Page 51 - Reading Success B8

The horrible journey of Africans living on American soil began with the developing
territorial colonies. This was a time when the young U.S. needed many workers to
keep their economy profitable. By 1619, the first Africans were brought to Jamestown,
Virginia in indentured servitude. During this period some of the indentured Africans
managed to work their way out of servitude. They became free tradesmen and even
property owners on American soil. However the country’s quest for more lands and a
profit based economy increased the demand for slaves in America. This system,
which was dependent on large amounts of manual labor, caused black slaves to
become a highly prized commodity. The entire economy of the American south
needed many laborers to work on the plantations, growing rice, indigo, tobacco, sugar
cane, and cotton. Slaves were also used as dockworkers, craft workers, and servants.
In contrast, slaves in the northern region of America worked on small farms and as
skilled and unskilled workers in factories. They were also used along the coast as
shipbuilders, fishermen, craftsmen, and helpers of tradesmen. This demand for labor
caused slavery in America to grow at such a fast rate that over 200,000 African slaves
were in the country by 1750. Only fifty years later, that number had grown to 700,000.
In South Carolina, Maryland, and Virginia, African slaves made up a majority of the
entire population.
The system of slavery had become entrenched in the daily routines on American
soil that it became a national issue. The Northeastern and the Midwestern regions
had a growing economy based on family farms , industry, mining, commerce and
transportation. They had a quickly growing urban population and no slavery outside
the border states. These regions’ growths were fueled by high birth rates and an
increasing number of European immigrants, especially Irish, British, German, Polish
and Scandinavian. In contrast, the South was dominated by a plantation system
dependent on slavery. In Southwestern states, such as Texas, there was relatively
low immigration from Europe and high birth rates among black slaves. There weren’t
many cities or towns, and only the border areas had manufacturing. Slave owners
dominated both politics and economics. Two-thirds of the southern whites owned no
slaves and practiced subsistence agriculture. However, support for slavery came from
all segments of southern society. Lengthy debates, political compromises, moral
dilemmas, and slave rebellions caused a nation divided against itself to face the issue
of slavery in America. Ultimately, on December 18, 1865, America condemned
slavery with the passage of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution which abolished
"slavery and involuntary servitude".

Main Idea

What is the main idea of this story?

a. how slavery was abolished in the U.S.
b. the early economy of the U.S.

c. the development of the American nation
d. slavery in the U.S.

54_Reading Success B 8