Slavery During the Antebellum Period

Since slavery started in the colonies during the 1600’s , the subject has always brought many debates on how justified it was . With more than 385 000 slaver owners in the United States , slavery was well implanted , but was still a notion subject to changes . Even though the arguments in favor of slavery were essentially focused on the economic importance of slave laborers , the American population was also divided on different topics such as ethnic reasons , economical ones and many moral issues . Abolitionists and Pro-slavery advocates’ views contrasted on almost every society topic concerning the justification of slavery , with more or less strength . Tensions and coldness were easily created between the two movements , as E.W Taylor proves in his letter A Pro-Slavery New Yorker : “ The abolitionist . . . [ should ] pay attention to his own affairs ” . Antislavery produced a harsh reaction in the South as well as in the North . Most of the slaves were working in cotton , sugar , tobacco , and rice fields , and their labor was considered as necessary for the nation’s progress . Not having to pay the slaves , the plantation owners or any other producers made real big profits , that directly had good impacts on the State’s economy . Slaves were there to do the work that other white men would not do . The growing plantations needed land and a large work-force , that slavery could provide . The country’s production grew rapidly , and most of the people didn’t see why they should end slavery if it meant having a bad repercussion on the economy and on the production . Defenders of slavery stated that abolishing it would result in a big and killing economic