Buchanan 1

Connor Buchanan

Instructor Cook

History 1101

31 October 2020

Should Slavery be abolished in the Antebellum South?

Slavery was thriving back in the antebellum south because of the demand for cotton.

Slaves were treated extremely unfairly only because of the color of their skin. Our founding

fathers let them down by lying to them in the Declaration of Independence. It said that “all men

are created equal”. This was not true at all since slavery was still thriving in the Antebellum

south. While some believe slavery was essential to the growth of cotton, it was a moral atrocity

that should have never happened.

Slavery was one of the most disgusting things our nation has ever saw. People were

forced into slavery just because of their skin color making this an extremely racist institution.

They were whipped and beat for even the smallest things. They also worked all day long. This is

shown in the text when it says “from sunup to first dark” (Foner,424). All of these horrible things

were based on the economy of cotton. This is shown when D’Souza says “American slavery was

a moral crime, but it was an economic institution than a racist one” (D’Souza). All of this

turmoil for the production of cotton? Yes, people saw free labor as a way to produce the most

cotton in the least costly way. They had no regard for their morals and instead looked to make

profit.

Many people believed that slavery in the Antebellum South was justified to the demand

of cotton. They saw free labor as a way to grow the cotton industry so they did just that. They

knew this would cause the growth of the south. This is shown in the book when it says “it was
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cotton produced on slave plantations that became the linchpin of southern development” (Foner,

338). This shows how important slaves were to making the south grow. However, people who

wanted this for slaves showed that they had no morals. Slavery was something nobody should

ever have to endure because of the atrocities that happen, but the plantation owners disregarded

this because they wanted economic growth. In the end, slavery should be ablished in the

Antebellum South because of the unfair mistreatment of slaves when in says in the Declaration

that “All men are created eqaual”.

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Works Cited

D'Souza, Dinesh. "We the slaveowners: in Jefferson's America, were some men not created equal?"

Policy Review, no. 74, 1995, p. 30+. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints,

https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A17634843/OVIC?

u=dayt30401&sid=OVIC&xid=9908d065. Accessed 31 Oct. 2020.

Eric Foner. “Give Me Liberty! An American History”. Seagull 6th edition vol. 1, W.W. Norton

& Company, New York London