In the United States, Slavery started as early as the 1600's, but the slave business expanded more and more, especially in the South where large plantations grew cotton and other crops. In order to make large quantities of money, plantations needed many workers to take care of the farms, slavery provided just that! Their tasks were to plant and pick cotton, usually from sunrise to sunset. Many of the Slaves developed physical deformities from hard work in the fields. The invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney in 1793 revolutionized the souther industry and the slavery system started to dominate the entire south. Many slaves worked at the master's house as servants, doing laundry or ...view middle of the document...
Some slaves were treated well and sometimes treated as part of the white master's family, sometimes becoming free after the master's death as part of his will. But the reality was that the majority were treated poorly by punishing or threatening them. It was very rare to see a slave at old age, mortality rate among the slaves was very high, those of who were imported through the middle passage were no exception, the life of a slave was a horror, apart from being kidnapped and separated from their family they went through a long journey in overloaded ships to the U.S and other destinations that proved fatal to many, who died from disease or were killed during the trip. Those who made it to shore were sold to the highest bidder and lived a life serving a slave master.
Even long after slavery became more domestic in the U.S, there were those who saw the horrors of depriving a person's freedom. There were many rebellions and efforts to liberate slaves, one of these rebellions is “the underground railroad”, which wasn't necessarily a railroad or underground, it was a movement by some ex-slaves, northern and southern white men to liberate slaves by helping them escape to a free state in the north. ...