Analyze The Challenges That African Americans Faced

From 1775 to 1830 the textile business grew significantly. Cotton had become the number one product grown in the south at this time, and northern shippers and manufacturers were gaining a great profit from transforming it into textiles. Since cotton was being grown as a mass produced cash crop, more slaves were needed to maintain their large plantations. By 1830 slavery had more than doubled in the south and by 1860 there was an approximated 4,000,000 slaves living in the United States (DOC C). All slaves faced their fair amount of challenges, those on larger plantations received more brutal punishments than those on smaller farms. However, not all blacks were held in captivity and some did indeed have their freedom, but being free offered many challenges as well. Both the growth of slavery and freedom from slavery offered challenges and responses to those challenges. As slavery grew, slaves faced certain difficulties and ways to endure them. As freedom was gained challenges came alongside that as well as way to confront those challenges. Being enslaved offered many limitations as far as rights, human dignity. The majority of slave owners treated their slaves fairly well as they were considered to be an investment. Another part to that is they were considered to be nothing more than property. In the worst cases slaves were …show more content…
Each found ways to overcome or confront these challenges as they were inevitable. Slavery was growing and was brutal in that they would work long harsh hours and receive nothing in return. Free blacks had a difficult time finding any kind of work and were often left on the streets and were discriminated against harshly. They confronted these challenges by rebelling or simply enduring them. Life for an African American in this time period was not pleasant regardless of their freedom