Slavocracy [plantation owners]

Transcription

1 Early Emancipation in the North Missouri Compromise, 1820 Characteristics of the Antebellum South 1. Primarily agrarian. 2. Economic power shifted from the upper South to the lower South. 3. Cotton is King! * mil. bales a yr. (57% of total US exports). 4. Very slow development of industrialization. 5. Rudimentary financial system. 6. Inadequate transportation system. Southern Society (1850) Southern Population 6,000,000 Slavocracy [plantation owners] The Plain Folk [white yeoman farmers] Black Freemen 250,000 Black Slaves 3,200, % of Southern population were slaves in 1850s Total US Population 23,000,000 [9,250,000 in the South = 40%] 1

2 Graniteville Textile Co. Founded in 1845, it was the South s first attempt at industrialization in Richmond, VA Rise of King Cotton Southern Agriculture Short staple cotton drove cotton boom Cotton gin made seed extraction easy Year round requirements suited to slave labor Cotton in Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, east Texas Large planters dominated cotton production 1850: South produced 75% of world s cotton, cotton the most important U.S. business 2

3 Slaves Using the Cotton Gin Changes in Cotton Production FIGURE 11 1 U.S. Cotton Production, Cotton production spiraled upward after 1800, and the South became the world s leading supplier. Data Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, Historical Statistics of the United States (1960). Value of Cotton Exports as % of All US Exports Watch King Cotton Hauling the Whole Week s Pickings William Henry Brown, 1842 Slavery and Industrialization Southerners resented dependence on Northern industry, commerce High cotton profits discouraged shift to industry 3

4 Slavery and the Southern Economy White Southerners perceived their economic interests to be tied to slavery Lower South: Slave plantation society Upper South: Farming and slave trading region The Profitability Issue Slavery not profitable for South as a whole White small farmers had lower living standards than most Northern farmers Profits from cotton not well distributed Slave system resulted in waste of human resources, Southern underdevelopment Worlds in Conflict Separate Southern worlds Planters Slaves Less affluent whites Free blacks Held together by plantation economy, web of customary relationships The Domestic Slave Trade Mixed farming in Virginia and Maryland Needed less labor, more capital Upper South sold slaves to lower South Virginia, Maryland, and Kentucky took on characteristics of industrializing North MAP 11 1 The Spread of Slavery: New Slave States Entering the Union, Seven slave states entered the Union after 1800 as cotton production shifted westward. 4

5 Slavery was not just a social system, but a business, deeply woven into the fabric of southern economic life. Slave Auction Notice, 1823 Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally. Abraham Lincoln, 1865 Watch Slave Auction p346 Slave Accoutrements Slave Master Brands Slave muzzle Slave tag, SC Slave leg irons 5

6 p349 p350 Early Emancipation in the North p352 p352 6

7 Slave Owning Population (1850) Slave Owning Families (1850) White Society in the Antebellum South Only a small percentage of slave owners lived in aristocratic mansions Less than 1% of the white population owned 50 or more slaves Most Southern whites were yeomen farmers Slaves posing in front of their cabin on a Southern plantation. Planters World Big planters set tone, values of Southern life Planter wealth based on: Commerce Land speculation Slave trading Cotton Planting Plantations managed as businesses. Romantic ideals imitated only by richest Planters and Paternalism Planters prided themselves on paternalism. Believed that slaves would not survive without them. Better living standard for Southern slaves than others in Western Hemisphere Relatively decent treatment due in part to their increasing economic value after 1808 Planters actually dealt little with slaves, Slaves managed by overseers 7

8 Tara Plantation Reality or Myth? Scarlet and Mammie (Hollywood Again!) A Real Mammie & Her Charge Gone with the Wind Hollywood s Version? The Southern Belle Small Slaveholders Slave conditions worst with fewer than 20 slaves Slaves share the master s poverty Slaves at the complete mercy of the master Masters often worked alongside the slaves Most slaves would have preferred the economic and cultural stability of the plantation Free Blacks in the Old South The Ledger of John White Southern free blacks severely restricted Sense of solidarity with slaves Generally unable to help Repression increased as time passed By 1860, some state legislatures were proposing laws to force free blacks to emigrate or be enslaved Matilda Selby, 9, $ sold to Mr. Covington, St. Louis, $ Brooks Selby, 19, $ Left at Home Crazy Fred McAfee, 22, $ Sold to Pepidal, Donaldsonville, $ Howard Barnett, 25, $ Ranaway. Sold out of jail, $ Harriett Barnett, 17, $ Sold to Davenport and Jones, Lafourche, $

9 US Laws Regarding Slavery 1. U. S. Constitution: * 3/5s compromise [I.2] * fugitive slave clause [IV.2]: The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, shall on Demand of the executive Authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime. [No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or Labour, but shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom such Service or Labour may be due]. This was removed by the 13 th Amendment Fugitive Slave Act stronger Fugitive Slave Act. Southern Slavery > An Aberration? 1780s: 1 st antislavery society created in Phila. By 1804: slavery eliminated from last northern state. 1807: the legal termination of the slave trade, enforced by the Royal Navy. 1820s: newly indep. Republics of Central & So. America declared their slaves free. 1833: slavery abolished throughout the British Empire. 1844: slavery abolished in the Fr. colonies. 1861: the serfs of Russia were emancipated. Slavery Was Less Efficient in the U. S. than Elsewhere A Closed Mind and Closed Society High cost of keeping slaves from escaping. GOAL raise the exit cost. Slave patrols. Southern Black Codes. Cut off a toe or a foot. Planters feared growth of abolitionism Planters encouraged closing of ranks Slavery defended as a positive good Africans depicted as inferior Slavery defended with Bible Slavery a humane asylum to improve Africans Slavery superior to Northern wage labor Contrary points of view suppressed Southern Pro Slavery Propaganda A Closed Mind and Closed Society p356 9

10 Slave Resistance 1. A complex response: ADAPTATION + RESISTENCE Slave Resistance 1. SAMBO pattern of behavior used as a charade in front of whites [the innocent, laughing black man caricature bulging eyes, thick lips, big smile, etc.]. Slave Resistance 1. Refusal to work hard. 2. Isolated acts of sabotage. 3. Escape via the Underground Railroad. Slave Resistance Escaping to the North Runaway Slave Ads Watch Harriet Tubman 10

11 Quilt Patterns as Secret Messages The Monkey Wrench pattern, on the left, alerted escapees to gather up tools and prepare to flee; the Drunkard Path design, on the right, warned escapees not to follow a straight route. Slave Rebellions Slave Rebellions in the Antebellum South : Gabriel Prosser literate enslaved blacksmith slaves outside Richmond, VA. Two Africans gave the plot away. Prosser + 35 were executed. In reaction, the Virginia and other legislatures passed restrictions on free blacks, as well as the education, movement and hiring out of the enslaved : Denmark Vesey a free black in Charleston. Well planned conspiracy for slaves to seize armory and then take Charleston slaves. Again suppressed : Nat Turner led bloodiest and most terrifying slave revolt in Virginia. Deaths of up to 65 white men, women and children and 200 slaves. Gabriel Prosser Slave Rebellions in the Antebellum South: Nat Turner, 1831 The Culture of Slavery 1. Black Christianity [Baptists or Methodists]: * more emotional worship services. * negro spirituals. 2. Pidgin or Gullah languages. 3. Nuclear family with extended kin links, where possible. 4. Importance of music in their lives. [esp. spirituals]. 11

12 Constant resistance of Southern ideology, repression Constant aspiration to freedom Psychic survival helped create and maintain a unique African American ethnicity The World of Southern Blacks Slaves Daily Life and Labor 90% of slaves lived on plantations or farms. Most slaves on cotton plantations worked sun up to sun down, 6 days a week. About 75% of slaves were field workers, about 5% worked in industry. Urban slaves had more autonomy than rural slaves Slave Families, Kinship, and Community Normal family life difficult for slaves Fathers cannot always protect children Families vulnerable to breakup by masters Most reared in strong, two parent families Extended families provide nurture, support amid horror of slavery Slave culture a family culture that provided a sense of community SLAVE MUSIC - This folk painting illustrates the importance of music to slaves (and at times also to their masters). The banjo in the hands of the man in the center was an instrument that originated in Africa African American Religion A Slave Family Black Christianity the cornerstone of an emerging African American culture Whites fear religion s subversive potential, tryto supervise churches and preaching Slave religion kept secret from whites Reaffirmed the inherent joy of life Preached the inevitable day of liberation 12