Essay about Slavery

Submitted By ChristinaLopez85
Words: 532
Pages: 3

In 1850, the typical slave worked on a large farm or plantation with at least ten fellow bond servants. Seventy five percent of all slaves were owned by masters that had 10 or more slaves. There was a system most slaves usually worked under called the task system the task system was used on large cotton and sugar plantations. The day of the antebellum plantation slaves started an hour before sunrise with the sounding of a hour or bell and ending at dusk. When the day came to an end the slaves slept in log cabins on wooden planks.when it came to disciplining and punishment of slaves were often left to white overseers and black drivers rather than to masters. It was known that Those who defended slavery rose to the challenge set forth by the Abolitionists. The defenders of slavery included economics, history, religion, legality, social good, and even humanitarianism, to further their arguments.Defenders of slavery argued that the sudden end to the slave economy would have had a profound and destroying economic impact in the South where reliance on slave labor was the foundation of their economy. The cotton economy would fail . The tobacco crop would dry in the fields and Rice would not be profitable.Those that Defended slavery argued that if all the slaves were freed, there would be widespread unemployment and chaos. This would lead to uprisings, bloodshed, and anarchy. They pointed to the mob's "rule of terror" during the French Revolution and argued for the continuation of the status quo, which was providing for affluence and stability for the slaveholding class and for all free people who enjoyed the slavery way. They also argued that slavery had existed throughout history and was the natural state of mankind. The Greeks had slaves, the Romans had slaves, and the English had slavery until very recently. There were several arguments but the one that sticks out to me the most was the argument that defended slavery by saying Abraham had slaves. They point to the Ten Commandments, noting that "Thou shalt not covet thy