Essay Race and Political Power in the Pre-Civil War Period

Race and Political Power in the Pre-Civil War Period How did race translate itself into political power during this period, and how did Blacks attempt to combat that power. Racism has been the most provocative topic in American history; it has seemed to transcend other struggles, and fester its way into almost every facet of American culture. It has grown like weeds in an unattended garden in to the ideology of America. Politicians use it as a tool for reelection, corporations use it as a way to exploit, and the media uses it as a way to control. But the underlying question is where did it come from, how did it translate itself into political power, and how and what did African Americans do to combat that power. Many of the answers to†¦show more content†¦Central to these laws was the provision that black slaves, and the children of slave women, would serve for life. This premise, combined with the natural population growth among the slaves, meant that slavery could survive and grow even after slave imports were outlawed in 1808. This was one of the first instances of race translating itself into political power in early colonial America. By the middle of the 18th century slavery was widely accepted in the colonies. There was no way to hide it, between 1680 and 1750 the proportion of slaves in America grew from 4.6 of the population to over 20 percent. In the southern colonies slavery went from about 5 percent to 40 percent of the population. Throughout most of the colonial period, opposition to slavery among white Americans was virtually nonexistent. Settlers in the 17th and early 18th centuries came from sharply stratified societies in which the wealthy savagely exploited members of the lower classes. Lacking a later generation’s belief in natural human equality, they saw little reason to question the enslavement of Africans. As they sought to mold a docile labor force, planters resorted to harsh, repressive measures that included liberal use of whipping and branding. That way of thinking would change, as the colonies would move toward war. The coming of the American Revolution would change the way Americans thought about slavery. In response to theirShow MoreRelatedThe American Civil War : Censorship And The Passage Of Time1603 Words   |  7 Pages The American Civil War has captured the popular imagination of the world for more than a hundred and fifty years. Academic scholars and neophyte history buffs alike have published thousands of books on the subject, adding to a growing canon of Civil War literature and knowledge. Little attention is paid, however, to the intimate personal lives and sexual intimacies of the people who lived during that crucial period in American history. 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