think racism was a major issue in the 80 's. In one man 's opinion, Ronald Cotton, the Burlington police had racist views that contributed to him serving a life imprisonment for a crime he never committed. In 1984 when two white women were raped by a black man, race played a role in convicting the wrong black man in Burlington, North Carolina. Ronald Cotton was wrongfully convicted by racism
1.) Fredrick Douglass’s purpose in this speech was to explain the wrongfulness of slavery in America. Fredrick Douglass states in his speech “Are the great principles of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us?” and “The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity, and independence, bequeathed by your fathers is shared by you, not by me.” These prove that the freedom and independence Americans have aren’t shared with the Africans when it should be that Africans have those rights as well. Frederick Douglass then talked about how badly whites treat blacks and how wrong it is. “There are 72 crimes in Virginia which, if committed by a black man, subject him to a punishment of death, while
...act, whether that be out of sympathy, nationalism, or selfishness. Amongst so many abolitionists and adamant southern voices fighting to be heard in disunited America, Frederick Douglass was such an influential person in the antislavery movement because of his rhetoric. He uses captivating modes of persuasion, strategically addressing specific audiences with different arguments. Douglass makes the dehumanizing effects of slavery on slaves obvious, appealing to feelings of sympathy in the North; however, he also appeals to the agitators of slavery — slaveowners in the South — by stressing how the corrupt and irresponsible power they enjoy are detrimental to their own moral health. By showing the immorality of slaveowners and their families as a result of perpetuating slavery, Douglass contends that slavery should be abolished for the greater good of the whole society.
With the South’s money, they would acquire cotton from the southern states. Also, in the South, there were little job opportunities for whites since slaves had the jobs in the field, unlike the North where jobs were abundant in factories for the unskilled workers. Many of these unskilled workers were immigrants from Ireland and Germany.... ... middle of paper ...
Within the economy a great development had been achieved when the upper south handed its power to the lower south all due to the rise of an agricultural production. This expansion was led by the excessive growth of cotton in the southern areas. It spread rapidly throughout America and especially in the South. During these times it gave another reason to keep the slavery at its all time high. Many wealthy planters started a ‘business’ by having their slaves work the cotton plantations, which this was one of a few ways slavery was still in full effect. Not only were there wealthy planters, at this time even if you were a small slave-holder you were still making money. While all of this had been put into the works, Americans had approximately 410,000 slaves move from the upper south to the ‘cotton states’. This in turn created a sale of slaves in the economy to boom throughout the Southwest. If there is a question as to ‘why’, then lets break it d...
Slavery was a staple of Southern economy and lifestyle which greatly increased after the 1820s. Slaveholders came under attack when abolitionist ideas gripped the North and threatened the Southern way of life. This resulted in Southerners trying to justify slavery, not only to the North, but to themselves. One planter and politician from South Carolina, James Henry Hammond, wrote a Proslavery Argument in 1845 to refute the accusations the abolitionists were making towards the South and the institution of slavery. He defended slave-owners when he wrote his argument and said that slaveholders were responsible to God and the law. He also said that these owners could not refuse to provide just care for their slaves or be “tyrannical or cruel.”
Secondly, the demand for cotton grew tremendously as cotton became an important raw material for the then developing cotton industries in the North and Britain. The growing of cotton revived the Southern economy and the plantations spread across the south, and by 1850 the southern U.S produced more than 80% of cotton all over the world. As this cotton based economy of the south grew so did the slave labor to work in these large scale plantations since they were more labor-intensive...
His main argument in the speech is that it 's unjust and hypocritical for a country to celebrate its freedom while it still has slaves. Now that in itself is a morally viable argument, and it has never been more relevant than today in our racially hate fueled world where every situation is turned into a hate crime. However, back in those days majority of slaves were sold into slavery by their own people. Most slaves were sold by rival tribes as prisoners of war, or trouble makers of the tribe, thus giving us the “bottom of the barrel” of the groups. Another counter to Douglass was that even though slaves were people, they were still considered property. A hard working farmer could have used his last penny in order to purchase that slave because he was unable to tend his farm and provide for his family. One common misconception was that all slaves were beaten and treated lower than swine, while to the contrary some were treated well being given a bed and meals every day in exchange for their hard work. While Douglass may have had a bad time under the ownership of Auld, most northern states did not treat their slaves in this manner. This is one of the main reasons Douglass learned how to read, yet no credit is given to his former owner. Most slaves developed a relationship with their owners, in which their owners taught them useful skills such as reading, writing, simple math and farming skills. Another argument brought into Douglass’ speech was that most churches were segregated, and in turn perpetuated the racism that helped keep slavery alive in well. He proposed that a God that wouldn’t allow such evil and disservice in this world would contradict everything the bible proposes and teaches. He praises the writers of the constitution, considering them his equal and thanking the signers of the Declaration of Independence, calling
In his speech, Frederick Douglass made it clear that he believed that the continued toleration and support of slavery from both a religious and legal standpoint was utterly absurd when considering the ideals and principles advocated by America’s forefathers. He began by praising the American framers of the Constitution, an...
Instead of convincing American citizens from around the country that slavery was America’s largest injustice, he now was persuading people in the government and people who were originally for anti-slavery, that black men should have equal citizenship and the right to vote. His change in audience is another reason that the abolitionist's voice changed beginning in the mid 1860’s. The harsh and passionate rhetoric he was using to condemn slavery may have not been so effective or persuasive to politicians. Therefore it was in his best interest to change the approach he originally was making. A great example of this is Frederick Douglass’s first meeting with President Andrew
“Important from Montgomery; Inauguration of Jefferson Davis as President of the Southern Confederacy. His Inaugural Address. Policy of the New Government Foreshadowed,” New York Times, February 19, 1861.
As the 13 colonies were established, diversities already started to appear. The South was focused on cops and tobacco, known as "Cash Crops". In order to produce these, large labor was necessary. The South bought slaves from Africa in order to fulfill these labor intensive jobs. The North on the other hand grew industrialized. They build factories all over their territory. With the invention of the Whitney's Cotton Gin, it was easier to farm the fields. With this invention, time was saved and more cotton and tobacco could be produced. But in order for this to succeed, more slaves were needed. This drew to tension between the North and the South as the North was against slavery.
Alexander Stephens, Vice-President of the Confederacy, referring to the Confederate government: "Its foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery . . . is his natural and normal condition." [Augusta, Georgia, Daily Constitutionalist, March 30, 1861.]
Southern intellectuals and leaders strongly believed that they were far superior to both slaves and the Northern Society. They believed that slavery was not evil and did not cause dueling in the South. In fact, James Hammond defended the institution of slavery and stated that “stability and peace are the first desires of every slave-holder.” (Pg. 34) He also stated that the idea of riots and bloodsheds happening in the South is untrue and that “scenes of riot and bloodshed have within the last few years disgraced the Northern cities.” While, the Southern cities have not have any instances of it. Hammond also stated that “the only thing that can create a mob, is the appearance of an abolitionist.” (Pg. 34)