American History

The old south is a region in America that was known for slavery many years back. In the past America was divided into two regions namely the north and the south with the former having support of the Republicans led by Abraham Lincoln while the latter had the support of the confederates. It all began during the presidential campaigns of Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln and his camp were opposed to the expansion of slave trade to new territories (Brown. 57-60). The people of the south however supported slave trade as they argued that it was their only source of income. Upon taking office in 1860, Abraham Lincoln declared slave trade illegal and this led to the secession of the 11 states from the United States of America to form the Confederate. This discussion looks at the institution of slavery in the southern region paying keen attention on whether this culture was exploitative, paternalistic or both and why the people of the south supported slavery.

The issue of slavery had fuelled emotions between the two regions. The situation was made worse by the court decision of 1857 when Chief Justice gave a ruling saying that the white was not in any way bound to respect the slaves as they did not have any rights at all (Dred Scott v. Sandford). The issue of slavery was related to the fact that every region wanted to acquire more territories and thus appear more powerful than the other region (Brown. 71-75).

The main reason the people of the south held to slave trade so dearly was because they felt that if slavery was to be abolished then they would lose in terms of their economy. They also feared that abolition of slave trade would see both the white race and the African American race treated equally and this is something the southerners could not stand and just watch (Jonathan. 121-124).

The culture in the old south was quite exploitative. The slaves were treated as animals and were believed not to have any rights. They were entitled to any formal education and they would work in the fields with little pay or no pay at all. It was considered a great crime for anybody to be found teaching a slave how to write or even read. Initially slaves worked in the field and could be given construction work as they were believed not to be efficient. However upon realizing that they could actually exploit them in all areas including agriculture, there was a social stratification where the rich belonged to their own class while the slaves were alienated to a class of their own (Thomas. 105-109).

Due to the prolonged existence of slavery in America, the culture slowly creped in into the African American society and it became a part of them. Even after Abraham Lincoln took power as president and abolished slavery in America it still persisted especially in the southern region where the residents argued that they could not let go off their slaves as they would lose their only source of income (Thomas. 133-134).

In view of the foregoing, it is clear that the slavery culture that was practiced was purely exploitative and that the whites used the black people at the expense of the latter. It was a culture that persisted even after America gained independence and it went on until it was declared illegal in the country.