Cotton, Slavery and the South

Chapter 11

The Cotton Economy

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Crop Shifts

 Tobacco Rapidly exhausted the land  1830s many farmers in Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina were shifting to wheat    Rice S. Carolina, Georgia, Florida demanded substantial irrigation nine month growing time

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Sugar

Gulf Coast labor intensive long growing time Competition from Caribbean 

Long-Staple (Sea Island) Cotton

could only grow in coastal regions of the Southeast  

Short-Staple Cotton

hardier and coarser strain of cotton harder to process than long-staple cotton;

seeds difficult to remove

“King Cotton” Emerges

Physical Demand

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advent of the

cotton gin

made Short-Staple cotton much easier to produce

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Social Demand

textile industry in Britain in the 1820s and 1830s textile industry in North USA in the 1840s and 1850s existing cotton lands could not satisfy the demand 

Spread

From western areas of South Carolina and Georgia to Alabama and Mississippi, then into northern Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas

 by 1820 South produced 500,000 bales of cotton/yr.  by 1850 South produced 3,000,000 bales of cotton/yr  by 1860 South produced 5,000,000 bales of cotton/yr  at the start of the Civil War Cotton constituted nearly

two thirds of the total export trade of the USA and was bringing in $200 million a year

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Social impact

 whites quickly settled new lands in the south   many wealthy landowners transferred assets and slaves to a cotton plantation most were small slaveholders or slaveless farmers      blacks between 1820 and 1860 the number of slaves in Alabama leaped from 41,000 to 435,000 Mississippi 32,000 to 436,000 Virginia 425,000 to 490,000 410,000 slaves moved from upper south to Cotton states many were sold by troubled tobacco planters

Southern Trade and Industry

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Other business areas

Flour milling textile manufacturing iron manufacturing of southern textile manufactures 2% of the value of the raw cotton exported that year

     Commercial sector largely to serve the needs of the plantation economy weak banking system  brokers “factors” marketed planters’ crops  bankers, credit providers        Transportation Largely inadequate No taxes or investment put into public transportation Canals nonexistent Roads were crude and unstable railroads failed to tie the region together effectively Principal means of transportation was water  Northern Dependence “economic subordination”

Southern Society and Culture

   Philisophical Grandations southerners liked to think of themselves as representatives to a special way of life  values: chivalry, leisure and elegance   Actual Gradations aristocracy exercised influence beyond their numbers wealthy class had second homes in cities     wealthy whites traveled to Europe hosted social events on their plantations most planters lived rather modestly roles of women and “chivalry

    Social Stratification among whites     Statistics in 1850 the total white population of the south was over 6 million the number of slaveholders was 347,525 in 1860 the total white population of the south was over 8 million the number of slave holders was 383,673 rarely did poor farmers move into the ranks of the planter educational system did not provide opportunities to the poor     mountain region = only area of concentrated rebellion to southern lifestyle most farmers were dependent on the system      cousins voting  patriarchy “crackers” “sand hillers” “poor white trash” often lived on barren land (swamps, red hills) life of squalor looked down upon by even black slaves unified as members of a ruling race

The “Peculiar Institution”

  Slave Codes         forbade slaves to hold property to leave their master’s premises without permission to be out after dark to congregate with other slaves except in church carry firearms strike a white person, even in self defense testifying in court against a white person learning to read and write from whites

     Slave Codes Cont’d If a master killed a slave, the act was generally not considered a crime A slave faced the death penalty for killing or even resisting a white person Anyone with a trace of black ancestry was considered to be black  Size Mattered nature of relationship depended in part on the size of the plantation  white farmers on small farms generally supervised their slaves and sometimes worked alongside of them

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Size Mattered Cont’d

more personal relationship between farmers and slaves on small farms as opposed to large plantations  African Americans preferred to live on larger plantations more privacy  build own culture Majority of slaves lived on plantations of medium or large size Planters often hired “overseers” to represent them and manage slaves

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Slave Life

 Workday   (in the fields) longest workdays at harvest time task system (rice culture) given one job, once done, free for rest of day gang system (cotton, sugar and tobacco) divided into groups, each directed by a driver, and compelled to work for as many hours as the overseer considered a reasonable workday       (in house) slaves lived/worked closely to master often slept in “big house” punished more often because more visible less privacy first to leave when Emancipation came   slave women sexual advances/abuses from white male masters vindictive treatment from plantation mistresses

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Slave Life Cont’d

“Enough”    Masters usually furnished them with an adequate diet cheap clothing and shoes crude cabins / slave quarters   Health 1808 importation stops*      1820 one African American to every four whites 1840 one African American to every five whites high death rate higher infant mortality rate preserving a slave’s health meant preserving their usefulness

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Slave Life Cont’d

Slavery in the Cities rare masters rented out slaves on contract to work on docks, construction sites, and other unskilled jobs increase in free time gave slaves opportunities to mingle with free blacks and whites  urban black population in south declined fear of insurrection segregation was a means of social control intended to make up for the loosening of slavery in urban areas

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Slave Life Cont’d

  Free African Americans 250,000 free African Americans in slaveholding states at the start of the Civil War slaves had somehow made money, usually through a trade, independent of their master’s knowledge and bought their freedom (option open to only a few slaves)  some freed by masters with a conscience    Slave Trade   professional business of slave traders transported slaves over great distances short distances on foot and in chains bid on like cattle concealing “defects”

Jennifer Ong

  Slave Life Cont’d Slave Trade Cont’d     able males could bring in between $500 and $1700 depending on fluctuating price of cotton sexually attractive females could bring in much more separated children from parents illegal importation of slaves*       Acceptance and Rebellion  at two extremes, slavery could produce tow very different reactions “Sambo” accepting charade  Slave Rebel  Slave revolts were rare, but the possibility struck terror in the hearts of whites everywhere 1800 Gabriel Prosser – 1,000 slaves outside Richmond    1822 Denmark Vesey – 9,000 made preparations near Charleston 1831 Nat Turner – slave preacher*, South Hampton, Virginia, axes and guns, house to house, killed 60 John Brown’s Raid* running away... small numbers make it to the North or to Canada underground railroad* everyday behavior, refusal to work hard

Gabriel Prosser Nat Turner Denmark Vessey

The Culture of Slavery

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Language and Music

language sometimes incorporated African speech patterns into English Banjo came from Africa   Song used to pass the time in fields, songs disguised for masters, often misunderstood* privately, songs were politically charged and spiritual Jennifer Ong

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Religion

Slaves became Christian (Baptist or Methodist) due to missionary efforts Masters expected slaves to worship under the supervision of white ministers blacks developed their own version of Christianity, incorporating voodoo or African tradition more emotional that white Christianity; chanting and ecstatic conversation dream of freedom “Promised land”*

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Family Structure

  marriage not legal “nuclear family” was a model and a goal  Black women had children at earlier ages  Couples often lived on separate plantations and visited*  1/3 of all black families broken apart by slave trade  average slave might see 10 relatives sold in a lifetime  sexual advances of master  extended kinship networks  one of the most frequent causes of plight was a slaves desire to find a significant other Jennifer Ong