Originally posted by Zahlanzi
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/06/us/publisher-promises-revisions-after-textbook-refers-to-african-slaves-as-workers.html
A textbook in Texas, in a chapter called "Patterns of Immigration", had this to say about slavery:
“The Atlantic Slave Trade between the 1500s and 1800s brought millions of workers from Africa to the southern United States to work on agricultural plantations.”
"workers" to "work". such nice words.
During the 19th century, the 1800s to you, much of the Western world gradually freed slaves and outlawed slavery. In the CSA, after secession, importation of further slaves as already prohibited, and leaders of the Confederacy such as Lee, Jackson, and Jefferson Davis as well as many others were oppose to slavery, and by war's end had manumitted their slaves.
On the other hand, prior to the War, Lincoln and many northerners spoke out against freeing slaves, and held hostile views to slaves migrating north even after the Civil War.
Yes, slaves worked. In some ways, they had a better life than other immigrants, such as Chinese who labored building railroads, and Irish who labored to pay off indentured servitude for their passage to America. In the South, the Scott-Irish were often viewed as lower class than the black slaves. Many were ruffians and criminals.
In short order, slavery in the South would have been terminated as it was in most of the Western world. On the other hand, there are still places on the planet where slavery still exists.