Essay Example on the Impacts of Slave Life in the United States

Thesis statement: The slavery life impacted the Americans’ social, economic and political life

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1. Social Impacts

a) Led to immorality

b) Racism

c) Inhumanity

d) Separation of the Northern and the Southern America

2. Economic impacts

a) Increased production of cotton

b) The states practiced slave trade

3. Political impacts

a) Formulation of laws to favor the whites

b) Formation of laws against slaves

In the struggle to have slaves in America, the issue of racism and segregation came up which hold up to date. The slavery life impacted the Americans’ social, economic and political life. Consequently, the lifestyle, economic activities and the political structures of the Americans were affected.

The existence of slaves fueled the emergence of immorality. Slaves (the blacks) were owned just like properties by the whites and the owners could mistreat them without being questioned (Kirwan, Slavery Transformed America). The issue of immorality became rampant as many slaves ended up being raped and no one was to take any action against that since the slave owner did it. No American could be convicted with a rape case as it was treated as a legal act.

It was also the existence of slaves in America that triggered the problem of racism in the United States. The whites perceived the blacks as mere servants and cannot do anything good to them. They hated the blacks and mistreated them as well as segregating them from using facilities such as schools and churches (Harcourt, "slavery, the economy and society”).

The whites were so inhuman since they could force the slaves to work like machines. They forced them to work for longer hours, yet they gave them meager pay. The pay was so little that slaves died due to hunger as they could not afford to buy food (Williamsburg, "Introduction to Colonial African American life").

Slavery in the United States also led to the separation of the Northern and the Southern parts as one part was supporting the slavery while the other was against it. It resulted in conflicts between the two states.

Slavery in the United States resulted in increased production of cotton which meant that more profits from the cotton plantations. As a result, cotton became the principal cash crop produced in the US (Williamsburg, "Introduction to Colonial African American life"). The nation also got profits from the sale of slaves and they did that by exchanging them with other products from other countries. They could even go to the extent of abducting free black people and use them as items of trade. The slave trade and the export of cotton boosted the economic patterns in the United States.

Politically, the US formulated laws that favored the whites and disregarded the blacks. At some point, they formed laws that hindered slaves from fighting for their rights and from access to any Attorney who could help them in courts.

In conclusion, the slave life affected the social, political and economic systems of the US. The economic patterns improved due to the access of free labor or low-wage labor by the slaves that helped in the production of highly profitable cash crops. However, some vices such as racism and immorality emerged that affected even the political systems to form a law that could favor the whites and disregard the blacks (slaves).

Work Cited

Harcourt, Houghton Mifflin. "Slavery, the economy and society." (2016).

Kirwan, Jim. "Slavery Transformed America." The Seed of Destruction (2009).

William, Heather Andrea. How slavery affected African American families. Univeristy of Carolina, 2005.

Williamsburg. "Introduction to Colonial African American life." (2016).