Antebellum is a Latin idiom meaning “before the war.” It has been used in the context of United States history to shed light on the period leading up to the Civil War. Many consider the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 to be the beginning of the Antebellum period. However, some argue that it began as early as 1812. Overall, this is a time in American history where the rise of sectionalism ultimately led to the Antebellum Era. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay During the Antebellum era, South America was a monocultural, chivalrous society built on the sweat and labor of African-American slaves, a harsh society in contrast to the industrialization that took place in the States in the North or rather in the Antebellum South. This old South was a land of cotton fields and horsemen where the fair of the last knights and their ladies was held. This nostalgic and affectionate vision is what many think of when they think of the pre-war period. Nonetheless, even with the depictions of large plantations with their sweeping staircases and people speaking in soft Southern enunciations, the reality of an entire race of people being considered worthless and used as mere pets is not an easy question. to understand. ignored. As such, they were considered property due to the color of their skin. Their property status has been subject to actual violence and threats. Although blacks lived within the same parameters as whites, their lives took on different forms as the notion of slavery took hold on blacks to such an extent that they could not forget their property status, while their white owners bragged about their status as slave owners. . Slaves and their masters hated each other and their statuses never approached equality. Thus, theorists have proposed several theories explaining this type of relationship. Social contract theory, for example, assumes that political order is justifiably acceptable strictly under the conditions of the outcome of agreement between free, equal, and rational individuals. Sinha argues that the politicization of slavery only reinforced this notion. According to this theory, many slave owners were justified in denying fairness to their slaves because they were not equal in any context. Antebellum courts also ruled on this theory and often denied black people their rights based on the color of their black skin. The increased demand for cotton around the world was the reason why slavery spread rapidly during the antebellum period. By the 1830s, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama were the centers of cotton production. These regions were the major cotton producers of the United States, with three of them generating more than half of the country's production, and African American slaves were the ones who worked in these fields. In addition to working on cotton plantations, slaves worked in other fields with various other crops such as rice, sugar cane, corn, and tobacco. Besides farming, slaves were required to cut and heave lumber, dig trenches, slaughter livestock, clear and prepare new land, repair buildings and tools, among other tasks. As such, many of them worked as drivers, mechanics, carpenters, blacksmiths, and held other positions in other skilled trades. Black women also had to take care of their masters' families and.