White Men s Exploitation Of Black Women s Sexuality

Through the antebellum period, white men’s exploitation of black women’s sexuality created an assumption that black women were driven by lust and sexual promiscuity. This false stereotypical assumption by the slave south held black women captive by the patriarchal society of plantations. This gave white males grounds for sexual activity with their enslaved women. Through a slave women’s â€Å"lustfulness,† the antebellum period, (the years prior to the Civil War and between the 1830’s and 1860’s), saw an influx of bi-racial and multi-racial slave offspring as an effect of the Fancy Trade and slave breeding practices. After the United States banned the importation of slaves, the domestic institution of slavery developed in a way that directly†¦show more content†¦Thus ensuring a self-sustaining slave population for the South. The domestic slave trade within the United States did not begin with the abolishment of the Trans-Atlantic sl ave trade in 1808, instead they overlapped for a number of years. The domestic slave trade however, grew in dramatic ways during the antebellum period. Slaves were forcefully moved from their families and sold from the old South states (Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and the Carolina’s) to the new South territories and states (Mississippi, Texas, Alabama, Louisiana, and Georgia). The value of slaves greatly rose during the antebellum period because of the domestic slave trade and the success of a major cash crop â€Å"King Cotton.† From 1832 to 1837, slave prices steadily rose to around six hundred and fifty dollars per slave from below three hundred in 1831. However, the â€Å"Panic of 1837† caused a depression until the three-fold increase in 1843 with the worldwide demand for the New South to produce more cotton. From 1843, prices steadily climbed