Essay On African Americans In The 18th Century

In the late eighteenth century, Americans faced considerable tension between the Revolutionary ideals of liberty and equality and the continuation of slavery. The dominating presence of cotton in the southern economy called for the increase of slavery to keep up production. With so much wealth being an incentive to keep slaves, not too many planters were impressed by the idea that “all men were created equal.” During the eighteenth century, most slaves were African American because blacks were seen as an inferior race. Some Americans didn’t even consider them human; therefore, they saw no reason to render the African Americans the same rights that they themselves possessed. This slavery-induced tension was not only recognizable throughout the eighteenth century but ignored over and over again by citizens and politicians alike, who believed it would die out on its own. Especially in the south, states were not willing to cede their primary source of commercial labor largely due to the invention of the the cotton gin and the fact that cotton had become the leading economic staple. The abundance in profit the south received from cotton production initiated little incentive to embrace new ideas such as industry. (Southerners saw it more as a if-it’s-not-broke-don’t-fix-it kind of a thing.) …show more content…
Slaves were instead treated as nothing more than property and were forced to brave inhumane conditions. They were looked down upon because of their skin color and social class with little help to alleviate their suffering. Slavery would continue to cause significant strain between the North and South and lead to one of the most calamitous wars to take place on American soil to