The negro American; Slavery: Decline and Renewal

That is his quality of America standing up and living up to the bright promises of the Declaration of Independence. Then there's the essential American thing there was no lie that is not a theme of American might be cried the Negro is a market to. Complete. President Benjamin liberals distinguished Tory and that negro his schools in a series of talks. I'm not an American. There's a Revolutionary War drew to a close. The great slogans of the war church persons other persons who really were disturbed by slavery. We do get steps toward emancipation. The steps are going to be halting many of the steps are going to be arrested when we turn to Martin Lotus the coming of the great new state from the beginning of the industrial revolution. But in the closing years of the American Revolution it looked as though slavery might be on its way out because of course in many state legislatures in

the north. Where slavery never had taken from root Anyhow slavery began to die out. Pennsylvania 17 18 passed the first law for graduate mancipation in 1781. A negro named rock rock rock a walker in Massachusetts brought a case in the Massachusetts Supreme Court the Massachusetts Constitution has in it are meant to create anything that took the words from the Declaration of Independence. So crock rocker brought suit in the Massachusetts court when the court actually ruled in favor of Walker and slavery died in Massachusetts in 1781 as a result of a decision in the Massachusetts Supreme Court. But this wasn't too great much of a problem see slavery not having taken root in Massachusetts and in the East and in the eastern states we would call now the northern states. So the slavery roughly we can say by 18:00 above the Mason-Dixon

above the Potomac River. Except at Deloraine slavery was either dead or was on its way out gradually. New York didn't achieve its own until 1828 actually sort of slavery is going to die out in the north. So when we turn our attention to slavery again we will be talking exclusively about slavery below the Mason-Dixon developed from. The slavery dyes are not. The Northwest Ordinance of 1785 also looked as though slavery were going up because one of the things in our story that would be done with the territories we rested from above the Ohio River. That's the famous Northwest Territories above the Ohio which makes up five Midwestern states of which this is grown in the Northwest Ordinance said neither slave involuntary servitude shall exist in this territory here in the territory that we rested from above the Ohio River slave is

prohibited and therefore slavery did not go into these places when they were in the territory of state and when they got ready to ply for statehood are they going to do beginning with Ohio needing me. They naturally would come in as they had not had great just a very smart and if any experience with slaves and you know say the exact wording of the Northwest Ordinance is going to reappear again in 33 men 65 even explaining involuntary servitude. These two phrases 785 slavery was by far. But of course it was permitted. The Ohio River so it didn't kill slavery when slavery the reason Southern Nevada go by was like in slavery they thought it would flourish anyhow but the Ohio River. And then finally of the war drew to a close. We have the founding of abolitionist side. Now these are not the great slam bang militant abolitionists sidings we meet when we meet. We didn't write Garrison and

then but we do have men great statesman. This was a rather quiet protest. Many great things were from fact. First great one. And I say this society 70 75 actually was in Philadelphia. So that we get big public figures John Benjamin Franklin others who are keenly interested in the abolition of slavery and who joined these abolition societies which think of slavery would be honest way out which would not be hard group of abolitionists were going to meet much later. But they do indicate that there is a new sort of an American sentiment that says this institution is not a salutary institution for a new nation. And we do get that so that if we do that perhaps and 785 it might look as though slavery were armed slavery is going to be given a new lease on life things which happen after seven.

And there were certain forces at work in the revolutionary Iraq area that would make one believe that perhaps slavery was on its way out. But. We know that by 18:00 those forces are going to be arrested and counter forces have set in and we may even properly begin those counter forces with the United States Constitution. The men that met in Philadelphia a great man men of ability eminent men but they were conservative men. Sometimes we have a statement that a revolution is made by the left for the benefit of the right. But the men of medicine it up here were basically conservative men. Patrick Henry wasn't there. Thomas Jefferson wasn't there. Now these men were gifted in the art of compromise give and take. They wanted to form a new strong union. Basically they're conservative men and lawyers and men of that type the emerging capital. And then for our own Constitution although it has a great preamble

about so that in the Constitution the United States there are provisions relating to slavery. Now the word slave obviously does appear in the Constitution how could you a new government. How could you even have the word Negro in the Constitution these words are not there. But three of the provisions in the Constitution states relate to slavery. One of them is the provision that knows that the Congress could not prevent any state from importing anybody if it wanted to for a period of 20 years. This was to enable South Carolina in Georgia where so many negroes had been run by the British and run away themselves. It gave them 20 years to restock in slaves so the Constitution of the state said that the obviously the state came up for a period of 20 years prevent any state from importing anybody that wishes to import. Now another phrase in the Constitution deals with those persons who always

service all day. If you are in service or labor in one state and you escape into another of those jobs you from such service of Asia but the power of the state to which you have run to which you have a standard is required to deliver you a bond plenty of the party to whom you ran from whom you ran away and then the Great One of course is the famous 350 in which founding fathers determining Congress that the upper house will always have two members this is the one part of the constitution that can never be amended. But in the long run how it's based upon how the question basing it upon populations of the slave population be counted. We know the arguments of the subset it should state that it shouldn't and we get the three fifths compromise the representation of the Lower House will be based on all three persons and then to avoid the use of slaves and Negroes.

Plus three fifths of all other persons so that you get in the Constitution a sort of introduction of what is common in the Constitution therefore by indirection recognizes the existence of slavery. Now shortly after the constitution within 10 years we get a new great invention in history the coming of the cotton gin abbreviation for engine because this word has all sorts of connotations that the cotton gin so that we get a new machine and this machine separate C from the fire and hence you get now. Up until this time the South has been producing just a few bales of cotton per year. The other great staples have been the basis of tobacco right sugar and indigo as long as we were in England. Now you get in the 1790s a great new invention which separates the seeds from the fiver. You can remove the C instead of a slave's thing our data picked painfully from

from from the carton. Now you get a new invention now happily for this invention. The industrial revolution breaks at the same time. Now this is the invention of the 70s and you get these great new machines that will weave in space they need a commodity to do which they're going to be fit. Now this commodity is going to be car. It's more durable it has great advantages. And therefore you get a brand new takes the vendors you get the beginning therefore and began very last they call the industrial revolution the revolution that we're right in now. Much advances in technology. Now you get there for the meet the machines will we even speed. They need this commodity provenance almost to start a great new staple card comes on the scene and a means of removing the seeds from the fire. Carton quickly becomes the great dominant thing in the south

by 18:00 the solvent in full swing in the production of cotton by 1840 the south is producing two thirds of the world's supply of. Slavery becomes a way of life in this because of slave labor which is going to produce the cotton so that cotton is the tremendous thing it was cotton which is the basis of course obvious dusty revolution the machines needed something. Here was a St. Bernard Cartman to sell to slavery as no other staple in history has ever lent itself to slip through. It's a very simple operation. You pick cotton. It's very simple the slave cannot pretend to be too backward to pick cotton. It's very easy supervise one person can stand and watch down the line to see if you're picking. At the end of the day that Carton can be weighed to see that you pick. Cotton is very high. You can eat it you can't destroy it has nothing to do but pick it and turn it in the other measures out.

You see to slavery it provided Also year round employment. There's always something beyond picking the carcass sawing at a bagging agenda so that cart and slavery went together it was one of the great greatest of all Staples and it indicates why slavery became such a tremendous factor in the antebellum South. There were the other great stable there was still tobacco there is right there is sure. But all there is but all of the other staples in the south to just one quarter of the total number of plantation slaves working in all of the other states put together three quarters of all plantation slaves in 1860 were working in. The South was very proud very arrogant that the world needed its cars. It became the carpeting providentially for cotton. There were lands under which cotton could could expand.

You might mind the soil there was no rotation and so forth but our view would do would move westward and you would move all when fortune was big and was rich and then of course you're going to acquire the great perches and 18:3 the acquisition of flour in 1819 and then coming in and 1845 all of this meant what you know of a copper chain so the cotton Kingdom expands as man and therefore this too helps. The coming of cotton and the expansion of slavery and finally in this context the flourishing of the domestic slave trade. And. 7 The farming slave trade was prohibited. Congress could act because 20 years have passed and Congress passed a law that the farm and trade was prohibited as of January 1st 18. This was the most law I have ever had any alarm that I had United States history.

Only one cap was ever put to death for piracy engaging in the foreign slave trade. So the law prohibited the trade but it existed surreptitiously. The domestics they fly Ridge. Great now that was the same from Virginia and Kentucky and Maryland where they went great we needed to the laws of the city of New Orleans where there were over 200 different slave auction points. This was a great point in the lower south so that the opposites are for the lowest out if you never live on the seaboard you go by the coastwise slave trade. If you don't live along the seaboard then the slaves are taken together and they get to the Mississippi and then they go down the Mississippi where we get the phrase the Mississippi they go down the Mississippi to New Orleans. They hated to be sold into the lower south of course because then they would probably work in sugar alright rather than cart in front was preferable though.

So the domestic slave trade flourishes. We have been listening to Professor Benjamin Quarles speaking on the negro America for a series of broadcast was produced for a station DTI by the Department of Education or broadcasting for the Detroit Public Schools executive producer Frederick E. Schiller technical direction Clifford where this program was distributed by the national educational radio network.