kaleidoscope – divided agrarian cotton boom the old south

KALEIDOSCOPE – DIVIDEDAGRARIAN

COTTON BOOM

The Old South

Essential Questions: Was slavery profitable? How do cotton and slave holding

shape southern culture? What is the nature of white social

structure? What is the interaction between

white and slave culture like? What are the characteristics of

slave culture? What factors made the South a

“Closed” society? How does southern society contrast

with that developing in the North?

Two Souths

Upper South Agriculturally

diverseSlave trade Second Middle

Passage

Lower South Cotton Dependant Opportunity “white gold”

King Cotton

Great profit but skewed opportunity One way to gain wealth S. remains rural & agrarian – fewer

immigrants – little for free white labor

No manufacturing opportunities Single crop dependant Dependant on N. for capital &

market

Critics: dependence on N.

“The South Grew, But Did Not develop.”

DeBow Need for

diversification1845 – First textile

mill - Richmond

Gregg Need for

industrialization

Slavery

System to control & manage labor Essential to the profitability of the large

plantation25% - slave holding75% non-slave-holding 1-3% = gentry---controls political,

economic and social system

Southern Agriculture

18201820

18601860

Southern Society (1850)Southern Society (1850)Southern Society (1850)Southern Society (1850)

The “Plain Folk”The “Plain Folk”[white yeoman farmers][white yeoman farmers]

““Slavocracy”Slavocracy”[plantation owners][plantation owners]

Black FreemenBlack Freemen

Black SlavesBlack Slaves3,200,0003,200,000

Total US Population --> Total US Population --> 23,000,00023,000,000

[9,250,000 in the South = 40%][9,250,000 in the South = 40%]

6,000,0006,000,000

250,000250,000

Value of Cotton Exports Value of Cotton Exports As % of All US ExportsAs % of All US Exports

Value of Cotton Exports Value of Cotton Exports As % of All US ExportsAs % of All US Exports

White Social Structure

Planter Elite – planter = 20 slaves; 800-1000 acres Self made businessmen Chivalry & paternalism Limited contact w/ slaves (overseers)

Plantation Mistress Isolated Many responsibilities Miscegenation Benefit from slave - holding

White Social Structure – the plain folk

Yeomen Farmers – 80-160 acres; no slaves

Lack capital & credit Lack access to transportation and

marketing Isolated – geographically & socially Livestock, subsistence farming Limited class conflict –RACISM Ideas of liberty White supremacy

White Social Structure:

Mountaineers- isolated; autonomous; resented any government and planters

Non-land holding tenant farmers – want land – no capital

Poor whites – no economic opportunity; resent planters; hate slaves/free blacks

Why support for slave-holding system?

Planter/cotton control of the economic, social & political system

Status anxiety - white supremacyHopes and opportunity Challenge – Helper; Yeomen hurt by

slavery, can’t compete; limits opportunity

Interaction of the communities

Peculiar Institution = defining of the culture – OURS; superior & unifying

Separate spheres – but bondedSlaves better treatment in US Characteristics: white to black

Paternalism –white supremacy Principle of fear – must control labor

The whip; sale & family division slave codes

A Real Georgia PlantationA Real Georgia PlantationA Real Georgia PlantationA Real Georgia Plantation

““Hauling the Whole Week’s Hauling the Whole Week’s Pickings” Brown, 1842Pickings” Brown, 1842

““Hauling the Whole Week’s Hauling the Whole Week’s Pickings” Brown, 1842Pickings” Brown, 1842

Slaves WorkingSlaves Workingin a Sugar-Boiling Housein a Sugar-Boiling House

Slaves WorkingSlaves Workingin a Sugar-Boiling Housein a Sugar-Boiling House

Slave Auction Notice, 1823Slave Auction Notice, 1823Slave Auction Notice, 1823Slave Auction Notice, 1823

The Ledger of John WhiteThe Ledger of John WhiteThe Ledger of John WhiteThe Ledger of John White

Matilda Selby, 9, $400.00 sold to Mr. Covington, St. Louis, $425.00

Brooks Selby, 19, $750.00 Left at Home – Crazy

Fred McAfee, 22, $800.00 Sold to Pepidal,Donaldsonville, $1200.00

Howard Barnett, 25, $750.00 Ranaway. Sold out of jail, $540.00

Harriett Barnett, 17, $550.00 Sold to Davenport and Jones, Lafourche, $900.00

Slave AccoutrementsSlave AccoutrementsSlave AccoutrementsSlave Accoutrements

Slave muzzleSlave Master

Brands

Belled Slave Collar

Slave leg irons

Slave tag, SC

Slave shoes

Caricatures

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.].

A Real Mammy & Her ChargeA Real Mammy & Her ChargeA Real Mammy & Her ChargeA Real Mammy & Her Charge

Fears of the Planter Elite

Slave Revolts – Prosser, Vesey, TurnerLoss of the support of the Yeoman

farmers - HelperIdeas of the abolitionists (1831 –

Garrison and The Liberator) Gag rule

Anti-Slave PamphletAnti-Slave PamphletAnti-Slave PamphletAnti-Slave Pamphlet

Nat Turner’s Rebellion

Gabriel Prosser

1800

1822

Slave Rebellions Throughout the Slave Rebellions Throughout the AmericasAmericas

Slave Rebellions Throughout the Slave Rebellions Throughout the AmericasAmericas

Changes after 1830

Nat Turner’s Rebellion – increase fears and codes

Slave rebellions – Haiti BR abolished slavery in all parts of it

empire General world view of Europe shifts to

oppose slaveryVirginia DebateSlavery as positive good – the best society

Virginia Debate 1831-1832

Issue = gradual emancipation Last open discussion of slave holdingClosed Mind/Closed Society – stifle

dissentShows division of Upper and Lower

South Planter elite ----solidarity (Calhoun) –

creates unity and identity (nullification crisis over the tariff )

Pro-Slavery Arguments

“slavery as a positive good” (change in emphasis) creates stronger control & unity – a perfect hierarchal, orderly society – everyone knows one’s place

Biblical, political, scientific, economic and social arguments (Fitzhugh)

Contrast w/ “wage slavery” of the North

Stifle dissent – “closed mind, closed society”

Southern Pro-SlaverySouthern Pro-SlaveryPropagandaPropaganda

Southern Pro-SlaverySouthern Pro-SlaveryPropagandaPropaganda

Interaction of communities

Characteristics: black to white Dual socializationImpenetrable maskFree blacks

More urban areas More in South More females More mulattoes More restricted – fragile freedoms – caste Discrimination (true N & S) Negro Convention

Slave CulturePermits community, growth and

psychological support for survivalUnique – created from African

tradition and American experienceDual socialization – folk tales Impenetrable mask

Grounding InstitutionsReligionInvisible

institution AME Ring shoutAffirmation and Joy OWN institution spirituals

FamilyNuclear, but within

community Traditional gender

roles - slave qtrsEquality of

powerlessnessNorms w/in culture Kinship/sisterhood

“othermothers” Threats – break up

Plantation Burial - Antrobus

Slave Resistance

Revolts – Prosser, Vesey, TurnerEscape – URR Daily resistance/negotiationsCulture and institutions LiteracySupport from free blacks

Negro Convention

Takaki – A Different Mirror

slave resistance“The reality for many slaves may

have been even more complex than a duality of roles. Some Sambo-like behavior may have been not so much a veil to hide inner emotions as a means of expressing them. Lying, stealing, laziness, immaturity and ignorance all contained within them an aggressive quality; they constituted, in effect, resistance to efficiency, discipline, work and productivity.”

Runaway Slave AdsRunaway Slave AdsRunaway Slave AdsRunaway Slave Ads

Quilt Patterns as Secret Quilt Patterns as Secret MessagesMessages

Quilt Patterns as Secret Quilt Patterns as Secret MessagesMessages

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.

Ideas of FREEDOMWhiteHegemonic – owning

and controlling Structured society Freedom – tied to

slave holding systemFreedom = a

privilegeObedienceThe Priestly tradition

Black The ideals of the

declaration The injustice of

slaveryFreedom = a rightConstant goal –

jubilee The ExodusThe Prophetic

tradition

Political Impact

Cultures quite similar – but defined by diverging cultures yeomen Belief in (and seeking) opportunity – for

white men Belief in democracy Socially egalitarian Evangelical Protestants

Whigs & Democrats – both can be destabilized