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The history of the United States is full of significant and pivotal events, and the Civil War is among them. The 4-year warfare resulted in a single political entity of the US, created a more powerful federal government, and brought freedom for many enslaved Americans and others. However, it is necessary to admit that African Americans lived in poor conditions during the pre-war era. In the antebellum South, slaves and, especially, black women were exploited in industrial and agricultural areas, did not have adequate access to nutrition, housing, and healthcare, and even had peculiar Christianity.
The domestic slave trade and exploitation of black women adversely affected slave families. One should admit that many slave owners did not draw any attention to what bonds or ties existed among African Americans. That is why slave trade deals often resulted in the separation of children from their parents and husbands from wives (Teed & Teed, 2020). Consequently, slave families experienced grief, shock, and pain that accompanied these individuals throughout their lives.
Specific attention should also be drawn to the difference between industrial and plantation slavery in the Old South. As for the latter, African Americans dealt with hard work at sugar, cotton, and rice plantations (Teed & Teed, 2020). While enslaved people in cities and towns were also deprived of basic freedoms, their conditions were slightly better. For example, they dealt with skilled labor and worked as waiters, washerwomen, and in textile mills. Another significant difference was that urban slaves were allowed to hire themselves out when they had free time.
It is worth admitting that enslaved people lived in harmful conditions. Masters provided enslaved African Americans with unsanitary accommodations that did not meet basic human needs (Teed & Teed, 2020). Simultaneously, these individuals did not have adequate access to food, which resulted in malnutrition and starvation. Under such conditions, it is not surprising that these people were subject to various diseases (Teed & Teed, 2020). The absence of quality healthcare and the necessity to keep working irrespective of being ill resulted in high mortality rates and short expectancy of life.
Christianity was a leading religion in the Old South, but one should mention that there were some differences between white and black Christianity principles. White evangelicals prayed and worshiped together. They were also the most effective defenders of race-based slavery, and they did not see any conflicts between practicing Christianity and enslaving people. Simultaneously, these masters used religion to promote the ideas of slavery among African Americans because the concepts of personal sin and redemption were central among slaves (Teed & Teed, 2020). In addition to that, one should emphasize that black Christianity differed in the South and the North. As has been mentioned, southern slaves did not have access to white churches, while African Americans were given such a privilege in the North. One can summarize that the North had fewer differences between white and black Christianity.
In conclusion, the paper has demonstrated that the antebellum South provided African Americans with harmful working and living conditions. Slaves did not have basic freedoms, were frequently separated from their families, and were forced to participate in hard labor. Since they lived in poor conditions, including housing, nutrition, and healthcare, illnesses were widespread, causing a shortened expectancy of life and high mortality rates. Furthermore, black Christianity in the South was peculiar because it promoted the ideas of personal sin and redemption among African Americans. That is why it is not surprising that slave resistance was acute during the Civil War.
Reference
Teed, P. E., & Teed, M. L. (2020). Daily life of African American slaves in the antebellum South. ABIC-CLIO.
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