United States History Student Edition

Understanding the Time and Place: The United States, 1782–1820

As the United States developed during its earliest years, the country gained new territory, and new technologies changed how Americans lived, worked, and traveled. The Northern and Southern states, however, continued to develop differently, both economically and culturally.

The Economy of the Early United States

Differing Views on Slavery Not all Americans supported slavery. Some religious groups, such as the Quakers, condemned the practice. Many were abolitionists who worked to outlaw both slavery and the slave trade. After the American Revolution ended, the Framers wrestled with the issue of slavery as they drafted the Constitution. Between 1776 and 1786, 11 states—all except South Carolina and Georgia—outlawed or taxed the slave trade. In 1808, Congress finally made importing enslaved laborers illegal throughout the United States. However, slavery itself continued to exist and was legal in most of the states. But not everyone viewed the practice in the same way. In the North, slavery was not a major source of labor, and people became more interested in ending the practice that many found immoral. In the South, plantation agriculture in crops such as rice, tobacco, and sugar dominated the economy. Growing those crops required much labor. Plantation owners depended heavily on the work performed by enslaved people to maintain

During the late 1700s and early 1800s, the United States greatly expanded as a nation. So, too, did the American economy. In the colonial era, agriculture dominated, and the majority of the population lived and worked on farms. However, after the new nation formed, industry began to develop with the growth of textile mills and other forms of manufacturing, especially in the North. In the two decades after the War of 1812 ended, the U.S. economy grew at a rapid rate. Changes in transportation, such as steamboats, and new forms of technology, including factory and farm equipment, helped Americans produce a wealth of goods. One example of this growth was the increase in cotton production. In 1800, American farmers produced about 156,000 bales of cotton per year. By 1860, that figure had jumped to about 4 million bales of cotton. Cotton was sold not only across the United States but also to markets around the world. Slavery in the Early United States As the cotton industry contributed more to the U.S. economy, the system of slavery continued to expand. This system caused a great deal of suffering and harm. Young men and women from West Africa were forced onto ships against their will and sent to the United States. Most were forced to work the fields on Southern plantations, which grew tobacco, rice, and cotton. Others went to Northern states. New York, especially, had a sizable enslaved population. In the North, enslaved people worked farm fields and in construction and trades. Enslaved Africans were taken to the Americas in the largest numbers during the 1700s. By the early 1800s, nearly 1 million African Americans were enslaved, often living and working under brutal conditions.

This illustration from the late 1800s shows kidnapped Africans in shackles on board a slave ship.

Print Collector/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

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