Before I begin, I need to say that slavery is without a doubt the most difficult and painful subject to address in American history. My wife and I are descended from slaveholders. My wife and I are both descended from Admiral John Hawkins, who started the British Atlantic slave trade in the 1570’s. We can’t escape it, so it’s important to discuss it.
As I noted last time, slavery was declining by the time the US Constitution was being drafted in the late 1780’s the subject of slavery was on the table. The Congress that passed the Declaration of Independence (which was and is not a legally binding piece of legislation, just a resolution) eliminated Thomas Jefferson’s citation of it in his draft of the Declaration. This was in order to bring the southern states on board. John Adams famously opposed the elimination of this sentence but to no avail. The Constitution as passed contained a number of references to slaves as the property of their masters. It also contained the infamous 3/5 compromise, which allowed for each person in bondage to count as 3/5 of a person for purposes of apportioning Congressional districts. Note, of course, that these enslaved people were not counted as US citizens and could not vote.
The Constitution also made provision for the discussion about ending the slave trade, which could not happen before 1807, twenty years after the adoption of the Constitution. Those who were paying attention did so the minute it could be brought up, and the US’ participation in the international slave trade in 1808. This, of course, did not ban the sale of slaves in the United States. The separation of innumerable families, of spouses, parents, and children, continued mercilessly. Human beings were treated like cattle, all in the name of profit. People were beaten, murdered, and brutalized in the name of profit. The impact of this system of exploitation cannot be overstated. It is our nation's original sin, in tandem with the near eradication of the native peoples of this continent.
What the writers of the Constitution did was to kick the proverbial can down the road.
They did so as a timid way to side step the issue, in order to not offend the South, and it didn’t work.
Why? Because of Eli Whitney (remember him?)
When slavery started in the colonies in 1619 it was primarily to provide labor for the growing of tobacco, to which Britain and other Europeans were hopelessly addicted. It was hugely profitable. For awhile it went well, until about the mid-eighteenth century. Cotton had been grown in the South for years but because it had to be processed by hand it was expensive. The ball of cotton grew inside a boll, a hard exterior. This had to be picked off by hand, making it labor intensive. By the time the Constitution was written the production of tobacco had declined because the soil was depleted after 150+ years of agriculture. Once the cotton gin was introduced it made cotton a profitable crop and its agriculture exploded. This was because the gin mechanically separated the ball of cotton and the hard outer boll. An added factor was that cotton can grow in any type of soil, so the depleted soils of the South were fine.
The writers of the Constitution probably expected that slavery would die a natural death and they may as well not rock the boat by debating it.
They were wrong.
“King Cotton” caused a massive increase in the need for labor, and slaves became more valuable. By the 1840’s cotton was the largest crop grown in the country, with huge exports supplying the British and French textile industries, and domestically, the textile industry in the Northeast. That means us. The cotton grown in the South went to mills in New England, and mill owners profited from slavery even they looked the other way.
This is how slavery and the Industrial Revolution were tied together. If you ever have the opportunity to see a piece of cotton clothing from pre-Civil War New England, that cotton was grown and processed by people who were forcibly held to work without compensation, enduring unspeakable abuse.
Once the growth of cotton increased after 1793 the South gained even more political advantage. Six of the first seven presidents were slaveholders, the exception being John Adams.
Every time the subject of abolishing slavery came up someone came up with a compromise. Because cotton could grow in the worst soil, it went west to Texas. The Missouri Compromise of 1820 allowed for Missouri to enter the union as a slave state if Maine entered as a free state. Maine was a part of Massachusetts before them, or as some Mainers might point out, Massachusetts was a part of Maine.
The tensions increased as the pressure mounted for slavery to be extended further west. At the same time controls over slaves tightened even further out of fear of rebellion. The country was becoming a powder keg just waiting for someone to light the fuse. By 1850 tensions had continued to mount. The Compromise of 1850, much more complicated than the Missouri Compromise of 1820, defused tensions for awhile. The debate centered around the status of slavery in territory conquered during the Mexican American War (1846-1848). This postponed war for a time but it didn’t last.
How does this affect us today? In perpetuating slavery the President, Congress and the states created two cultures, each dependent on the other. The industrialized North depended on cotton from the South to supply its mills. The cultural differences ever deepened as time went on. We still wrestle with the implications of slavery today. White supremacists who celebrate the legacy of the failed Confederacy ask why African Americans often refer back to slavery, when they themselves hearken back to the Lost Cause and faithfully attend Civil War reenactments. African Americans were robbed of their heritage. That's the bottom line. Their heritage is one of brutality, rape, and inhuman servitude.
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