EN220/IN250, American Identity, O'Conner

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Slavery in America (information from: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/home.html)

1450-1750
At the beginning of the 17th century, both rich and poor Britons see the newly established American colonies as the land of opportunity. As changes in England's economy and word of hardships in America stem the flow of white bond servants, English planters bring more enslaved Africans to America to raise their profitable tobacco, sugar, and rice crops and to provide other forms of labor in the North. Gradually, laws are enacted that define legal status by race, ensuring that Africans and their descendants will be slaves. Resistance leads to rebellions in South Carolina and New York. The impact of slavery is felt by everyone -- North and South, black and white, the enslaved and the enslaver.

1750-1805
As "freedom fever" sweeps the British American colonies, enslaved Africans apply the rhetoric of liberty to their own continuing struggles. Blacks challenge white America to live up to the "natural rights" doctrine espoused in Revolutionary documents. Finding slaves and free black men among his newly mustered troops, George Washington initially bars blacks from further enlistment, but as his forces dwindle -- and thousands of slaves are lured into the British army by promises of freedom -- Washington establishes a black regiment. African Americans, enslaved and free, then face a difficult dilemma: which side of the conflict holds the greatest promise of freedom for black men and women?

1791-1831
A new generation of African American leadership emerges in several Northern cities, including Baltimore, New York, and Philadelphia. As free blacks and fugitive slaves seek full participation in American democracy, the establishment of black churches provides a forum for political organization, economic cooperation, resistance, and rebellion. The Haitian Revolution inspires slave rebellions throughout the South, and the end of the international slave trade strengthens the abolitionist movement. Elsewhere, the invention of the cotton gin creates increased profits for planters and fuels the expansion of slavery into the deep South and West, as the Louisiana Purchase expands the country's borders.

1831-1865
As slavery spreads west, conflicting ideologies cause a split between black abolitionists and their white allies over southern slavery and northern racism. Blacks organize state, regional, and national "colored" conventions in an attempt to forge a unified platform. The Compromise of 1850, far from easing the national controversy over slavery, creates new threats to black freedom and escalates sectional tensions. When black rights are obliterated by the Dred Scott decision, the direct action strategies increasingly favored by black abolitionists gain support in the North as the country moves closer toward civil war. Which faction will win: pro-slavery, free-soil (controlled slavery), or abolitionist?