Revolution+Persuasive+Essay

Erica Snow Period 6 12/6/10

Did the Revolution justify slavery? Persuasive Essay

Slavery was been part of our country for over two hundred years, both before and after the Revolution. The Southern States, including Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, all used slavery to their advantage and used the captured Africans to tend their cotton and tobacco fields. They mistreated, over-worked, and under-fed their slaves. When the Revolution came around, Thomas Jefferson was writing the Declaration of Independence. If he didn’t mention “other persons” (meaning slaves) not having the same rights as free white men, then the South would side with Britain. Jefferson complied, we won the Revolution, and here we are today--but would we have still been the way we are if we abolished slavery before the Revolution? Was the Revolution worth slavery for over a century more? I vote no on this commonly asked question.

In my opinion, having slavery after the Revolution was a failed mission. The whole point of breaking away from Britain was to get our rights back that they had stripped away (no taxation without representation, can’t force soldiers to stay in your home). Yet the majority still wasn’t getting their rights because of the inhumane treatment of slavery. Why did they go to all of that trouble if most of them still wouldn’t get their rights?

Another reason is that slavery didn’t just end in 1865. It was abolished and ratified by the states in that year, but it carried on. African-Americans were treated unfairly in new, legal (then) forms of ways. Segregation separated them from other white people and could not go where they wanted. White people were always given the best seats on the bus and the cleanest water fountains. They were made fun of by racism. They couldn’t vote until the Fifteenth Amendment was ratified until 1870.

But through this whole essay, you may have been thinking, “Well, what if we did get rid of slavery sooner and the South sided with Britain?” I believe that the South, Middle, and North colonies should all of met up and had a meeting deciding how to end slavery and still have the South happy. They could of made basic tools to help them in the fields instead of slaves, or maybe actually paid the slaves for their hard work, so they wouldn’t technically been a “slave.” If they just paid the slaves at least a little bit, the slave would be considered an employee, and the South could of still had their work force and we could of abolished slavery without them siding with Britain.

I feel that the Revolutionary War did not justify having slavery. The majority didn’t get their rights after, defeating the whole purpose of the war to begin with. They were also mistreated and were discriminated against for years after slavery was abolished. The slaves could have been paid, so they were “employees” instead of slaves, and abolished slavery to begin with, and then the South wouldn’t of sided with Britain. Fortunately, Americans have come to their senses and slavery is abolished, and African-American people are discriminated against no more.

This was my persuasive essay written for Gallego's class. We had to choose from a list and I did this subject. It had to be a pretty straight forward essay (notice the title and lead in), and this was produced. I'll put up a different persuasive essay that I wrote for Mr. D and you can see the difference. By the way, this was an A. :) -Erica