Slavery Argumentative Essay

544 Words3 Pages
IThe Declaration of Independence states that “All men are created equal.” This statement lost its effect on the American people when slavery began to dominate the Southern region of the United States in the 1800’s. Once white men and women began to feel superior to the blacks, the whites took control and began a brutal, vicious form of cheap labor that hurt the South’s reputation as a part of the United States for decades. Slavery was also detrimental to the South because it was inhumane, and it ruined the images of not only blacks, but also whites. Slavery was an extremely cruel, brutal form of labor that was exceedingly popular in the South and lasted for nearly 250 years. Nearly 4 million blacks worked as slaves in the American South. Frederick Douglass (1845/1995), famous abolitionist, in his work, Narrative of the Life of…show more content…
Frederick Douglass (1845/1995) states that, “My mother and I were separated when I was but an infant-before I knew her as my mother” (p. 1). This was the case for many black slaves. Masters would separate the mother from the child at an early age, so that the child did not become dependent on the mother to watch over them and take care of them. In the process, the whites became calloused to their treatment of the blacks, hurting their character as caring, thoughtful people. Douglass (1845/1995) gives an example of this. He communicates that his new master was kind and loving when he first met her, but that lasted a short time. As soon as he was under her command, her kindness gave way to a harsh and unforgiving person (p. 19). The whites, primarily from the south were supportive of slavery as it consumed almost every state and supported their agricultural economy. The northern states were more industrialized and did not see slavery as a positive development for the country, although some northerners did have

More about Slavery Argumentative Essay

Open Document