"THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES"
FREDERICK DOUGLASS
“I was born in Tuckahoe, near Hillsborough, and
about twelve miles from Easton, in Talbot county,
Maryland. I have no accurate knowledge of my age,
never having seen any authentic record containing it.
By far the larger part of the slaves know as little of
their ages as horses know of theirs, and it is the wish
of most masters within my knowledge to keep their
slaves thus ignorant. I do not remember to have ever
met a slave who could tell of his birthday.
They seldom come nearer to it than planting-time, harvest-
time, cherry-time, spring-time, or fall-time. A want
of information concerning my own was a source of
unhappiness to me even during childhood.
The white children could tell their ages. I could not tell why I
ought to be deprived of the same privilege.”
Douglass, Frederick, 1817?-1895. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave
about twelve miles from Easton, in Talbot county,
Maryland. I have no accurate knowledge of my age,
never having seen any authentic record containing it.
By far the larger part of the slaves know as little of
their ages as horses know of theirs, and it is the wish
of most masters within my knowledge to keep their
slaves thus ignorant. I do not remember to have ever
met a slave who could tell of his birthday.
They seldom come nearer to it than planting-time, harvest-
time, cherry-time, spring-time, or fall-time. A want
of information concerning my own was a source of
unhappiness to me even during childhood.
The white children could tell their ages. I could not tell why I
ought to be deprived of the same privilege.”
Douglass, Frederick, 1817?-1895. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave
THE COTTON INDUSTRY
"FREE LABOR"
With Eli Whitney's invention of the cotton gin in 1793, cotton became very profitable. This machine was able to reduce the time it took to separate seeds from the cotton. However, at the same time the increase in the number of plantations willing to move from other crops to cotton meant the greater need for a large amount of cheap labor, i.e. slaves. Thus, the southern economy became a one crop economy, depending on cotton and therefore on slavery.
Slavery--the ownership and exploitation of one person by another--is one of the oldest social relationships in human history. Slave labor built the pyramids in Egypt; it was the basis for the wealth and prestige of ancient Greece and Rome. But the form of slavery that emerged in Europe's American colonies was very different from any that had come before.
New World slavery emerged as part of the developing capitalist world economy. It was designed to produce raw materials and staple crops such as cotton, sugar and tobacco for export back to the markets of Europe.
"Verily, the work does not end with the abolition of slavery, but only begins."
--Frederick Douglass
With Eli Whitney's invention of the cotton gin in 1793, cotton became very profitable. This machine was able to reduce the time it took to separate seeds from the cotton. However, at the same time the increase in the number of plantations willing to move from other crops to cotton meant the greater need for a large amount of cheap labor, i.e. slaves. Thus, the southern economy became a one crop economy, depending on cotton and therefore on slavery.
Slavery--the ownership and exploitation of one person by another--is one of the oldest social relationships in human history. Slave labor built the pyramids in Egypt; it was the basis for the wealth and prestige of ancient Greece and Rome. But the form of slavery that emerged in Europe's American colonies was very different from any that had come before.
New World slavery emerged as part of the developing capitalist world economy. It was designed to produce raw materials and staple crops such as cotton, sugar and tobacco for export back to the markets of Europe.
"Verily, the work does not end with the abolition of slavery, but only begins."
--Frederick Douglass