Final answer:
By 1850, about 10,000 bondspeople were owned by a few hundred black slaveholders across the South, which reflects the complex nature of slavery in the pre-Civil War United States.
Step-by-step explanation:
By 1850, approximately 10,000 bondspeople were owned by a few hundred black slaveholders across the South. This is a historical fact that illustrates the widespread and complex nature of slavery in the United States. In the vast economy of slavery, there were a small number of free African Americans who also became slaveholders, although this was not the norm. The enslavement of African Americans contributed to the economic development of the nation, despite representing a significant moral and ethical dilemma that the country grappled with until the abolition of slavery.
The domestic slave trade caused terror among the enslaved due to the fear of being sold away from their families and friends. By the time of the Civil War, the total number of African Americans reached 4.4 million, with nearly 3.95 million living in bondage. While the cotton boom led to a significant increase in the number of enslaved individuals, it also contributed to a less democratic distribution of wealth in the South, with a select few accumulating significant wealth.