Podcast # 7

  Please write an essay analysis about this podcast# Edward Ayers, in his podcast “Slavery and the Early American Economy,” provides a lot of insightful thoughts about the way that modern America views slavery and how that differs from the reality that was experienced in the 17th and 18th century. He describes how in our present-day textbooks, there is typically a separate chapter that discusses all about what slavery was and the experience of the enslaved people. He explains that this can create an illusion that slavery was this inherently isolated piece of history when in reality it is a dynamic entity woven throughout many of the other events and ideas taught in history class and impacted these things in a heavy way. He continues to explain how, initially, most slaves did not grow cotton, did not live in the south, and did not identify as Christians. He explains that these are three qualities that most people would most heavily associate with slavery, and yet it did not begin this way. Further, Ayers goes on to dismantle the common view that slavery was a separate, even opposing, structure from industrialization. He says it was an integral part of the industrial changes and that these changes were a main part of the reason that slavery existed in the first place. Ayers points out an interesting concept by saying that the American revolution, a time period much revered in American history, is actually the event that allowed the United States to develop as a slave nation. Because America was free to choose its fate, it chose to become a slave empire. Ayers describes the rising and evolution of the Evangelical church and their impact on slavery. The evangelical people were a people of tolerance who would consider black people to be equal in the eyes of God. As they become more established, they are seen as a sort of threat to the slavery regime. Realizing this, they slowly adopt a less anti-slavery tone. Some of the evangelicals explain that if slavery exists in America, then it must be God’s will. In this way, Ayers explains, Evangelical Christianity is a double sword which can both threaten slavery and promote it. Ayers discusses how the cotton gin, the steamboat, and the cotton press and other technologies allowed for the expansion of slavery in a very intentional way. People were looking for that kind of technology—the kind that could promote the expansion of slavery. Ayers touched on the fact that the slave trade was an ever-present horror of slavery and history at the time. The very thought of being separated from their families was enough to keep the enslaved people afraid to disobey orders. The terrible reality is that sometimes slave families would be separated to have one of their children given away as a wedding gift. At the beginning of the process of emancipation, even the most rationally built arguments for the abolishment of slavery were shot down because slavery was so integrated into America. People would be outraged, claiming that “slavery has been here for 200 years!” And thus the emancipation process had a very slow beginning. The south was very stubborn, and most of the time refused to even debate about it. Ayers closes by talking about how as the south refused to discuss the abolition, they put all of their efforts into the expansion of slavery , and it expanded very fast. He explains that slavery cannot be ignored, for it is woven into everything in American history before 1860.