Don Wildman

And that sort of the given aspect of that, the assumption of that.

It becomes a perpetual motion machine.

It never ends after you've kind of accepted that basic idea.

Let's digest this again, take a short break.

And when we come back, we'll discuss how slavery changed after the Revolutionary War and the growing resistance against the practice.

Welcome back, folks.

Justine, by the time we get to the American Revolution, mid 1770s, there are so many new ideas that have permeated human society, new ideas of science and religion, individual rights of life and property.

All that must have had an effect, a dramatic effect on the slave economy.

Is this the beginning of northern attitudes versus southern?

Because, of course, they end up being diametrically opposed.

When meanwhile, our founding fathers are all enslaving people.

So it's a bizarre time when you have these ideas of liberty and freedom being written about quite eloquently, while at the same time, those people writing it are committing this act.

And it's amazing.

Freedom was offered as an incentive by both American and British during the war.

A hundred thousand patriot owned black enslaved escaped and fled to British lines, later to be organized into military units.

At this time, I mean, we're talking about the revolution having happened.

So this is a country, a new country now.

We're going to set up our new constitution and so forth.

But

During this period, there's a rapid expansion of plantation economies in places like Virginia and South Carolina.