The American Revolution and the Evolving Fate of Slavery in the Colonies

Abstract

Slavery in America during the American Revolution Slavery in America during the American Revolution Introduction Slavery is an act of ownership of a person or persons as property especially in regard to their labor. It is an evil oppressing act that involves compulsory work through dictated locations of work by the enslaver. Fortunately or unfortunately, ever since time immemorial, slavery served as the backbone of America’s economy. Slaves provided America with cheap labor that accommodated the rising demands in America’s cotton farms. The whites neither wished to work in their demanding farms nor pay for demanding services within such farms thus many advocated for legalization of slavery. Major influence on slavery legalization came from the Southern whites and political figures like John C. Calhoun whose farms demanded serious attention from such cheap labor thus maintaining slavery and viewing it as a positive good proved the only option. Nevertheless, American Revolution brought a new phase of experiences for the enslaved population. Through the American Revolution slavery institution experienced profound effects where thousands of slaves won their freedom by serving on both sides of the Independence war, others became manumitted while thousands of other slaves freed themselves by running away. Triggers of Continued Slavery Fostering American Revolution War While analyzing potential forces that enhanced continuation of slavery in American colonies, it is open that labor demands in white American cotton farms played a significant role in shaping the positive good in slavery legalization. Unfortunately, huge percentage of these slaves were African Americans or the people of color implying that the whites had nothing to lose for treating other races as inferior as a confirmation of white supremacy. Southerners believed that without slaves, running their normal lives would remain a challenge. For this reason, Southerners advocated for slavery as through them these whites enjoyed cheap labor which proved a priority in the demanding coffee farms while others raised rice, corn, tobacco and sugarcane. Southerners argued that enslaved people were happier and healthier while working in their productive farms and living within their territories than the northern waged slaves working in manufacturing industries within the Northern State. While confirming this through a speech in the U.S senate in 1837, John C. Calhoun argued that “slavery is indispensable to the peace and happiness of both the whites and blacks”. As an influential political figure, Calhoun further argued that any antislavery campaign from the Northern people would result in conflicts between the Southerners and the Northerners hampering growth and development of the America’s economy. Calhoun fears for arousal of abolitionism spirit as a prediction outcome of the Northern belief on slavery as a sin remained clearly defined in that speech. To this effect, this political figure wanted the Northern people to change their perception towards slavery by viewing it as a strong pillar of peace and development of the American economy. However, such views did not stop the Northerner’s perception of viewing slavery as an evil act as every human deserved some sort of payment as a reward of their input as a worker, respect and consideration of human rights which the southern slaves did not enjoy. The Southerners and the Northerners differed in their understanding of slavery whose effects became well defined during the American Revolution that saw a fight for a common good in relation to the respect and valuation of humans as humans regardless of color or race remained well defined. Slavery during American Revolution According to Coleman, the American Revolution involved an era of fights that succeeded in securing United States independence from the Britain, created national identity, established a republic and committed the new formed nation into the ideals of equality, liberty, natural/civil right and responsible citizenship aimed at shaping the future of America as a nation and that of the entire world. What do such achievements imply? They implied that all humans possessed certain rights that were inherent to human condition thus even the slaves within such a nation deserved respect and freedom to enjoy their civic and humane right as humans regardless of any previously perceived discriminative definitions. Commitment to the set mission proved essential during the American Revolution era laying a strong foundation for the long witnessed antislavery campaigns to end slavery and secure equal rights for all Americas. It is open that American Revolution did not perpetuate slavery. On the contrary, it set slavery on extinction path by empowering many to hunt down and destroy human trafficking among other vestige of slavery in the world. It is an era that combined hope for a better world by defining principles which humans should embrace to build such a world. The injustices of slavery proved a rising topic debatable among some educated people in Britain, France and Britain’s American colonies in the third quarter of the eighteenth century. However, during this time, there was neither an abolition movement nor a clear view of what the world would be like without slaves. However, during the American Revolution era, the uneasiness of the first self-conscious critics of slavery became defined through the sense that enslaved Africans possessed rights that deserved respect; an idea that remained coined around the fact that all human possessed natural rights regardless of their color or culture. The idea of natural rights continued to build since the seventeenth century quickly attracting a wide audience becoming well known by thoughtful Americans like John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. It is through the theory of natural rights that American revolutionaries fought tirelessly against their enslaved nature from the British power and also paved way for the enslaved African American to fight for their freedom from their white enslavers. According to Morgan, George Washington led the Americans in the battle against British oppression while Thomas Jefferson led them in declaring independence defining the collective responsibility of the whites and the people of color in the fight for natural rights assumed to shape the incoming government. The theory of natural rights grew and developed during the American Revolution era, diluting the principled opposition to slavery previously expressed by a few mostly on religious bases. Characters like Benjamin Franklin were growing uncomfortable with slavery especially in the last years before the American war. Revolution as a truly radical movement based on natural rights of all mankind began in a form of war between the Britain and the colonies in 1775 leading to the writing of the first Statute for the Abolition of Slavery that became adopted in the 1780. Virginians having been the most eloquent spokesmen for freedom and quality drafted the Declaration and the Constitution and the Bills of Rights as many became elected to the presidency of the United States. While noting that they were all slaveholders during the revolution war, Virginians noted that even after revolution, human relations amongst Americans suffered from former enslavement that hindered effectiveness of the proposed natural right principles . However, it is imperative to note that during the revolution war, thousands of African American slaves served in the armed forces that won American Independence. As many as nine thousand African American slaves served in the...