From 1775 to 1830, developments such as Eli Whitney's cotton gin in 1793, the United States' Louisiana Purchase in 1803, and the rise of the textile industry in England led to a great expansion of slavery. At the same time, the abolitionist reform movement grew in the North as anti-slavery sentiment increased, with a growing fear that slaves would unbalance the political landscape in Southern representation. During this time, freed African Americans were often instrumental in helping those enslaved address their challenges through their own efforts, while some of the challenges faced by freed slaves were due to ideas stemming from slavery. In facing their challenges, freed blacks adopted strategies such as leaving America and defending their rights, while slaves looked to rebellion and disobedience, with the help of freed blacks, to advance. Without slavery, freed blacks would not have faced many of the challenges they faced, and so, without the help of freed blacks, many slaves could not have overcome their obstacles to emancipation. A changing attitude in the North toward slavery changed the way of life. vision of life for both free and enslaved blacks. As shown in maps of slavery in the United States in the 1790s and 1830s, as the South experienced a massive increase in slavery due to demand for American cotton, and the West expanded slavery due to new land available for growing cotton from Louisiana. Purchase, Northern slavery decreased significantly, almost to zero. Many slave owners freed their slaves after death, as it was uneconomic for them to own them in the first place when they did not need them to work as a more diversified Northern economy emerged. The moral pressure to end slavery also led to... middle of paper... facing many daunting challenges in life. After cotton became easier to grow and more profitable, slavery became more widely used in some parts of the country, while dying out in others due to moral objections and black struggle. For those who were freed, discrimination in a thoroughly racist society was still widespread, and it would take time for their rights to be guaranteed. It is certain, however, that slavery caused most of the challenges that freed African Americans faced, and it is equally clear that freed blacks greatly aided the cause of their enslaved counterparts. While their lives may have been substantially different in principle, the lives of both free and enslaved African Americans greatly mirrored each other, and these two groups had to meet their own incredible challenges with a variety of methods to overcome the obstacles they faced..