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THE SOUTH AND THE SLAVERY CONTROVERSY, 1793-1860. Chapter 16. Characteristics of the Antebellum South. Primarily agrarian. Economic power shifted from the “upper South” to the “lower South.” “Cotton Is King!” * 1860 5 mil. bales a yr. (57% of total US exports).
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Characteristics of the Antebellum South • Primarily agrarian. • Economic power shifted from the “upper South” to the “lower South.” • “Cotton Is King!” * 1860 5 mil. bales a yr. (57% of total US exports). • Very slow development of industrialization. • Rudimentary financial system. • Inadequate transportation system.
Cotton is King • In 1787 many in both south and the north thought that slavery was on its way out. • Reasons? • They were WRONG • Impact of Eli Whitney’s cotton gin.
King Cotton • Cotton becomes dominant cash crop in south • Southern planters buy new land and slaves aggressively • Northern shippers make big profits shipping cotton. • Britain highly dependent on American cotton. • Britain’s most important product in the 1850s was cotton cloth. • About 75% of its cotton came from US. • 1/5th of Britain’s workers directly or indirectly got livelihood from cotton processing.
Changes in Cotton Production 1820 1860
Slaves Of The Slave System • Problems with plantation system: • “Raped” the land • Economy was monopolistic • System was economically unstable • Led to a dangerous dependence on one crop • South lacked diversity
The Planter “Aristocracy” • Before the Civil War planter aristocracy controls government in the South. • 1850, only 1733 families owned more than 100 slaves. • Cream of the political and social leadership. • Owned the lion’s share of the wealth.
Southern Society (1850) “Slavocracy”[plantation owners] 6,000,000 The “Plain Folk”[white yeoman farmers] Black Freemen 250,000 Black Slaves3,200,000 Total US Population 23,000,000[9,250,000 in the South = 40%]
Whites Without Slaves • Majority • Mostly subsistence farmers on poorer land • Bottom of group: “Poor white trash”, “rednecks”, “crackers” • Had no stake in the slave economy, but were some of the strongest supporters of the system • Why? • Mountain whites: very poor, resented slavery, “Hillbillies”
Plantation Slavery • 4 Mill. black slaves • Basement of southern society. • Numbers had quadrupled since 1800. • Stagnated the southern economy. • Slave population moved south as prime cotton land shifted to the Deep South.
Tara – Plantation Reality or Myth? Hollywood’s Version?
Slave Life • Hard work, ignorance and oppression • No political or legal rights. • Floggings common • Many places illegal to teach them to read. • Slave-breakers. • By 1860 most slaves concentrated in the Deep South.
Slaves posing in front of their cabin on a Southern plantation.
Slave Accoutrements Slave MasterBrands Slave muzzle
Slave Accoutrements Slave leg irons Slave tag, SC Slave shoes
Slave Resistance • Refusal to work hard. • Isolated acts of sabotage. • Escape via the Underground Railroad.
Slave Rebellions • There were slave rebellions, but never successful. Often informed upon by other slaves. • 1800 Gabriel in Richmond • Denmark Vesey, Charleston in 1822. • Most famous was rebellion by Nat Turner in Va. in 1831. • Significance?
Slave Rebellions in the Antebellum South: Nat Turner, 1831
Early Abolition • Early abolitionism. Quakers. • American Colonization Society (1817) • Liberia. 15000 freed blacks transported to Africa • Why don’t more American Blacks go back to Africa?.
Growth of Abolition • In the 1830s abolitionist turned into a crusade. • Why? • Lyman Beecher, head of Lane Theological Seminary, hotbed of early abolitionism. Very influential and father of • Harriet Beecher Stowe • Henry Ward Beecher • Catharine Beecher
Radical Abolition • 1831 William Lloyd Garrison burst onto the scene. • Founded the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1833.
Black Abolitionists • Sojourner Truth • David Walker—Militant. • Frederick Douglas • Greatest of the Black abolitionists • escaped from bondage in 1838 at 21. • Protégé of Garrison Frederick Douglas
The South Lashes Back • Before 1830: • More anti-slavery societies in south than north • Southerners openly debated merits of slavery. • After 1830 debate in South ends and many southerners defend as positive good. What changed? • Nat Turners rebellion in 1831 • Nullification Crisis • Reaction to Northern criticism • Southern preachers arguing that slavery supported by Bible
The Abolitionist Impact In The North • Abolitionists were not particularly popular in the North for some time. Why? • North had heavy stake in the cotton of the south. • Textile mills relied on southern cotton. • Many northerners feared political controversy. • Many northern politicians carefully distanced themselves from the abolitionists. • Abolitionists harassed • Yet, by 1850 abolitionism had gained strength and taken root as a popular cause.
