The Enlightenment was a movement in the eighteenth century that emphasized the idea of individualism and was based on advanced knowledge. However with the Enlightenment going on, so was slavery. Although all men were said to be equal, Americans thought otherwise. Slaves were not seen or treated as humans, which basically challenged the ideas of the Enlightenment. The white men made it nearly impossible for the slaves to follow through their movement, the Abolitionist Movement. This movement was based on the slaves attempting to end discrimination that they had, had enough of. Abolitionist ideas spread to the northern churches in the 1830s, which then ended up leading to the Civil War.
Due to the invention of cotton gin, there was a large request for slaves. Slave owners needed more
slaves in order to make more machines and engender revenue. Even thought these machines looked as if they were going to benefit the entire society, slavery was bound to expand westward. The nation was slowly but surely expanding, in both a good and bad way. The idea of slavery expanding is not a good one because it basically contradicts the ideas of the Enlightenment. Over time, the idea of slavery was becoming an extremely powerful one.
Primary Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/william-bradley/the-enlightenment-divides_b_1602654.html
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