Slavery and Southern Development Atlantic Slave Trade c

Slavery and Southern Development

Atlantic Slave Trade c. 10 m Africans transported, 15001900 n Only 5% to North America n Up to 25% mortality during voyage n Preference for young men n Involvement of Africans in triangular trade n

Captured Africans

Plan of Slave ship

Slave Pens at Alexandria, Va

Slave Village, Beaufort, SC, 1862

Work n Most slaves involved in field work, n n Tobacco (Virginia) Rice and Indigo (South Carolina) after invention of cotton gin (1793) cotton becomes most important slave-grown crop n By 1850 typical slave experience was on a large farm or plantation n Approx. ¾ of all slaves in 1850 were owned by masters with over 10 slaves n

Work began before dawn and ended after dusk n Initially multiple tasks for every slave n “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 n

Growth of skills among slaves n Some slaves moved either indoors and became house slaves n Also moved into specialized work such as blacksmiths and carpentry n Industrial type work, especially in ports n

‘An overseer doing his duty’ Benjamin La. Trobe

Pounding Rice

Free Time n Informal economic activity, n Notion free time pros andofcons

African-American Culture n n n 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’

n n 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. Punishment

Resistance n n n 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 n East coast slavery on decline n Profits for traditional crops n n Tobacco Indigo Rice Beginning to dwindle Chesapeake region n Delaware Maryland n

Two factors led to this change n Purchase of Louisiana in 1803 n n Plantation owners viewed new land as opportunity New crop n What would crop be n Cotton a possibility n Long staple-variety grew well n n But delicate

Short staplevariety n hardier n Seeds had to be removed by hand n 1 day = 1 pound n Not profitable n Until…. n

King Cotton n n 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: 72 X TITLE: Cotton Gin March 14, 1794 Eli Whitney

But did he really? n n n 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 n 1840 s: cotton one-half to two-thirds the value of all U. S. exports n South produced three-fourths the world’s cotton supply n Southern planters organized slave labor to n n n maximize production reinforce dominance

Cotton Production, 1801 and 1859

Paternalism n n n Post-1820: exploitation of slave labor became more systematic and more humane Systematic paternalism Slaves’ material standards rose n n n Physical height Infant mortality After 1808, imports of new Africans were banned

Interstate trade n From 1709 – 1830 n n 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 n Cotton: economies of scale n n n Big farms with many slaves operated more efficiently and profitably than farms with fewer resources Wealth becomes more concentrated Dual economy n n n Southern yeomen practiced mixed farming for household subsistence and neighborhood exchange n n Plantations at center White yeoman farmers at fringe “subsistence plus” agriculture Entrepreneurship and ambition discouraged

Frederick Douglas, 1818 -1895 n Born a slave, after many years of oppression Douglas fled his master and became one of Americas leading abolitionists

Harriet Jacobs 1813 - 1897 n n n 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 n Wealth of South great, but concentrated n n Wealth disparity created political cleavage Wealth concentration stifled southern market Effect of Market Revolution on South: more slavery Technology and development n n n Eli Whitney and cotton gin Little spending on internal improvements Cities primarily export centers

Conclusion n The South’s commitment to cotton and slavery: n n n Politically isolated the South Made the South dependent on financial and industrial centers North and West both enriched by Market Revolution n Northeast moves from periphery of world economy to core