From: Anonymous Seven
Date: 4/5/00
Time: 11:43:35 AM
Remote Name: 155.247.175.28
Anonymous Seven History 67 Week Eleven Text Assignment How important was slavery to the American economy in the first half of the nineteenth century? To the economy of the South? Slavery was vital to the American economy in the early part of the nineteenth century. Though northern parts of the South were beginning to find new ways to make money and relying less on slave labor, the lower South and the North relied on the institution. With the northern tier of the south cultivating tobacco and more interested in wheat, corn, and livestock that called for more capital and less manpower, slaves found themselves being sold off. Slaves auctions became very profitable for the upper South. But as the need for slave labor and the slaves left this area so did the loyalty toward slavery. The violent slave revolt led by Nat Turner and the aggressive abolitionist movement in the first half of the nineteenth century reminded many deep Southerners just how important slavery was to their economy. Down bottom become known as the "Cotton Kingdom". This one crop played a large part in American industry. The year round task of cotton cultivation made slave labor a necessity to plantation owners who were seeking high profits. And cotton was booming as America's leading export. The North depended on the industry for distrbuting capital and marketing. While there were only few individuals in the South benifiting from slavery, the entire American economy of this time was feeling its effects.