Between 1800 and 1860 slavery in the American South had become a "peculiar institution" in these times. While it may have seemed that the worst was over with regards to slavery, in reality it had just begun. The time gap between 1800 and 1860 caused slavery to reach an all-time high from what it seems. As cotton production became a staple source of trade, this gave more reason for slavery to exist. Forms of slavery were also established, especially when the international slave trade was banned in America after 1808, they had to think of a way to keep it going, which they did. However, slavery in the American South had never diminished; it may have stopped for a long time, but during this period between 1800 and 1860, it shows that it could have been at an all-time high. Within the economy a great development had been achieved when the upper south had ceded its power to the lower south all for the increase in agricultural production. This expansion was driven by the excessive growth of cotton in the southern areas. It quickly spread throughout America and especially into the South. During these times this provided another reason to keep slavery at its highest levels. Many wealthy planters started a "business" by having their slaves work on cotton plantations, which was one of the few ways slavery was still in full force. Not only were there wealthy planters, at that time even if you were a small slave owner you still made money. While all this was going on, Americans moved approximately 410,000 slaves from the upper South to the "cotton states." This in turn created a slave-selling boom in the economy throughout the Southwest. If there is a "why" question, then let's break it down d... middle of the paper... eh, slavery in this time period was essentially at its HIGHEST. There were so many factors put into play that gave it reason to still exist at this time. With the growth of the economy, an entirely new and foolproof workforce, and a strange congregation of blacks and whites, the trend of slavery continued to increase until it finally became illegal. The period between 1800 and 1860 marked a great gap of change within America itself, and absolutely set a great example of how slavery was not in decline. If you go against this thinking, which most of us do, you accept that it's all over. There will always be racism; it is inevitable even in today's world. Let's just hope that history doesn't repeat itself in these ways, because that's all that can really be done. Many obviously disapproved of this, and it was clearly a terrible act to do. But it's history.