With the Good Comes the Bad

Slave; a person who is the legal property of another and is forced to obey them. Slaves and the system of slavery have been a part of society ever since the early 1600s. Slavery most always has to deal with race. In the Americans situation Africans, who were captured and brought from Africa, were the main source of slave labor. In the 19th century the economic system of slavery became entrenched. Entrenched means firmly established or unlikely to change. With the new way of life coming about in America the use of slaves became to be very dependent on the country’s wealth and seemed unlikely to change. Not only did slavery affect the economics of America but it negatively impacted the African race as a whole.

In the 19th century there was a dramatic growth in cotton production. What once used to be 1.5 million pounds a year, in 1790, turned into 2.28 billion pounds per year by 1860. The reason behind this remarkable growth is due to the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney in 1793.The cotton gin was a machine that sorted the seeds from the fibers, which had to be done anyway but this machine only took a fraction of the time it would take to do it by original methods. With a faster way of sorting the cotton, the cotton industry boomed. As the cotton industry grew larger and began to spread across the southern region of America in the 19th century, so id the system of slavery. More slaves were needed to keep up with the growing demand of cotton. The cotton business was so strong that cotton sales in 1860 made up 57% of the nations export revenue. Because there was such great success with cotton, and the production of cotton was based on the need slaves, slavery seemed to be firmly established at this time.

On the other side of this great economic boom was the negative impact it had on the African slaves. Africans had their dignity stripped from them and were treated more like animals, where the value of a human was not as important as how much work got done. The African race was looked down upon which affected the race as a whole. To learn more about this, in class we watched Prince Among Slaves, a movie based off the true story of an African prince, Abdul-Rahman, who was captured in war and was brought to America to be enslaved. Slavery greatly affected  Abdul-Rahman’s dignity. Being born a prince he expected his life to be lavish and to greatly rule his people of Futa Jallon, but that reality was quickly changed. Rahmans master, Tomas Foster, did not listen to what Rahman had to say and even cut off Rahmans' hair to show authority. Rahman was devastated, he had his identity ripped from him and after that came to terms with himself that he would never return to be a prince and was set for a life of obeying a white man’s wishes.

Abdul-Rahman
source- https://islaminhistory.wordpress.com/2008/01/28/prince-of-slaves/

 

 

While Abdul-Rahman had a more elaborate story, the same feelings went for the other slaves who individual lives did not matter to society anymore. American society during this time claimed that people deserve liberty and freedom yet they ignore the fact that slaves are humans too, and still condone slavery.

As you can see 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. No one wants to see their family and race forced into labor and owned by another person. The dignity of these enslaved people during this time was most definitely wounded.

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Woman's Fight for Women's Rights

For centuries women have been treated like they were beneath men. From the start of civilization, in society, men have had more authority than women. In the mid-19th century this was no different. Women were overlooked in society and were treated more like property than an actual human being. Once a women got married she was her husband's property. In Laws and Practices in The Rights of Women it states the laws and conditions affecting the women of the United States at this time. For example, it states that “ women were not allowed to own property in any state in the United States”,and “women may not vote in any state in the union”.  Other societal norms at this time included that it was improper for a women to speak in public, and men could beat their wife “in order to keep his wife from nagging”, and many other things that we would find unacceptable in today's society. It was believed that the woman's only job was to take care of the home, kids, and her husband, and that they were unfit for anything like politics or starting debates. If a women did have a job it would most likely be a school teacher, but even then they were only paid 30-50% of what men are paid for doing the same job.


Over time women were sick of being treated this way and were ready to fight for their rights; thus creating the Seneca Falls Convention in the fight for women's rights. Out of the Seneca Falls Convention came the Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions, a document that stated resolutions to the Practices in The Rights of Women. The Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions was a very controversial piece, it was the first time women had out-lashed against society, and the declaration got a lot of attention. Reactions to this declaration were both positive and negative. One article in the newspaper the Oneida Whig had a negative and sarcastic response. They responded with statements such as, “If our ladies will insist on voting and legislating, where, gentlemen, will be our dinners and our elbows?” The Oneida Whig is poking fun at the Declaration saying that if women become more involved with society, then who will make their dinner? Not all newspapers reactions were negative, the National Reform had many positive comments on the subject and cheered on the women for making their wants known to the public. The National Reform said that “Their standard is now unfurled by their own hands. The convention of Seneca Falls has appealed to the country.” Society reacted very much like these newspaper articles, some were for and some were against this women’s rights movement. 

Today, in the 21st century, society still reacts differently to men and women but on a less noticeable scale. Women today have the same amount of rights that men have, they can own property, speak in public, and have very important jobs. Women are no longer viewed as solely the care giver and are generally widely respected. Although womens rights have grown immensely, society still judges and subconsciously labels women at times. A Pantene commercial shows this discrimination in how women are viewed differently than men in the same situations.

 

Over the years to course of womens rights have greatly changed to become what women have today. Although the rights of men and women have equalized, society can still label women differently than men.