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