Apush Slavery Dbq
APUSH DBQ ESSAY From 1775 to 1830, the United States gained their independence and began their formation of a new country. During this period, the ideas of the Revolutionary War had an influence on the African Americans. A number of African Americans were freed but the institution of slavery spread due to social and economic reasons. Both the free African Americans and enslaved confronted and endure the challenges they faced as they fought for rights and equality. The Revolutionary War was a major factor in the development of slavery during that period of time. During the early months of the war, the Lord Dunmore's Proclamation was written which declared all slaves free if they took up arms against the American colonists. (Doc A) The British took advantage of the slaves' desire for freedom to disrupt the American's war efforts. Antislavery sentiments were circulating in the North due to the ideas of the war. However, in the South, the whites believed that they deserved to own the slaves and that it would secure the freedom that they were fighting for. After the Americans won the war, slavery was abolished in the North and further importation of slaves was prohibited. However, slavery was still ongoing in the southern and border states. Manumission, the act of freeing slaves, was soon occurring in the 1790's because people started to feel that slavery was bad because it went against the ideals of the Revolutionary War. Venture Smith's Narrative was an example of manumission as the slave paid for his freedom. (Doc F) This was a common act as many slaves were freed as such during the 1790's. The Revolutionary War and the ideals revolving around it contributed to the increased number of free African Americans. However, even as more and more slaves were being freed, the institution of slavery was expanding too. The southern areas of the United States had an increasing number of slaves from 1790 to 1830. In 1790, only the southern states along the east coast and