THE FOUNDING FATHERS AND SLAVERY

by 1700 the highly profitable slavery system was firmly established in the Southern Colonies and codified into law
slavery was much less profitable in the Northern Colonies where it was eventually outlawed references to slavery were removed from the Declaration of Independence the Constitution mentions slavery in three clauses slavery, which appeared might die of natural causes, received a strong impetus with the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney in 1793

THE SOUTH AND SLAVERY

COTTON AS % OF U.S. EXPORTS 1800-1860 %

60 50 40 30 20 10 0 1800 1820 1840 7.1 32 52

58

% cotton

1860

YEAR

GROWTH IN U.S. SLAVE POPULATION 1790-1860

4,000,000 3,500,000 3,000,000 2,500,000 2,000,000 1,500,000 1540000

4000000 2500000

slaves

1,000,000 600,000 500,000 0 1790 1820 1840 1860

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The South: an economy built upon agriculture and slavery

Photo of an actual slave auction

Southern slave states-1860

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