Slavery Took Over the 19th Century

One of the causes of the Civil War was the increase in slavery in American Society.  Slavery was huge in the 19th century because the people thought it was necessary in order to have a successful economy.  Although some people opposed slavery, they still used it because they didn't know any other way to run the economy.  

Slavery became entrenched in American society by the early 19th century.  One reason it became so entrenched was because of its mention in the Founders' Constitution.  Article 1 stated, "The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person."  This still promotes slavery and legalizes it as long as each enslaved person is taxed at such a price that doesn't exceed ten dollars.  People then began to trade slaves and use them more and more.  Statistics show that the amount of slaves in America increased from 69,000 in 1790, to 3,954,000 on the eve of the civil war.  That shows how big of an increase in slavery there was over time.  Another thing that caused slavery to become entrenched in American society was the invention of the cotton gin.  Cotton was not even considered as a commercial crop in 1790. By 1860, cotton had increased across the South. With the increase in cotton being planted, more and more labor was needed, so Southern planters began transporting large numbers of African-American slaves westward into the new cotton lands, where the planters used their social, political, and economic power to keep slavery legal. This resulted in a sharp demarcation between the Southern states.  The slave labor helped produce large amounts of economically valuable cotton.  Meanwhile, the rest of the nation, where the economy was more diversified and slave labor had been outlawed.  The website Mappinghistory     has a virtual tutorial showing the spread of slavery and cotton from 1790-1860.  There were many things that caused slavery to become entrenched in American society by the early 19th century.

A system of slavery based on race affects human dignity because it shows that the people within the system see people who look different or have different backgrounds as inferiors.  This shows that these people have no empathy and marginalize people based on their skin color.  It also means that they don't have good morals especially if they allow people to be treated so poorly because they are "different."  Systems like these ignore many human characteristics.  All humans are equal no matter what skin color or beliefs they have.  Just because someone appears different on the outside it doesn't mean that they aren't equal to everyone else and it certainly doesn't mean that they should be enslaved.  Overall, when a society uses a system of slavery based on race it affects human dignity because it shows that the people don't have empathy or good morals.  Systems like these tend to ignore human characteristics such as the fact that everyone is equal and should be treated equally.  Also, they tend to ignore that people have rights and should not be treated like animals.    

In conclusion, slavery became entrenched in the 19th century because of the mention of it in the Founder' Constitution and the invention of the cotton gin.  When societies use systems of slavery, it shows that the people don't really have a dignity and that they don't have empathy or great morals.  Lastly, these systems tend to ignore characteristics of humanity such as the fact that everyone is equal and that no one should be treated differently.    

Gender Equality

In the 19th century, and even before that in our history, women have been looked at as inferiors or less than men.  They have been separated from the rest of society and kept from doing many things that men could do.  In the 19th century there was nothing equal about the rights of women and men.


 In 1848, at the Seneca Falls Convention, many women and some men abolitionists gathered to demand the right to vote for women.  It was known as the first organized woman's suffrage gathering.  At the Seneca Falls Convention, the Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions was published.  It listed all of the grievances in the ways women have been wronged.  The resolutions were demands from the women.  This was one of the ways the women tried achieving gender equality.  In a list of the laws and practices that women were forced to follow called "Rights of Women", it shows just how extreme the restrictions were on women in the 19th century.  One of the laws legalized the ability for a man to beat his wife.  Another stated that it was considered improper for women to speak in public.  Those are just a few examples of how disgusting and unreasonable the restrictions really were.  In the Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions, these restrictions along with many others were demanded to be abolished.

Although the abolitionists put up a fight for better treatment and gender equality, the men were not on the same page.  After word got around about the Seneca Falls Convention, tons of newspaper articles discussed the event.  The men were very unhappy with the women's actions and in one particular article, it stated, "We are sorry to see that the women, in several parts of this state, are holding what they call, 'Woman's Rights Conventions,' and setting forth a formidable list of those Rights, in a parody upon the Declaration of Independence."  This shows that men saw the movement as completely unnecessary and inappropriate.  Below is the news article which is full of the opinions of the men based off of the Seneca Falls Convention.          





Now a days, gender equality has become a lot better than it was in the 19th century.  All of the ridiculous restrictions that existed during that time don't apply to women today.  However, there are differences between certain aspects of men and women.  For example, when men go out with women a lot and have fun they gain reputations as being "cool" but when girls do the same thing they get judged and called mean names.  Another instance is in the athletic world.  Girls are looked at as inferior to boys when it comes to sport because boys are "tougher" and "stronger".  Although there are no restrictions like the extreme ones women faced in the 19th century, there are definitely judgments and stereo types towards women today.
 

Link to YouTube video describing how women are looked at in society: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-K2kfgW7708&feature=youtu.be

Tanner, John.  Mechanics Mutual Protection.  Edline.