The end of slavery in North America Flashcards
Just an easier way to revise it on your own.
What factors were involved in the ending of the slave trade in North America?
A British abolition movement led by William Wilberforce and Thomas Clarkson raised awareness about the conditions of slavery and pushed the bill through parliament.
The British public signed petitions and boycotted sugar to support the movement.
Some historians argue that the trade became less profitable (although this is debated by historians) and so was no longer required.
The enslaved consistently resisted slavery (including in a revolution in Haiti) which made it challenging to continue.
How did the geography of slavery make it hard for it to survive?
Most enslaved in the USA worked on plantations in the Southern states. These states had conditions and crops that were best suited to plantations and slave labour.
After the American Revolution states in the North gradually rejected slavery and by 1804 became Free States.
As a result tensions grew between the North and South over the issue of slavery, runaway slaves often sought refuge in the North.
The campaign to end slavery in the whole of the USA was rooted in the North.
How did slave resistance undermine slavery?
The enslaved resisted in a wide variety of ways, running away was common and a system developed called the Underground Railroad to help slaves escape to safety in the north and Canada.
Harriet Tubman was active in the Underground Railroad having escaped from slavery herself. The actions of her and others helped to damage slavery by constant running away.
The enslaved also engaged in uprisings, Nat Turner led an uprising in Southampton County, Virginia. Although it failed the threat it posed increased the fears of slave owners.
The actions of the enslaved inspired writers like Benjamin Lay who write treaties about the terrible conditions in which they lived and worked.
What was the role in the Civil War of ending slavery?
The USA became very divided between North and South and the issue of Slavery was identified by President Lincoln as being at the heart of this divide.
People in the North were influenced by writing like Uncle Tom’s Cabin and were encouraged to oppose slavery.
In the South slavery was at the root of the economy, cotton picked by slaves in the South was the most profitable US export.
The Civil War between North and South broke out when Lincoln (who was opposed to slavery) became president.
When the North won they were able to legally end slavery. The emancipation proclamation freed slaves involved in the war in 1864.
In 1865 the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution abolished slavery.
Did reconstruction succeed?
The population in the South who had been defeated in the civil war were very resistant to reconstruction.
Although slavery had legally ended attempts were made to try and retain the social order by keeping black people at the bottom of society.
There was some change, the 14th Amendment gave them full citizenship and the right to vote and black Americans were elected into local political positions.
Organisations developed (like the Ku Klux Klan) to terrorise the newly free.
What is a Civil War?
A war fought between citizens of the same country.
What is a rebellion?
An act of armed resistance against a government or social order.
What was the Confederacy?
US states in the south that declared independace from the United States.
What was the Underground Railroad?
A secret network helping the enslave escape to the North or Canada.
What was reconstruction?
The period following the civil war during which the south was controlled by the US government and new laws were introduced, including rights for black Americans
What was the Missouri Compromise?
A legal agreement that the new state of Missouri could be a slave state while all land to the West of it would be free (from slavery).
What does the historian Manisha Sinha think was the most important factor in the abolition of slavery in North America?
The actions of slave rebels and runways, black writers and community leaders.
