History Final
Manumission Act
(1782) (Reading: Alan Taylor) Significant because it allows slaves to become free, through emancipation from their masters or from buying their freedom, but also shows how important slavery was to Virginia, because it was a limited measure and not a lot of slaves were freed. Many owners would hire out instead of manumitting their slaves.
Haitian Revolution
: (1791-1804) Series of conflicts between Haitian slaves, colonists, the armies of the British and the French colonizers, and a number of other parties. Through the struggle, the Haitian people ultimately won independence from France and thereby became the first country to be founded by former slaves. Significant, because it showed that slaves could resist, revolt, and win. Caused a fear of revolt in the colonies and made slave owners stricter on looking out for any suspicious activity.
Gradual Emancipation
: emancipation that happens over time, usually newborn children whose parents are slaves would be freed at the age of 18,21, or 25 depending on the state. Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania (1780), New York, and New Jersey started gradual emancipation in the late 18th century ad early 19th century. Pennsylvania was first. Significant, because it showed an early success in abolitionism, a growing divide between north and south, and signifies that emancipation was a lengthy process and lasted for some people for decades. (Gabriel Prosser)
Wall Street, Richmond
Described by british artists Crowe and Thackery's report on the area in 1853. Narrow street that was the center of Richmond's slave trading, it contained 40-50 auction houses. Majority of slave trading activity took place on a few streets on the downward slope of shockoe hill leading to shockoe creek during the 1830's, 40's, and 50's. On slave auction house on wall street was Jamin Davis's "Auction and Comission house for the sale of negros" located at no.5 wall street. Contained many businesses for housing slaves while waiting for sale and also businesses that provided necessary items like clothes and shoes for the slaves. One slave pen/jail was Robert Lumpkin's jail where enslaved women and men stayed while they awaited sale. Another, Goodwins Jail where Solomon Northrup was held. Shockoe bottom was the area that contained the majority of auction houses and jails. Significant, because it was the second largest slave trading destination behind New Orleans and the center of slave trade in Virginia.
Bacon's Rebellion
In the 1660s, Governor Berkley was in a corrupt position of power. He was placed by the English king and held in power by high inconsistent taxes and infrequent elections. Berkley had a series of Indian policies that allied the colonists with the Susquehanna rather than the Dueg. This angered many people, including Nathaniel Bacon, who felt that he was protecting the Indians rather than ordinary back country settlers. Bacon, who had previous personal issues with Governor Berkley, allied with other backcountry protestors to challenge Berkley in agreeing to lead a campaign against the Indians. He used widespread hatred for Indians to fuel his agenda. He issued a Declaration of the people, burns the properties of wealthy white men and debt contracts. Nathaniel Bacon died in 1676 resulting in the loss of momentum, however this rebellion is significant as it showed powerful men what could be done by ordinary people. They issue a new set of laws that removed the common cause of the rebellion in issuing a compromise that shared privileges based on white manhood. This results in a racialized aftermath, prices for indentured servants go up and it becomes more economically sensible to buy slaves.
Partus Sequitur Ventrum/ Chattel Slavery
Inherited condition of a newborn slave, born into slavery. In Virginia in 1662 a law was passed declaring any child born to a slave was now a slave. It signified perpetual slavery and it meant that slavery will last until it is abolished (self-perpetuating). Took away any rights a slave would have had even before they were born.
Cotton Gin
Invented by Eli Whitney in 1793 and it did the job of picking fiber out of short staple cotton itself, but it did not harvest or plant the actual, so that was carried out by slaves. The cotton gin allowed American planters to have enough cotton to sell to dominate the world market. It made cotton the most essential product to the industrial revolution. The invention of the cotton gin caused a demand for more slaves and also the pushing system. The pushing system had overseers who enforced slave labor and increased quotas over time. This caused a huge increase in the amount of cotton produced.
Emancipation Proclamation
Issued by Abraham Lincoln January 1st, 1863, the proclamation freed all slaves in states that were rebelling against the union. The act was limited though, because its effectiveness depended on a Union Victory. The emancipation proclamation was significant, because it changed the war to a war of freedom for the Union, and added a moral force to the union cause. It also allowed freed slaves to fight for their freedom for the Union, which around 200,000 blacks did.
Lord Dunmore's Proclamation
November 7, 1775, Dunmore issued this proclamation offering freedom to enslaved men who ran away from masters in support of the resistance and agreed to fight for the king. Dunmore recruited enough slaves for a small African American regiment, but not many slaves came and many of whom did died of disease in camps. Dunmore's proclamation was significant, because it increased resentment of the British crown and encouraged powerful white men to be against the King
Paternalism
People in positions of power who use their power to subordinate others. Happened in slavery when people in power recognized the slave's humanity and used it against them. An example of this from "between the prices" by Walter Johnson is when slaves were taking a journey to be sold, women with children were usually not tied up, because traders knew they would not run away without their kid and it would be too difficult to run away with their kid so they would not run. While men on the other hand were usually chained together. Paternalism was significant, because it gave slave traders an easy way of keeping mothers and even fathers from running away and it allowed more room for other slaves without families to be chained. (Charles ball narrative first page) and (Between the prices by Walter Johnson)
Trouillot's Four Moments
Silences enter the process of historical production at four crucial moments 1. the moment of fact creation (the making of sources) 2. the moment of fact assembly (the making of archives) 3. the moment of fact retrieval (the making of narratives) 4. and the moment of retrospective significance (the making of history in the final instance). Significant because it provides the process to be able to put together silenced parts of history and make significant discoveries.
Slave Society vs Society with Slaves
Slave societies (societies largely dependent on slave labor for their economy) began to develop in the early 18th century in southern states such as: Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, and South Carolina due to tobacco production. Societies with slaves (slaves were present but were not as essential to economic success, usually worked in artisan or domestic labor) developed as early as the 17th century and were present in North states such as: Rhode Island, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Connecticut. Significant, because slaves became essential to economic success in the south and the development of slave societies and societies with slaves further divided people due to race and class.
Hiring Out
Started to become very popular in 1780's with the passage of the manumission act and the deterioration of soil due to tobacco. Most economically efficient way to use slaves. Crisis for Tobacco planters in tidewater and they start to plant other crops so they didn't need all their slaves, so instead they would hire them out to make more money. Significant because hiring out of slaves gave slaves some power to choose in who they worked for.
Commodification
The commodification of slaves refers to the transporting and selling of Africans as inanimate objects with no regard to their humanity. Africans were stuffed onto ships in "full complements" and many times ended up on top of each other. The disregard for Africans humanity allowed traders to treat people like commodities during the transatlantic slave trade. This is significant, because the commodification of Africans provided cheap labor to people living in the colonies and ultimately caused a large demand for slaves in the colonies, and America.
Domestic Slave Trade
The domestic slave trade was a slave trade inside the united states that began around the 1790's and lasted until 1865 and was estimated to have contained over 1 million trades. The domestic slave trade was known to have broken apart families during its existence. Although domestic slave trade existed before the American revolution (1765-1783) and the ban of slave trade from Africa (1808) after the revolution, the abolishment of primogeniture and entails caused a large increase in domestic slave trade throughout the country. After the abolishment of African slave trade, plantation owners had to rely on slaves already in the United States which consequentially increased the buying and selling of slaves. Also, the overuse of land from planting in the south caused many planters to move farther west into new land gained after the revolution, which caused a new area and a new demand for slave labor in the west, further increasing the domestic slave trade. With increased demand for slaves, many people started to sell slaves as a side job, because of the immense profits they could make.
Full Complement
The idea of packing as many slaves onto one ship as possible and the ship would be considered "full complement" and ready to sail. This was significant, because it was the start of commodification of humans from Africa, as they were treated like inanimate objects and their comfort was completely disregarded. As explained in The political economy of a slave ship the number of bodies that were stowed on a ship was limited only by the physical dimensions of bodies. Political economy of a slave ship (reading). Commodification, middle passage, transatlantic slave trade. Term used by slave traders.
Gang Labor
developed in early 19th century it was commonly used on cotton plantations in the south and also on tobacco and sugar plantations. In gang labor, groups of slaves were supervised by an overseer, but less than in the pushing system. Slaves were urged on by the whip and yells of a white overseer or a black driver.
Task System
developed in early 19th century, a mode of work organization peculiar to the lowcountry, further strengthened black autonomy. Under the task system, a slave's daily routine was sharply defined. With little direct white supervision, slaves and their black foremen conspired to preserve a large portion of the day for their own use, while meeting their masters' minimum work requirements. Slaves generally left the field sometime in the early afternoon, a practice that protected them from the harsh afternoon sun and allowed them time to tend their own gardens and stock. The task system provided slaves with a large measure of control over their own lives. The autonomy generated by the task allowed for the existence of lowland black culture. Within the confines of the overwhelmingly black countryside, African culture survived well.
Pushing System
developed in the early 19th century and was commonly used for cotton production in the deep south. Each slave was assigned a daily picking quota, which increased steadily over time. An example of a slave who was in the pushing system is Charles ball, who was a slave in Maryland, but was sold to a cotton plantation in South Carolina where he endured the harsh conditions of a slave working under the pushing system. This system is strongly associated with violence and whipping.
Customary Rights
rights that can be taken away at any time (from enslaved people). Finishing a task and having free time, marriage, medical needs, full meals, right to acquire property, practicing religion. Rights that slaves earned over time. Significant, because it offers slaves autonomy, self-expression, maintain culture, and gave slaves a sense of freedom.
Transatlantic Slave Trade
segment of the global slave trade that transported between 10 million and 12 million enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas from the 16th to the 19th century. The transatlantic slave trade brought slaves to the new world and played a crucial role in the development of the modern world economy. Slaves provided the labor power necessary to settle and develop the New World. Slaves also produced the products for the first mass consumer markets: sugar, tobacco, coffee, cocoa, and later cotton. Slavery was an integral part of the earliest multinational systems of credit and trade that arose in the 15th and 16th centuries. The African slave trade also stimulated European shipping, manufacturing, and gun making. Slaves were packed on ships, that were normally overcrowded and were melting pots for infectious diseases like smallpox, measles, influenza, and typhus that killed many slaves along the voyage. Slaves were often treated very poorly, and these voyages often saw many deaths, such as the voyage of slave ship sally (known as one of the deadliest voyages) which set sail in 1764 and had over 108 slaves perish during the trip before reaching Rhode Island. Trade ends in the late 1800's.
The Middle Passage
the middle passage was the second part of the three-part journey for slaves on their way to labor. It is significant as it was the most notorious part from coastal Africa to the Americas, of the slave trade. Slaves on ships were confined in spoon positions, they could only lay down, they were chained to at least one other person. There was little food and water as their humanity was seen as irrelevant in the search for profits Significant because it brought over slaves who provided necessary labor in the colonies
