View
219
Download
4
Category
Tags:
Preview:
Citation preview
Slavery and Southern Development
Atlantic Slave Trade c.10m Africans transported, 1500-
1900 Only 5% to North America Up to 25% mortality during voyage Preference for young men Involvement of Africans in
triangular trade
Captured Africans
Plan of Slave ship
Slave Pens at Alexandria,
Va
Slave Village,
Beaufort, SC, 1862
Work Most slaves involved in field work,
Tobacco (Virginia) Rice and Indigo (South Carolina)
after invention of cotton gin (1793) cotton becomes most important slave-grown crop
By 1850 typical slave experience was on a large farm or plantation
Approx. ¾ of all slaves in 1850 were owned by masters with over 10 slaves
Work began before dawn and ended after dusk
Initially multiple tasks for every slave “Ploughing, planting, picking cotton, gathering corn, and pulling and burning
stalks, occupies the whole four seasons of the year. Drawing and cutting wood, pressing cotton, fattening and killing
hogs, are but incidental labours”Solomon Northup – former slave
Growth of skills among slaves Some slaves moved either indoors
and became house slaves Also moved into specialized work
such as blacksmiths and carpentry Industrial type work, especially in
ports
‘An overseer doing his duty’ Benjamin LaTrobe
Pounding Rice
Free Time
Notion of free time
Informal economic activity, pros and cons
African-American Culture
Entertainment leads to cultural formation and expression
Culture (music, tales, language, magic, religion)
Question of acculturation?
‘The Old Plantation’ Anon
‘Preparations for the enjoyment of a fine Sunday’
Punishment Master has right of life
or death Important to control
large numbers of slaves - deterrent
Ingenuity of methods, need to keep slaves docile and working while punished
Threat of sale, rape, violence.
Resistance Personal resistance
vs masters and overseers
could be violent or passive
Effectiveness of running away (which groups most likely to flee, outcomes)
‘Slaves Escaping Through the Swamp’Thomas Moran (1837-1926)
Slaves fleeing not only movement East coast slavery on decline Profits for traditional crops
Tobacco Indigo Rice Beginning to dwindle Chesapeake
region Delaware Maryland
Slave exporters in new century
Two factors led to this change Purchase of Louisiana in 1803
Plantation owners viewed new land as opportunity
New crop What would crop be Cotton a possibility Long staple-variety grew well
But delicate
Short staple-variety
hardier Seeds had to be
removed by hand 1 day = 1 pound Not profitable Until….
King Cotton Eli Whitney inventor of the cotton gin and a
pioneer in the mass production of cotton. By April 1793, Whitney had designed and
constructed the cotton gin Machine that automated the separation of
cottonseed from the short-staple cotton fiber. Eli Whitney's machine could produce up to 23
kg (50 lb) of cleaned cotton daily, making southern cotton a profitable crop for the first time,
PATENT NUMBER: 72X TITLE: Cotton Gin
March 14, 1794Eli Whitney
But did he really?
Some argue that he stole the idea from another white man Henry Ogden Holmes
Some argue that he stole the idea from Catherine Littlefield Greene the wife of a revolutionary war general
Some people argue that he stole the idea from an unnamed slave
The Market Revolution in the South Cotton belt extended into Mississippi,
Texas, Arkansas, Alabama, Louisiana 1840s: cotton one-half to two-thirds the
value of all U.S. exports South produced three-fourths the world’s
cotton supply Southern planters organized slave labor to
maximize production reinforce dominance
Cotton Production, 1801 and 1859
Paternalism
Post-1820: exploitation of slave labor became more systematic and more humane
Systematic paternalism Slaves’ material standards rose
Physical height Infant mortality
After 1808, imports of new Africans were banned
Interstate trade From 1709 – 1830
Period Brazil & Cuba imported slaves to make up for deaths
Slave population of American south increased from
657,000 to 1,981,000
Yeomen, Planters & Market Cotton: economies of scale
Big farms with many slaves operated more efficiently and profitably than farms with fewer resources
Wealth becomes more concentrated Dual economy
Plantations at center White yeoman farmers at fringe
Southern yeomen practiced mixed farming for household subsistence and neighborhood exchange “subsistence plus” agriculture
Entrepreneurship and ambition discouraged
Frederick Douglas, 1818-1895
Born a slave, after many years of oppression Douglas fled his master and became one of Americas leading abolitionists
Harriet Jacobs 1813 - 1897
Born into slavery thwarted repeated
sexual advancements made by her master
Ran away to the North and published an autobiography, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.
A Balance Sheet: The Plantation and Southern Development
Wealth of South great, but concentrated Wealth disparity created political cleavage Wealth concentration stifled southern market
Effect of Market Revolution on South: more slavery
Technology and development Eli Whitney and cotton gin Little spending on internal improvements Cities primarily export centers
Conclusion The South’s commitment to cotton and
slavery: Politically isolated the South Made the South dependent on financial and
industrial centers North and West both enriched by Market
Revolution Northeast moves from periphery of world
economy to core
Recommended