APUSH Chapter 16
Plantation Slavery
4 million blacks by 1860 in South had quadrupled since dawn of century because of cotton = demand for labor -legal importation of African slaves into America ended in 1808 when Congress outlawed slave imports -Britain abolished slave trade -Royal Navy's West Africa Squadron seized many slave ships and freed thousands of grateful captives, but still 3 million slaves were shipped to Brazil and the West Indies in the several decades after 1807 -price of "black ivory" was so high in years before Civil War that uncounted thousands of blacks were smuggled into South, despite death penalty for slavers --> slave traders were captured but southern juries acquitted them (only one was ever executed N.P. Gordon)
Plantations system also shaped lives of southern women
-mistress of a plantation would command a staff of female slaves -daily order to cooks, maids, seamstresses, and body servants -relationship between mistress and slaves ranged from affectionate to atrocious! -slavery strained bonds of womanhood -some slave woman took pride in their status as being part of household -no slaveholding women (mistress) believed in abolition and barely any of them protested when husbands and children of their slaves were sold
15,000 blacks were transported to Africa over next four decades
-most blacks didn't want to be planted into a new civilization after becoming partially Americanized -virtually all southern slaves were no longer Africans by 1860, instead native-born African Americans emerged -colonization idea appealed to some antislaveryites
Dominance of King Cotton led to one crop economy = bad!
-price level was at mercy of world conditions -discouraged a healthy diversification of agriculture and esp. manufacturing!
Free black in South considered "third race"
-prohibited from working in certain occupations, and forbidden from testifying against whites in court -vulnerable to being hijacked back into slavery -they were examples of what emancipation looked like, thus resented by defenders of slave system
Cotton is King!
Cotton Kingdom = agricultural factory -profits drew planters to Gulf states, they bought more slaves and land to grow more cotton and they buy even more slaves and land = cycle
Early Abolitionism
antislavery societies sprouted time of Revolution esp. among Quakers -a lot of abolitionist efforts focused on transporting blacks back to Africa b/c they were hated so much = American Colonization Society and the republic of Liberia on West African coast was established for former slaves
Sir Walter Scott
helped idealize a feudal society -perpetuate type of medievalism that had died out in Europe -accused by Twain of starting civil war, aroused southerners to fight for a decaying social structure "a sham civilization"
Floggings were common = most visible symbol of planter's mastery
some strong-willed slaves were sent to breakers, heavily lashing -majority of blacks lived on larger plantations with 20 or more -along deep south (MI) accounted for 75% of pop --> fam life of slaves tended to be stable and a distinctive African America culture formed -separations of spouses, parents, children were more common on smaller plantations and in upper south
Black abolitionists considered themselves as living monuments to the cause of African American freedom
David Walker wrote Appeal to the Colored Citizen of the World = advocated bloody end to white supremacy -Sojourner Truth = freed black woman in NY fought tirelessly for black emancipation and women's rights Martin Delany -take seriously notion of mass recolonization of Africa -greatest of them all was Frederick Douglass = "discovered" by abolitionists when gave an impromptu speech at antislavery meeting, later lectured for the cause, published Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (half black/white, learn to read and write, escape to North)
North and cotton
Northern shippers gained a lot of profits from cotton trade -load cotton at southern ports, transport to England, sell their cotton for pounds of sterling, and buy needed manufactured goods for sale in the U.S. -prosperity for North, South, and England depended on enslaved bonddsmen
Slaves of the Slave System
Plantation agriculture was wasteful mainly cuz King Cotton and his money-hungry subjects ruined the soil! -quick profits led to excessive cultivation ("land butchery") which caused many ppl to move West and Northwest -economic structure of South became monopolistic b/c small farmers sold their lands to more wealthy neighbors and moved north or west
suppression of international slave trade fostered growth of vigorous internal slave trade, as upper South states (Virginia) became major sources of supply for the booming cotton economy of the Deep South
-a lot of slaves increased thru natural reproduction -it distinguished North American slavery from slavery in more southerly New World societies and implied about the meaning of the slave regime and conditions of family life under slavery in the U.S.
The South Lashes Back
-antislavery societies in the south were more numerous south of the Mason-Dixon line than north of it -Virginia eventually defeated various emancipation proposals --> marked a turning point, after all the slave states tightened their slave codes and moved to prohibit emancipation of any kind
White apologists claimed that master-slave relationships resembled those of a family. Southern whites realized that they and their slaves led much better lives than the ones in the North
-blacks roamed around in fresh air and sunlight, not in dark and stuffy factories, didn't even have to worry about slack times or unemployment, but North had to -cared for in sickness and in old age, unlike Northern workers who were pushed aside when they were useless
slave auctions
-families were separated usually for economic reasons such as bankruptcy or division of "property" among heirs = greatest psychological horror -Abolitionists hated the practice --> Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote about it in Uncle Tom's Cabin
Dark taint of slavery left mark on whites
-fostered brutality of the whip, the bloodhound, and the branding iron -lived in a state of imagined siege, surrounded by potentially rebellious blacks inflamed by abolitionists propaganda from North -fears bolstered an intoxicating theory of biological racial superiority and turned the South into a reactionary backwater in an era of progress -defenders of slavery forced to degrade themselves along with their victims
nullification crisis of 1832 further implanted haunting fears in white southern minds conjuring up nightmares of abolitionist devils and black incendiaries
-jailings, whippings, and lynchings greeted rational efforts to discuss slavery in the south -proslavery whites responded by launching a massive defense on slavery as a positive good, while doing this they forgot their own section's previous doubts about the morality of the "peculiar institution" --> they claimed that slavery was supported by the authority of the Bible and wisdom of Aristotle -slavemasters strongly encouraged religion in the slave quarters
The Burdens of Bondage
-slavery intolerably degrading to the victims -deprived of the dignity and sense of responsibility that come from the independence and the right to make choices -denied an education b/c reading brought ideas = discontent -states passed laws forbidding their instruction and 9/10's of slaves at beginning of Civil War were illiterate "American dream" bettering one's lot thru study and hard work was a mockery -victims of this institution also threw off work and slowed down their labor to the barest minimum that would spare them the lash fostering myth of black "laziness" in minds of whites -stole food from "big house" and stole other goods that had been produced or purchase by their labor --> sabotaged expensive equipment and sometimes poisoned masters' food
Life Under the Lash
-slavery meant hard work, ignorance, and oppression -usually toiled from dawn to dusk in the fields, had no civil or political rights other than minimal protection from arbitrary murder or un-usually cruel-punishment -some states offered further protections like banning sale of child under age of 10 away from mother, but these laws were difficult to enforce cuz slaves were forbidden to testify in court or even have marriages legally recognized
curious proslavery arguments only widened gap between North and South
-southerners reacted defensively to pressure of own fears -they grew intolerant to any embarrassing questions about status of slavery -controversy over free people endangered free speech in U.S. --> petitions poured in upon Congress from the antislavery reformers --> southerners drove thru the House the so called Gag Resolution which required all such antislavery appeals to be tabled without debate --> John Quincy Adams 8 yr fight for its repeal
South's financial instability of the plantation system
-temptation to overspeculate in land and slaves caused planters to plunge beyond their depth -slaves represented heavy investment of capital ($1,200 each) and they might deliberately injure themselves or run away
Southern Planters hated watching North gain profits at their expense
-there was a heavy outward flow of commissions and interest to northern middlemen, bankers, agents, and shippers = made south mad -hated the fact that when they were born they spent rest of their lives in servitude to Yankee manufacturing
The Abolitionist Impact in the North
Abolitionists unpopular in the North --> brought up to revere the Constitution and to regard clauses on slavery as lasting bargain
1830's the abolitionist movement took new energy and momentum mounting to proportions of a crusade
American abolitionists took heart in 1833 when British counterparts, inspired by William Wilberforce who unchained the slaves in West Indies -religious spirit of Second Great Awakening now inflamed hearts of many American abolitionists against the sin of slavery -Theodore Dwight Weld aided by NY merchants, Arthur and Lewis Tappan --> expelled for organizing an 18 day debate on slavery
Much of agitation in North against spread of slavery into new territories in 1840's and 50's grew out of race prejudice, not humanitarianism
Antiblack feeling was actually stronger in North than South Frederick Douglass, abolitionist was mobbed and beaten by northern rowdies -often seen that white southerners who were often treated by black nurses liked the black but just hated their race -white northerners on the other hand liked the race but hated individual blacks
Douglass flexibly practical while Garrison was stubbornly principled
Garrison = more interested in own righteousness than in substance of slavery evil -repeatedly demanded "virtuous" North secede from "wicked" South, publicly burned a copy of Constitution Douglass = looked to politics to end blight of slavery, they backed the Liberty party, Free Soil party, and eventually Republican party -in the end abolitionists and Garrison himself followed the logic of their beliefs and supported war as a price of emancipation
tongue-lashings by abolitionists provoked many mob outburts in North
Garrison was dragged thru streets of Boston by so-called Broadcloth mob but escaped
Cotton Kingdom opposed European immigration which added a lot of power and wealth to North
German and Irish immigration to South was generally discouraged by competition of slave labor, high cost of fertile land, and European ignorance of cotton growing -caused white south to become the most Anglo-Saxon section of nation
Planters regarded slaves as investments, into which they had sunk $2 billion of their capital by 1860
Slaves = primary form of wealth in South, cared for as any asset is cared for by a prudent capitalist -spared dangerous work Ex: roof on a house, master preferred it to be an Irish laborer rather than a slave -slavery profitable for great planters, but bad for region as a whole economically --> profits from the cotton boom took slaves from the upper part of South and moved down to the lower part so all of those states had near-majority of blacks and accounted for half of all slaves in the South
The Planter Aristocracy
South = influenced by planter aristocracy 1,733 families owned more than 100 slaves each --> this group provided the backbone of political and social leadership of section and nation -planter aristocrats enjoyed wealth of south, they could educate their children in good schools in North or abroad, money provided leisure for study, reflection, and statecraft -dominance by a favored aristocracy was undemocratic b/c it widened gap between rich and poor and hindered tax-supported public education
North had heavy economic stake in Dixieland
Southern planters owed northern bankers $300 million and this sum would be lost if Union dissolved -New England textile mills were fed with cotton raised by slaved and a disrupted labor system might cut off this vital supply and bring unemployment -Union during these years was bound together with cotton threads --> strong hostility developed in north against antislaveryites
Southern whites resented their mails being flooded with antislavery literature
blacks could interpret these drawings --> mob looted the office and burned pile of abolitionist propaganda -Washington govt in 1835 ordered southern postmasters to destroy abolitionist material and called on southern state officials to arrest federal postmasters who didn't comply
1850's abolitionist outcry made a deep dent in northern mind
citizens had come to see South as land of unfree and home of hateful institution -few northerners prepared to abolish slavery , but growing number opposed extending it to the western territories "free-soilers"
Blacks managed to sustain family life in slavery, most slaves raised in two-parent households
continuity of identity across generations was evidenced in the practice of naming children for grandparents or adopting the surname of a forebear's master -avoided marriage b.w. first cousins -African roots also visible through religious practices, molded their own distinctive religious forms mixer of Christian and African elements -emphasized aspects of Christian heritage that seemed most pertinent to their own situation esp. captivity of Israelites in Egypt -Africans also persisted in the responsorial style of preaching = congregation frequently punctuated the minister's remarks with assents and amens
Cotton
cotton accounted for half the value of American exports after 1840 and these earnings provided almost all of the capital that created economic growth
breeding slaves in way that cattle are bred was not openly encouraged
even tho this was said, blacks from Old South especially Virginia were sold down the river -women who produced 13 or 14 babies were prized as "rattlin good breeders" and some were promised their freedom if they produced 10 -white master would force attention towards female slaves = mulatto
slaves universally pined for freedom
many ran away in search of a family member -Gabriel led a rebellion in Virginia were foiled by its reformers -Denmark Vesey, a free black led another rebellion in SC --> also exposed by informers -Nat Turner, semiliterate, visionary black preacher led an uprising that slaughtered sixty Virginians = Nat Turner's rebellion was soon extinguished -rebellion when Africans aboard the Spanish slave ship Amistad --> seized command of vesel off coast of Cuba and attempted to sail back to Africa, sadly driven ashore on Long Island --> 2 years of imprisonment and several trials, freed by John Quincy Adams
The White Majority
many southern whites lived in mansions -below them were the less wealthy slaveowners = owned fewer than 10 slaves each, only about 1/4 of white southerners owned slaves or belonged to a slaveowning family -below them, smaller slaveowners who didn't own a majority of the slaves, but made up majority of the masters! (basically small farmers) household contained 1 or 2 slaves or maybe an entire slave family, style of lives resembled small farmers in North -lived in modest farmhouses and worked as hard as slaves -beneath the slaveowners were whites who owned no slaves at all, simple living from backcountry and mountain valleys, sneered off pretensions of the "cotton snobocracy" --> never participated in market economy, raised corn and hogs and lives isolated lives, punctuated(continued) periodically by extended socializing and sermonizing at religious camp meetings. -even lower than these were "poor white trash" (hillbillies) --> listless, shiftless, and mishapen (suffered from malnutrition, parasites)
South and cotton
produced more than half of the entire world's supply of cotton -Britain: leading industrial power and its most important single manufacture was cotton cloth from which 1/5 of the population used -75% of the cotton cloth fiber came from South! South had plan in mind -they knew that Britain was tied to them b/c of cotton and they thought that if war broke out between North and South, north would cut off outflow of cotton and then British factories would close their gates, starving mobs would force the London govt to break the blockade and the South would triumph
ppl predicted that economics would eventually expose slavery's profitability leading to its downfall
proven wrong by Eli Whitney's cotton gin -dominant southern crop icing out tobacco, rice, and sugar -demanded much labor chained slave to gin and planter to slave
Free blacks unpopular in the North
several states forbade their entrance and denied them right to vote -some barred blacks from public schools -northern blacks esp. hated by Irish immigrants who competed for menial jobs
Radical Abolitionism
shattering abolitionist blast came from William Lloyd Garrison --> published first antislavery newspaper called The Liberator! -one of the opening barrages of the Civil War -other dedicated abolitionists rallied to Garrison's standard and founded the American Anti-Slavery Society--> Wendall Phillips "abolition's golden trumpet"
Mountain whites
special category among white southerners, lived in valleys of Appalachian range (western Virginia, northern Georgia, and Alabama) -still lived under spartan frontier conditions, living ancestry because retained some Elizabethan speech forms and habits that had died out in Britain -hated planter aristocracy (arrogant planters and gangs of blacks) -constituted an important peninsula of Unionism -played a significant role in crippling confederacy during civil war, only concentrated Republican strength in the South were found in southern highlands
these whites without slaves had nothing on the line for them economically with the preservation of slavery, yet they were the biggest defenders of the slave system. Why?
they had hope of buying 1 or 2 slaves and hoping it turned them rich, wanted social mobility, also took pride in racial superiority which would be gone if slaves were freed -the whites were hardly better off than the slaves, wanted to ourank someone in status
Free Blacks: Slaves Without Masters
upper South, free black population traced origins to emancipation inspired in Revolutionary days -deeper south, many free blacks called mulattoes (half black and half white) -some blacks purchased their freedom $ from labor -many free blacks owned property esp. in New Orleans where a mulattoes prospered Ex: William T. Johnson, the barber of Natchez even owned slaves
