-evidence of slavery can be found in every culture on the planet. -most great civilizations...
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-Evidence of slavery can be found in every culture on the planet.
-Most great civilizations participated in slavery.
Civilizations that used slavery extensively
Aztecs, Rome, Mayan, Inca, Greece, Persia, Sumer, Egypt, Assyria, Byzantium, Vikings, Islamic Empire, Russia, China, Japan, Korea, France, Spain . . . .
- Portuguese sailors were the first Europeans to buy African slaves.
- They needed a durable, disease resistant workforce for their plantations.
-Soon, other European nations followed suit, and the slave trade was born.
- Estimated Human Toll: Number of slaves captured: 18 million Number of slaves transported: 15 million Number of slaves in New World: 10 million
How Slavery Works
-Farming sucks! The bigger the farm the more it sucks.
-Buy slaves to work for you, and pay them in food.
-Take the extra money you save to buy more land.
-More land means more slaves . . .
-A slave costs about $15,000-35,000 in today’s dollars.
-About 1/3 of southerners owned one or more slaves, .75% owned 50 or more. Most owners owned 5 or less.
-Until 1793, slavery was dying because it was unprofitable. (5% return on investment, SBUX=2.5%)
-In 1793, Eli Whitney invented the Cotton Gin.
-The value of the cotton in the south rose . . .
$150,000 in 1790
$8,000,000 by 1800.
53 times more profit!
-The south, by itself had become the 4th most prosperous nation in the world.
-Its wealth relied on exports and markets in Europe.
-As cotton prices went up. . .
- Slaves became more valuable, and were treated better.
-Southerners were less willing to end slavery.
-AA’s in the were legally property of their masters.
-About 10% of slaves lived in towns and cities laborers and servants. They had more freedoms.
-Free blacks in the South had restrictions to keep them under control.
-½ of all free blacks lived in the south.
-They formed their own organizations to improve their lives.
-The National Council or Colored People and was formed to help end segregation.
-Although free, AA’s in the north faced unequal treatment, or discrimination.
-They were also segregated, or kept separate from white society.
-Free blacks in the north were treated like 2nd class citizens despite being free.
-In the south, free blacks were restricted to keep them from being treated as equals.
-Slavery became more and more profitable, which made the south less likely to compromise.