Slavery In America

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Slavery in America research papers show that America was unique in several ways in the issue of slavery. The entire concept of slavery cannot be discussed in a slavery in America research paper without a look at race relations, since race has always been the central reality of slavery. While the Declaration of Independence stated that all men were created equal, America was far from putting this ideology into practice.America was a new country struggling to find its roots and governmental policies. Though founding fathers like Thomas Jefferson disagreed on the morals of slavery, they engaged in it and saw it as a necessary evil of prosperity and economic advancement. Slavery compromised the ideal of America being a "great nation". When Congress stopped the import of slaves in 1808, the only direct effect was that the prices for slaves went up and new methods of obtaining slaves needed to be employed. Methods such as impregnating the women so they would have children who could grow into laborers. Africans became a valued commodity throughout the nation. Their value was protected even by the Supreme Court, who ruled in 1857 in the case of Dred Scott that Negroes had "no rights which the white man was bound to respect".

The slave trade ended in the early 1800's, before Emancipation. Since it was illegal to buy and sell new slaves, the only way to continue profit and keep the supply of labor needed to run huge plantations was to breed. Thus slave owners added degradation on top of degradation. Rape played an even bigger part in the lives of female slaves, for when a white man raped a black woman, her children were marketable. The value of a female slave was her ability to bear children. The only advantage to this was that women received less frequent and less severe beatings than they used to, for that would be seen as damaging future goods. So though they were raped, their kids were stolen, and they were treated like pack animals, when a fist or whip or switch landed on them, it landed a little softer.