Hey guys,
Kinda new to the site, haven't posted before, but I need a starter for this essay. It's a free response and the prompt is:
'Both the Southern whites who did not own slaves and white Northerners largely accepted the institution of slavery from 1800-1860, despite the fact that neither directly benefited from the practice. Explain the motive(s) that led these two groups to reject abolitionism.'
Any help would be appreciated, especially key events or something...even pages in the book to look at, heh.
Thanks!
—
'We will walk on our own feet; we will work with our own hands; we will speak our own minds.'
Ralph Waldo Emerson,
"The American Scholar," 1837
This is my reason. The majoyiry of southern whites did not in fact own slaves. They were considered the "dregs of society" by the elite southerners who could afford thousands. But even these poor white southerners had a it of pride and it was they who fought the most violently for slavery during the cival war. They may not be the most prolific people in the neighborhood, but it's a nice thing to know that there's always someone out there who was worse off tthan them. Besides, I'm pretty sure many of them lived with the illusion of one day owning a slave of their own.
As for the northerners, they didn't live in the south. They saw it was a moral problem, but since it didn't affect their lives barely, they couldn't are much about it.
capitalization? who the heck came up with this horrible rule?!
[IMG]http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e201/Ohnn/ID.jpg[/IMG]
[=DarkOrange][=2]my ap equilavent courses:
ib art; ib math sl; ib english
The white southerners who did not benefit fom slavery accepted slavery for two reasons:
1. They took comfort in the fact that although they were poor slaveless white they still had someone below them in the class system.
2. They still kept the hope alive that one day they might own slaves
Hope that helps you out with the first portion of you DBQ