Effects Of Slavery In The South

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The arrival of slaves in America led to a dramatic reinvention of the South. Previously, the Southern colonies’ warm climate and fertile soil had proved conducive to agrarian life, and the ability of farmers to sustain their families through their crops. The integration of slaves changed this lifestyle, as the South was suddenly able to farm large quantities of cash crops such as cotton, indigo, and sugar. This lifestyle had repercussions stretching decades into the future, affecting everything from the gap in wealth from the rich to the poor to the abundance of factories in the North and lack of them in the South. There was not an institution in the South that was not affected by slavery, as slavery dominated every political, social, and economic …show more content…
Those who owned slaves were inherently wealthier than those who did not, and the more slaves owned by a family the wealthier they were. Families with many slaves, especially plantation owners, were able to live a life of luxury, attending galas, socializing, and doing little daily work. Those without slaves were mainly farmers, and were almost always poor, working hard everyday to support their families. In accordance with this, children from these poor families rarely went to school, while children from plantations received private tutors. This eventually caused a distinct gap between the rich and the poor. In this way, the ownership and numbers of slaves by a family determined who they would interact with, their “lot” in life, their education, their free time, and the respect and treatment they would receive from others. However, to an extent, slavery did unite the South. It helped poor whites to identify with rich whites, as they all discriminated against blacks. They felt united against the slaves, as they were all white, and therefore all superior. While slavery determined everyone’s role in the South, from the poor without them to the plantation owners relying on them, it also served to bond the white Southerners with a common feelings, beliefs, and …show more content…
Slaves provided most of the labor, enabled the South to grow and sell large cash crops, and cost little to keep or own. Through slave work, the South was able to trade their cotton and other products to the North and around the world, creating a massive industry based on slave labor. However, in some ways, slavery also restricted the Southern economy. Many people’s wealth was tied up in their slaves, causing the Southerners to have to need slaves. Too many efficient, labor-saving technologies would make the need for slaves obsolete, and the wealthy slave owners would lose money. This lack of technological advances caused the Southern economy to remain rather stagnant, instead of growing and improving like the Northern economy. It also contained people within a class of wealth. Those with slaves had money, and economic power, and those who did not were poor. There was virtually no middle class, and movement between economic classes was rare. Slavery in the South determined the strength and size of the economy, as well as what would be grown and sold and how it would be grown and sold. It defined the economic lives of Southerners, keeping the rich wealthy and the poor destitute, all the while determining how they would make money in their
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