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Free Society: Planters set the tone for societal differences
Large plantations a minority, only really exist with cotton, sugar, and rice farms
Planter's Wives: Isolated
Small Slave Owners: 10% women own about 20 slaves, 20% merchants
Reasons to keep slavery: 1. Christian Institution for heathen Africans 2. Slavery in the Bible; justification 3. Black people ''naturally lazy,'' keeps them working 4. Blacks just have insubordinate intelligence 5. Whites dread emancipation
1850s- slaveownership falls from 31% to 25%
The Profits of Slavery *Profitable for individuals; 10% return/year *profitiability relied on consumer demand which increased at 5%/year; Britain was the biggest consumer The Slave Trade *Southern law defined slaves as chattel, personal property of owners, and market value increased along with the probability of slavery *Prices of the slaves varied based on: age, skills, & sex *Slae trade brought buyers and sellers together * Congress ended importation of slaves in 1807 so planters relied on internal trade, creating a hefty profit *!/2 of all slave sales separated family members *industrialization/urbanization fell behind compared to the free states *indifference to economic diversification most evident in Lower South Urban Slavery *urban slaves: artisans, semiskilled laborers, domestics; lived apart from owner's *more freedom; could hire themselves out *slavery decreased from 1820 to 1860, 22% to 10% Industrial slavery *industrialization risked promoting an antislavery class consciousness among manufacturing laborers that would challenge the property rights of slave owners *use of slaves as factory operatives threatened slave discipline * unwillingness to shift capital from plantation agriculture to factories ensured that manufacturing only played a minor economic role
The Upper South * distinguished from lower South by climate & geography *8 slave states of the upper north lay north of prime growing zones *slavery was less dominant compared to the cotton south *key difference between upper and lower south: lower was better suited for growing cotton with gangs of slave laborers A Period of Economic Adjustment *soil was extremely depleted *agricultural reform emerged in the 1830s as one proposed solution for the economic crisis *Edmund Ruffin: advocated farming reforms *reform: agricultural diversification Growing Urbanization *urbanization/industrialization farther along than in lower south *contained the leading manufacturing cities in slave-holding states *less tied to plantation with the better balance in agiculture, manufacturing, and trade The Decline of Slavery *slave owners exaggerated all threats to slavery *Upper South: gradual decrease in slave labor *Lower South: going strong in the slavery department
Slavery and the Old South 1800-1860
Slave Life and Culture *4 million slaves lived in South by 1860 *Most all slaves were African-Americans by then, not just Africans Work Routines *each state had its own slave code Diet and Housing *only provided with bare necessities *ate cornmeal, salt pork, vegetables, game, fish *infant mortality is 2x higher than among white settlers *2 sets os clothing *house was 15X15 foot one room cabin for 5 or 6 occupants Working Conditions *hard physical labor from sunup to sundown *15-20% of plnatation slaves were house servants or skilled artisans *nearly 3/4 of the slaves worked on plantations and medium-sized farms *10% were not attached to the land, laboring at jobs that white settlers shunned *industrial hands worked just as hard as field hands, but had more independence Families and Religion *both parents present in bout 2/3 of slave families *most slaves marriages stayed intact until death or sale of one spouse *slave parents had to suppress their rage at their powerlessness to protect their kids *slaves followed West African customs' *religion fused natural and spiritual world Resistance *Gabriel Prosser's Rebellion *Denmark Vesey's Conspiracy *Nat Turner's Rebellion *Underground Railroad
The Lower South *SC, TX, GA, FL, LA, MS, AL *best cotton land Cotton and Slaves *linkage of slaves and cotton was at the heart of the plantation system that spread west after the War of 1812 *plantations were the major economic institution *73,000 bales of cotton to 2 million bales by the midcentury *gGang system *prestigious social group: planters
