Slavery's effects live on As of the 1860 census, the last before
the American Civil War, 2.3 million slaves lived in the Lower
Southern states—nearly 50 percent of the entire Lower Southern
population at that time. The numbers for the Upper South didn’t
fare much better, with 1.2 million slaves, about a third of the
population. All told, Southern and Border States totaled four
million slaves, or half the population of today’s New York City.
These mind-boggling numbers reveal the tremendous effect of
slavery on the African population in the 19th century. Slavery
continues to effect today’s African American population, as Dr.
Patricia Newton’s presentation for African-American Heritage
month on Post-Traumatic Slavery Disorder will attest. Newton
wants to explore the long-term effects of the chattel slavery
experience on African populations. Chattel, as defined on
dictionary.com, is “another form of cattle; any item of movable
or immovable property except the freehold.” While Post-Traumatic
Slavery Disorder may