13 Oct How did the American slave system compare to other forms of slavery and forced labor across in other locations and eras?
Order InstructionsFrom elementary school on, we studied the terrible history of American slavery; of Africans trafficked in the transatlantic slave trade and their descendants in its uniquely American context. This week, we will think critically about the issue of slavery in a larger context. As we read in early chapters of the SOOMO webtext, forms of slavery predated the Americas in the African, Muslim, and Native American worlds. The transatlantic slave trade likewise spread slavery to many colonies across the New World, including the Caribbean and South America. In addition, another form of forced labor, indentured servitude, predated and existed alongside American slavery.
After the explosion of industrialization in England and northern American cities in the first half of the nineteenth century, many also drew parallels between slavery in the South and factory workers trapped in a cycle of poverty. This comparison was made by Southerners defending their “peculiar institution” against Northern critics, and it was also made by Northern reformers disturbed by the endemic poverty among factory workers.
Your Initial Post:
For this assignment, read “Indian Slavery in the Americas (https://ap.gilderlehrman.org/essay/indian-slavery-americas?period=1 )” and view this political cartoon (https://www.americanyawp.com/reader/wp-content/uploads/Slavery-as-it-exists-in-America-Slavery-as-it-exists-in-England.-2.jpg ) comparing Southern slavery to the factory system. Then attempt to set the American institution of slavery into this context. Use these questions as jumping-off points for your own analysis in a post of at least 250 words:
How did the American slave system compare to other forms of slavery and forced labor across in other locations and eras?
Was it more extreme than previous forms of slavery and if so, how?
How did it develop into the system we had in antebellum America? What were the motivations and precipitating factors?
How was it similar to these other modes of control of “others”, including factory workers? How systemic is this control?
What overall conclusions can you draw about your findings?
