Slavery and Divisiveness in the US in the 19th Century
Assignment
"Why was slavery increasingly divisive in the United States as the 19th century progressed?"
You should plan to write a cohesive, formal essay, 1600 words , in which you develop an argument and advance it through making points and using evidence to back them up.
The formatting is the usual – double-spaced, standard margins, normal sized font (11 or 12 point, depending on which you choose) and so on.
Do not use or consult outside sources for this assignment. You should only be referencing class materials – the textbook, the “Slavery division documents” set of documents on Canvas, and whatever we may cover in class. You do not need to use all the documents, but you should use some of them, along with the textbook and lecture material. The best papers tend to blend together a variety of different types of sources, making for a stronger case. You will have all the information you need to write an outstanding essay.
Please refer to the citation guide on Canvas for how to cite your sources. All essays must have citations. Those with none or very few will earn a failing grade. Since you will all be using the same sources, there is no need for a works cited page.
I know we come across terms like “Negro” and “colored” in our readings, but they are not terms we should use as our own. It is OK to quote someone who is saying them, but these words are outdated and offensive, and have been for over fifty years, so please do not describe people as such in your own words.
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Slavery and Divisiveness in the 19th Century
The issue of slavery is central in US history. It is impossible to eliminate slavery and its effects when describing America's progress. In the 19th century, calls for abolition intensified as blacks sought their freedom. The slaveholders felt disadvantaged since losing enslaved people meant a more expensive labor source. The enslaved people, on the other hand, felt that it was time to gain their freedom. This paper will demonstrate why7 slavery became increasingly divisive in America as the 19th century progressed.
Division on Religious Basis
While religion provided bonds among the dicers groups in the southern society, it also caused sharp divisions among enslaved people and their owners. In the early 1800s, Evangelical Protestantism had been critical in opposing slavery among some poor white whites. It also was instrumental in fueling resistance by both free blacks and enslaved people. In the late 1700s, a renewed evangelical movement emerged and became known as the Second Great Awakening. The movement emphasized, “the equal brotherhood of believers” (Chapter 5: Revolution, Constitution, and the People 249). Evangelicals belied that slavery violated the teaching of Christ on the essence of brotherhood. They advocated that slavery violated scriptural teachings on how people should treat one another. In Christ, all were equal since there was no slave or free. Such teaching was popular among the slaves, who saw Christianity as a way out of their predicament. The slaves saw the Evangelical Church as a vehicle they could use to reclaim their freedom from their masters.
However, in the 1830s, slaveholding elites gained more powerful positions within the evangelical churches. The churches, which had earlier included blacks and whites, started erecting racial barriers. Planters tried to utilize religion as a means of binding slaves tightly to the southern system. The owners increasingly controlled their slaves’ attendance at church to ensure that the latter could not use Christianity to advocate for their freedom. However, some enslaved people like Fredrick Douglas were frustrated by the idea that God required blacks to submit to slavery and “wear their chains in meekness and humility” (Chapter 9: Part Two: Free Labor and Slavery, 1970-1850 436). Blacks started resisting messages that called for servility. For instance, Robert Rayland, a white pastor in Virginia, was a defender of slavery. In the 1840s, he started preaching that a black man had once proclaimed that God had given the whole continent to the whites and that it was the duty of the blacks to submit. As a result, blacks started lingering after Ryland’s services to listen to the sermons of blacks. At one point, Rayland noted that some black preachers got more attention from the blacks than he did.
The opposition to the new form of Christianity advocated by evangelical churches angered the free and black slaves. On the one hand, the slaveholders worried that slaves might get dangerous ideas from preachers the whites had already sanctioned. Most white southerners worried that prayers, songs, and sermons filled with connotations of human freedom and brotherhood could be “misinterpreted” (Chapter 9: Part Two: Free Labor and Slavery, 1970-1850 436). The meaning of salvation denoted different things to blacks and whites. For the whites, salvation was used concerning deliverance from sin. However, the blacks interpreted salvation to mean more about breaking the shackles of slavery and enjoying the freedom that Christ advocates for all people. In Philadelphia, the Black Methodists withdrew from a congregant they had helped build in 1972 when the leadership insisted they adhere to segregated seating. Such a form of discrimination in the church reinforced the efforts of free and slave African Americans' efforts to form institutions of their own. In northern towns, freed people created a lifestyle different from the whites. They had their dress code and deportment and founded their churches and schools. The development of unique forms of Christianity for African Americans caused a source of divisions among the slaveholders.
Planters Versus Free Blacks
The planters initially felt that the free and enslaved African Americans threatened their authority. In the 1830s, the planters viewed free blacks as posing more threats to white supremacy than the rebellious slaves (Chapter 9: Part Two: Free Labor and Slavery, 1970-1850 440). The existence of free blacks was a major threat to the continuation of slavery as an institution. Because of this fear, the Virginia General Assembly in 1837 reaffirmed an 1807 statute that permitted the county courts to establish if free blacks should b...