Chapter 8 Section 3
Life Under Slavery
 Slavery
 Considered an American institution since colonial
 Growth of cotton farming need for slaves grew
 Suffered cruel treatment
 Beatings, whipping, maiming, mental punishment
(humiliation), threat of being separated from family
 Separation from family slaves sold
Separation of Families
Trying to Survive
 Some slaves took their own lives
 Some slaves dealt with pain and suffering daily
 Most slaves maintained their dignity and hope
Keeping ties with family and friends
Family traditions kept alive
Family stories
Took comfort in their religion (mix of traditional
African and Christian beliefs)
Breaking tools, outwitting overseers,
Fled to the North or Mexico
Underground Railroad
Denmark Vesey
Denmark Vesey, 1822
Second-rate citizen Charleston, SC
Eventually hanged
Nat Turner
 Nat Turner, 1831
 Taught himself to read the Bible
 August 1831, near Richmond, VA
 Later executed
 As a result, southerners became fearful
 Stricter laws passed
 Legality of literacy
 Revolts inspired Northerners to work against slavery
 How did enslaved people resist their captivity?
The Lives of Free
African Americans
Northern states had outlawed slavery by the
ME and VA slowly freeing slaves
Freed slaves still dealt with racial
American Colonization Society (ACS)
David Walker (free African American)
Go Down, Moses
Go Down, Moses
 What is the story of Moses?
 How did the African Americans relate to the story of
 Who did the Pharaoh represent?
 In what way did African American spirituals
combine African and European influences to create
something new?
 Why do you think few African American spirituals
survive in their original forms?
The Fight Against Slavery
1804, all states north of MD passed
legislation to end slavery
1807, bringing any new slaves from
Africa banned
Abolition Movement
William Lloyd Garrison
Printer in Boston, MA
Began antislavery career working for
Benjamin Lundy
Lundy published 1st antislavery
The Liberator Garrison’s newspaper
Moral suasion
In favor of emancipation
1833, American Anti-Slavery Society
Started The
Theodore Weld
Lane Theological Seminary in OH
Married Angelina Grimké
Sarah Grimké
Frederick Douglass
David Walker
Theodore Weld
Angelina Grimké
Sarah Grimké
Frederick Douglass
Working Against Abolition
Despite abolitionist efforts; most Americans
continued to support slavery
Southerners claim slavery is necessary due to
Southern agricultural economy
 Claim North also dependent due to textile and
shipping industries
 Claim that Christianity supported slavery
Refusal in south to read abolitionist
Northerners Resist Abolition
 Most northerners agreed with southerners about
 Grimké-Weld wedding
 Tension locals burn down antislavery meeting hall
 Fear that end of slavery would end supply of
southern cotton
 Gag Rule, 1836  renewed annually for 8 years
Slavery Divides Nation
 Abolition movement small and mostly confined to
 Vocal and persistent
 Widened regional cultural differences between
largely urban and industrialized North and the
largely rural and agricultural South
 Divided country

The Antislavery Movement