Summary
Highlights
Despite the founders' belief that slavery was unbecoming of a free nation, little was done to legally abolish it, as many believed it would naturally abolish itself. Slavery remained a significant institution in the early 19th century. In the North, a growing abolitionist movement led to banning slavery, though largely due to economic factors rather than a commitment to racial equality. The Southern economy, however, became more entrenched in slavery due to its reliance on cotton cultivation.
Free black populations were roughly equal in number in both the North and South, but their experiences differed. In the North, free blacks had more freedom, owning land and forming social institutions like the African Methodist Episcopal Church, but still faced a lack of equal rights. Some abolitionists, like those in the American Colonization Society, prioritized economic concerns over racial equality, advocating for the relocation of black people to Africa. In the South, free blacks lived in cities but faced constant fear of being forced into slavery and had restricted rights and occupations.
Enslaved blacks engaged in covert resistance to dehumanization. This included maintaining their culture by using West African names and preserving traditional African music and folk tales. They also resisted bondage by breaking tools and slowing down work to reduce planter profits.
Overt resistance included open rebellion. Nat Turner's rebellion in 1831 involved Turner and his followers killing over 50 white people in Virginia, striking deep fear in Southern planters and leading to harsher slave codes and attempts to regulate brutal treatment. The Amistad case in 1841 involved enslaved men taking control of a Spanish ship; their eventual freedom, argued by John Quincy Adams and decided by the Supreme Court, was a win for Northern abolitionists but outraged Southerners, deepening North-South tensions.
Political efforts for abolition emerged in 1848 with the Free Soil Convention. Frederick Douglas joined the movement, believing in the power of a new political party. The Free Soil Party focused on preventing the spread of slavery into Western territories to protect opportunities for white workers, rather than the moral depravity of slavery. Despite this focus, Douglas recognized that a Free Soil Party victory would signal the decline of American slavery.