Southern economy &

slavery

Southern Economy• Farmers in 1700s grew mostly long-staple cotton–Expensive & difficult to grow• Only grows along warm coastline

–Easy to “clean” – remove seed

–Expensive selling price – luxury

Long-staple cotton

Southern Economy• Few grew short-staple

cotton –Cheap & easy to grow

• Grows anywhere it’s warm–Hard to clean – fibers are tighter• Too expensive to process by hand

–Not as fancy – cheaper price

Short-staple cotton

The Cotton Gin• Eli Whitney invented – 1793–Easier to cultivate short-staple

–Feasible to grow all over south

–Cheaper product – must grow lots to make money

How it worked

Southern Economy• Poor farmers could buy cheap land in new western states

• Set up new plantations for cheap short-staple cotton

• More and more slaves needed

Southern Economy• King Cotton

–S became dependent on cotton

–Relied on selling to NE & Britain

–No need to industrialize

Southern Economy• Cotton mostly shipped by river to ocean ports–Charleston, Savannah, NO

• Few railroads/other transportation improvements

Slave Population, 1820Slave Population, 1840Slave Population, 1860

King Cotton• Contributors to slavery’s rise:–Southern planters–Northern merchants and traders –English merchants and traders

• Congressional “gag rule” prohibited discussion of slavery

White culture• Wealth = # of slaves owned

• Price of slaves skyrocketed –1808 slave trade ban = supply–Western expansion = demand

• Many fortunes made from slave sales – esp. in northern states

The Southern Gentleman

• Chivalry–Noblesse oblige–Paternalism

• Education – classical, not technical– No labor training – beneath planter

class

Impact of religion• Baptists & Methodists

–Biblical justification for “peculiar institution”

• Other groups lost membership– Catholics, Episcopals, Unitarians

How many owned slaves?

• Very few, but exact # tough to determine – where / when?–Most owned ≤ 5 slaves, worked alongside them on farm

• Most of population – PWTs, slaves

Poor Whites• Aspirational for slave

ownership

• Many poor whites supported slavery–Maintain social (relative)

superiority

Emancipation?• VA considered emancipation

before 1831 Nat Turner Rebellion– Also: Stono Rebellion, Gabriel’s

Rebellion, Denmark Vesey’s Rebellion

• Planters exploited fears – keep lower classes from uniting

Slave Codes• States tightened control over freemen–Disenfranchised–No weapons–No public assembly–No alcohol–No education–White ministers present for church

Life of a slave• By 1830 – almost 2 million slaves in US–Many born in US–Most spoke English

Rural slavery• Large plantations – 20 or more–Big plantations generally harsher

–Overseer meted discipline

• Most field hands–Some domestics–Some tradesmen

Rural slavery• More slaves on big plantations than anywhere else

• 18 plantations: >500 slaves in 1860–Largest – 1130 (SC)–Largest in GA – 505–15 of 18 in SC/LA/MS

Urban slavery• Worked in mines or factories, or as artisans–Rented out during slow times on plantations

–Owner charged rent / no supervision concerns

Urban slavery• Urban slaves had it easier than rural slaves

–Urban whites unlikely to own slaves / if so would be domestics

–Aren’t part of planter society

–More witnesses of cruelty

Free Blacks in 1850

Free Blacks in 1850

• Some cities had significant pop of freemen & slaves with some rights– Many were mulattos– Many had bought freedom

(manumitted)

• All must keep papers so they wouldn’t be captured & sold– Many captured anyway

Abolition• It’s complicated…

– Many points on the spectrum– Many questions and issues to

answer

• Emancipation abrupt or gradual?– Possible major social/economic

upheaval if it’s an abrupt change• Millions displaced & unemployed

– Gradual? How does that work?

Abolition• It’s complicated…

– Many points on the spectrum– Many questions and issues to

answer

• Should slave owners be paid?– If yes – with what money?– If no – they might be upset, and

they’re powerful – some are in Congress• You do want to get a law for this

passed, right?

Abolition• It’s complicated…

– Many points on the spectrum– Many questions and issues to

answer

• Should they receive equal rights?– Do you know what that means?

• Testify against white people?• Serve on juries to convict white

people?• Legally intermarry with whites?• Equal pay for equal work?

Abolition• It’s complicated…

– Many points on the spectrum– Many questions and issues to

answer

• Did you say equal pay?– Do you know what that means?

• Poor southern whites have to compete• Poor in north feel threatened – were

you hoping that your candidates would ever win?

Abolition• It’s complicated…

– Many points on the spectrum– Many questions and issues to

answer

• Do you just hate southerners, and want to bring them down a notch?– They can be a little irritating, I

suppose

Abolition• It’s complicated…

– Many points on the spectrum– Many questions and issues to

answer

• Are Blacks & Whites inherently equal?– You could want slavery to end and

still be pretty racist (from our perspective)

Guess who said this…

• I am not now, nor ever have been in favor of bringing about in any way the social or political equality of the white and black races.

• I am not now nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of Negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor of intermarriages with white people.

• There is a physical difference between the white and the black races which will forever forbid the two races living together on social or political equality.

• There must be a position of superior and inferior, and I am in favor of assigning the superior position to the white man.

Abolition• It’s complicated…

– Many points on the spectrum– Many questions and issues to

answer

• Would it be better if the US just sent freed slaves back to Africa?– Or Haiti, or Barbados, or Panama?

Liberia• American Colonization Society

• Nation established 1847 as refuge for freed slaves

• Capital – Monrovia –Named after James Monroe (resettlement originally his idea)

Liberia

William Lloyd Garrison

• Newspaper editor – The Liberator

• For immediate emancipation– No

compensation to owners

William Lloyd Garrison

• Founded:– New England Anti-

Slavery Society– National American

Anti-Slavery Society

• Strong support of Blacks; little early support of Whites (even northern)

William Lloyd Garrison

• Garrison became the most popular abolitionist in the North

Frederick Douglass

• Born a slave

• Taught to read & write by owner’s wife (illegally)

• Escaped to NY

Frederick Douglass

• Became friends with WL Garrison

• Spoke out about experiences

• Opened his own newspaper – The North Star

Frederick Douglass

• Favored abolition by political means

• Also in favor of women’s rights

Abolition• Former slaves became important abolitionists:–Related reality of slavery through Freedom’s Journal & North Star

–Leaders in Underground Railroad

–Vigilante groups to protect fugitive slaves in North

Frederick Douglass & Sojourner Truth

1845 --> The Narrative of the Life Of Frederick Douglass1847 --> “The North Star”

R2-12

Underground Railroad

Underground Railroad

Abolition• Abolitionists most appealed

to small town folk in the North

• Opposition in north came from:–Urban populations–Near Mason-Dixon line

Abolition• Radical abolitionists hurt by in-

fighting• Many people criticized Garrison:

– Appointed a woman to executive committee of American Anti-Slave Society

– Called for Northern secession & boycotts of political elections

• Some abolitionists broke off & formed Liberty Party in 1840

Abolition…in the south?

• Hinton Helper (NC)– Wrote The

Impending Crisis of the South

– Slavery hinders economic growth

– Slavery hurts non-slaveholders

• He was NOT pro-African American