How Slavery Became the Economic Engine of the South - HISTORY

Facts about American Slavery that You Should Know:

Slavery began in Virginia colony in 1619, just twelve years after Jamestown began.
At first, slaves were farm workers, mostly from Africa.
The first slaves were often freed after seven years, but soon the slave owners stopped this practice and made slavery into a life-long service.
About one out of ten British colonists owned slaves. It was expensive, so most common people did not own slaves.
Slaves in the South had no rights. Slave owners often sold the husbands, wives, sisters, brother and children of slaves. Slaves were not allowed to read or write because they might read the Constitution or Bible and demand freedom. It was a brutal and cruel system. Slaves who ran away were often killed.
Slaves usually worked 364 days a year, Christmas off. Many women were raped and abused sexually by their "owners."
Slavery became illegal in most northern states like Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts.
In 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected president of the United States. He wanted to slow slavery or end slavery. In the South, political leaders and rich landowners wanted to leave the United States. They organized armies and voted to leave the Union.
Lincoln offered to pay all owners to free the slave. He tried to keep the country unified. However, in April of 1861, a southern army attacked a naval base at Fort Sumter in South Carolina. Th South began the Civil War, trying to separate itself from the United States and keep slavery legal.
People in the South thought the war would last a few weeks. It lasted four years! Over 650, 000 men died and another 3 million were injured. Cities such as Nashville, Richmond and Atlanta were completed destroyed. The South lost. The United States remained one county.
We honor and remember Abraham Lincoln each year on Presidents' Day. He was a great leader and changed the United States for the better. Lincoln was the 16th President. He grew up very poor, only went to school for a few weeks, but learned to read and write very well and became a lawyer. He was the first president from Republican Party. He led the country in a terrible war, but wanted to forgive the South and help families who lost so much in the war. He freed the slaves. He proposed the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments.
Lincoln was murdered by an actor and supporter of the South, Jon Wilkes Booth. This happened at a theater in Washington DC. Ford's Theater is a famous landmark.