A War for Justice

A War for Justice

It is hard to imagine a human being forced to work on a plantation. People are offered options every day and decisions are made based on beliefs but, there was a time when people were not allowed that option and were kept chained to the bondage of slavery. Slavery in America began once Jamestown colonists planted the first tobacco plants in 1612. In 1619, a Dutch ship brought twenty Africans to work in the tobacco fields. These Africans were indentured servants. By 1670, almost 3,000 Africans had been brought to Virginia. By the early 1700s, the southern legislatures began to pass laws restricting the rights of Africans. Southerners began to think of Africans as property (“Settling the English Colonies”). Northerners thought the exact opposite from what their former neighbors believed to be right. The clash of morals, religion, and the American way of life between the North and the South will result in a deadly battle, a battle that will change the lives of Americans forever. The Northern states felt that the abolishment of slavery was moral while the Southern states felt slavery was ethical for economic; this resulted in a Civil War.

The economy in the South was mainly agriculture. They relied more on farming and growing than working in factories like the Northern states had been accustomed. The cotton gin was created, making it even more profitable to own slaves.

(tabbapush.pbworks.com) The 1800’s the need for slaves increased with the production of cotton. The more slaves a slave owner had meant more cotton that would be picked. The cotton gin made it easier to separate the seed from the cotton in less time it took the slaves too.

Southerners treated their slaves very harshly. They did not care that these slaves were human beings. They viewed slaves as property and nothing more. Slaves that worked the fields on plantations were generally treated with less respect. When a slave got sick the master was forced to treat it until better,...