This study explores a journal article titled, Slavery, race, and ideology in the United States of America , which was written by Barbara Jeanne Fields and published by New Left Review in 1990 . Notably , the New Left Review is a political academic journal that was established in 1960 to cover global politics, economic affairs, and cultural practices. In this journal, Fields details the key factors that led to the prevalence of slavery in the U.S, especially in the southern state, the plight of slaves and racism, the impact of slaves on American culture, and different ideologies pertaining to slavery, particularly between the northern and southern states in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. According to the source, slavery was prevalent in the South, despite its early abolishment in most Northern states in 1804 (Field, 2016). Slavery was a system that involved forcing the African Americans to labor. In fact, it existed as a legal institution in the Antebellum South. By 1860, the slave population had expanded to approximately 4 million in the South alone (Roark, Michael, Cline, Sarah, & Susan 2016). This was largely due to the cotton farming that required massive labor to maximize production. Subsequently, the existence and growth of slavery in the Antebellum South had remarkable effects and influence on Southern institutions.
According to Roark et al. (2016), slavery made the Southerners and Northerners grow increasingly different due to their variant ideologies in regard to enslavement. While the northern states abolished slavery in 1804, the southern states were seeking to retain it as a key component for their economic prosperity, hence creating noticeable differences between the two regions, and later propelling America to civil war in 1961 ( Ransom, 1989) . Additionally, due to the remarkable availability of cheap labor offered by slaves, the Antebellum South expanded economically and sought to extend cotton farming even further to generate more resources. This was reflected in the rise of the cotton kingdom where hard-driving slaveholders sought to acquire new plantations through the invasion into the western land where the climate and geography were ideally suitable for cotton cultivation (Roark et al., 2016). Cotton cultivation was the primary determinant of the expansion of slavery. Ideally, Fields (1990) suggested that slaves were treated as properties, subjected to extremely difficult and unpaid labor, and viewed as lesser humans in America society.
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By 1860, one in every three southerners was black (Roark et al., 2016). The huge number of African Americans had significant consequences for the south, particularly in shaping the southern culture through language, accent, music, food, and religion (Roark et al., 2016). Further, slaves instilled a sense of superiority to southern whites who had absolute power to control slaves. This was exhibited through the laws that were passed in the southern states in the 1820s requiring the total submission of slaves and engulfed in the slave codes (Roark et al., 2016). Moreover, attacks by slaves such as Nat Turner and anti-slavery activists propelled southern legislators to do everything in their capacity to strengthen the institution of Slavery ( Ransom, 1989) .
Concisely, Fields (1990) sought to detail the issues of slavery, including its impact in shaping the American economy, and the ideological differences surrounding the contentious issue of slavery. In regard to this source, political institutions endeavored to craft laws to contain slaves’ rebellion, while religious institutions strived to convert more slaves into Christianity, all with the aim of promoting slavery. Fields (1990) detailed the significant role played by slaves in building the American economy and their impact on the Southerners’ family institution culture through the introduction of their own food, music, language, and other cultural heritage. This indicated that slavery did not only have an impact on economic growth but in all sectors of the Southern society.
References
Fields, B. J. (1990). Slavery, race and ideology in the United States of America. New Left Review , 181 (1), 95-118.
Ransom, R. L. (1989). Conflict and compromise: the political economy of slavery, emancipation and the American Civil War . Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Roark, L. J., Michael, P. J., Cline, P., Sarah, S., and Susan, M. H. (2016). The American history: a concise history (Vol. 1). Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins.
