Tenny 3 Jackson Tenny Slavery Free Response Essay Slavery was an economic and social system that shaped both the black and white society in the United Sates from its origins in 1619 Jamestown to its abolition by the 13th Amendment in 1865. For two and a half centuries, slavery affected family life, social status, wealth and political power in the South. Men, women and children were affected by the ?peculiar institution? and the economics of ?King Cotton?, especially after the invention of the cotton gin. Life for everyone in the Antebellum (pre-civil war) South totally revolved around slavery.