Chapter 3 of American Slavery

The readings in Chapter 3 show the evolution of slavery during the Revolutionary War in America. Before the middle of the 18th century, European thought had not dealt with the fairness or morality of slavery. During their time, most people accepted the view that society wasn't supposed to be equal, and that some people were better than others.

With Enlightenment Age thought, however, came a questioning of the inequalities inherent in most societies, and within that argument, the fairness of slavery. For the first time, people began to see in slavery an evil that, if unchecked, could impact the lives and decision making of even the white slaveowners. In the American colonies, and later the newly independent United States, slavery came to be questioned by both Northerners and Southerners.

The arguments against slavery took one of two tracks: economic and moral. The economic argument, which came to be more important to most slaveowners North and South, was that slavery was useless in a declining economy (as was the case in Virginia) , and that with the birth of capitalism and "free labor", slavery was quickly becoming incompatible with the growth of market driven capitalism, that was to be based on the labor of free men. The moral argument against slavery was more important, and also often made, by Quakers and other religious groups that thought that it was wrong to hold another man in bondage. Around this time, some even began to question whether Africans deserved to be enslaved. Were they slaves because it was their natural condition, they argued, or were they slaves because that was the usually the only life allowed for them in the New World?

The Revolution itself also helped to cripple slavery during this time, in a manner that would not be seen again until the American Civil War. Many masters found themselves away from home for long stretches of time during the war, and so many slaves gained a new degree of autonomy that, while not meaning they were free, did give them new responsibilities on farms and plantations. Also, many slaves began to run away from plantations, taking advantage of a chaotic atmosphere that, again, would not be seen until the 1860s.

Once slavery was limited to just domestic slaves, after laws passed state by state and by the federal government in 1808, a free black population grew across the country. Most blacks did not gain the same rights as most whites, especially in the Southern United States, and often had to struggle for work. However, a small and wealthy subsection of the Black population in the US, often made up of refugees from Saint Dominique, did gain some stature and monetary power in the South.

Revolutionary fervor failed to end slavery. While most people, even Southerners, believed slavery would die on its own during the Revolutionary era, by the early 19th century Southerners began to hold on tightly to slavery. Economic booms fueled by slavery made Southerners much more reluctant to see the "peculiar institution" disappear, while in the North the growth of a new, industrialized economy made slavery an obsolete institution that was ultimately done away with. Differences within the United States over slavery were just beginning to become more pronounced.