Part 3-Causes of Civil War---Reconstruction
King Cotton
•Cotton became a huge agricultural factory-Yields were bountiful
•Economic Spiral-planters bought more slaves and land
•North reaped benefits also-How?
•By 1840 cotton accounted for 1/2 of U.S. exports-South produced
more than 1/2 of the world’s cotton-In Britain, 1/5 of the population
relied on cotton for a living-75% of the British supply came from
the South
•Southern leaders knew of Britain’s reliance-”Cotton was King”
Planter Aristocracy
• Oligarchy-Government by a few
• 1850-1,733 families owned more than 100 slaves-Political &
Social control-Plantations!
• Advantages: Education for their young, $ for leisure and study,
reflection, and statecraft. Men like Jefferson Davis and John
Calhoun-Obligation to serve
• Very undemocratic-widened gap between rich and poor
• Sir Walter Scott-author who idealized the feudal society
• Really a capitalistic society but he helped to perpetuate the
theory of the civilized in the image of a sophisticated Europe
• Accused of starting the Civil War-called a “Sham Civilization”
Slaves
• Myth of moonlight and magnolia
• Agriculture was costly & wasteful-”Land Butcher”-many moved
• Economic Structure was monopolistic-as land wore thin, many
sold holdings to more prosperous neighbors
• Plantation system was financially unstable-Temptation of over
speculation of land & slaves
• Major expenses(fed for as little as 10 cents per day)
• Heavy investment of capital-$1,200 for excellent field handsmay run away or deliberately hurt themselves, disease could
wipe several out
• King Cotton led to one crop dependency-discouraged
diversification
• South began to resent North making huge gains off South
• King Cotton did not allow immigration-1860-4.4% foreign born
in South, 18.7% in the North
• Competition of slave labor-High cost of land-Ignorance of cotton
growing
White Majority
• Below the 1,733 who owned 100 or more slaves-345,000
families (1,725,000 whites)-over 2/3 of these 255,268 owned
fewer than 10 slaves each-only 1/4 of white Southerners owned
slaves or belonged to a slaveowning family
• Lesser masters-small farmers w/ a slave and maybe a slave
family, labored alongside slaves
• Most owned no slaves-1860-6.1 million-3/4 of South’s whites
• They were subsistence farmers-corn, hogs
• Scorned by prosperous “hillbillies” etc.-actually sick
• Why defend slavery? 1. American dream 2. Racial
Superiority?
Free Blacks
• 250,000 by 1860-many emancipated during Revolutionary
times in upper South-Deep South had many free as a result of
white planter & black mistress-some bought freedom
• Not many rights-could not testify vs. whites, always run risk of
kidnapping, hated by defenders of slavery
• 250,000 more in North-plight not much better in North
• Why not better in North? North-South mentalities?
Plantation Slavery
• By 1860 4 million slaves-cotton had spurred rise in slave
numbers
• Slave trade ended in 1808 yet smuggling continued-Death
Penalty for slaves yet very rare
• Slaves were investments-$2 billion in capital by 1860-Protected
as a major investment? Some dangerous tasks were assigned
to immigrants that were dangerous
• By 1860 a majority of slaves resided in S. Carolina, Florida,
Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana
• Breeding was not encouraged yet women who bore many
children were prized-white masters also forced themselves on
female slaves-most products of this were enslaved
• Auctions along w/rape were most brutal aspects of slave
system-Families Broken!
Life in Slavery
• Varied from plantation to plantation-worked dawn until dusk under a
“driver”
• No real civil or political rights-floggings common-”breakers”
• Not really a good tactic to beat the slaves?
• By 1860-most slaves in “Black Belt”-rough & raw compared to Old
South
• Most lived on large plantations & in some cases made up large
majorities of county populations
• Family resilience & stable families remained-not marrying first
cousins like In Bred Planters
• Religious Practices: Christian and African elements
Burdens of Bondage
• Degrading, could not be taught to read-9/10 of adult slaves by
1860 could not read-no “American Dream”
• Methods of revolt: slow work (lazy myth), stole food & goods,
sabotaged equipment, poisoned food, run away
• 1800 Gabriel Prosser, 1822 Denmark Vesey, 1831 Nat Turnerkilled 60 Virginians
• Whites felt they lived in an area under siege, never knew when
revolt could come
• Fears led to race superiority theory-whites degraded
themselves too
Early Abolition
• Slavery led to abolition movement-American Colonization
Society
• 1822 Liberia formed as a haven (Monrovia), 15,000 over 4
decades-most did not want to go
Abolitionism
• 1830-movement gained steam-1833 British freed slaves in W.
Indies-Religious awakening moved many to oppose slavery
• Theodore Dwight Weld-aided by Arthur & Lewis Tappan-paid
his way to Lane Theological Seminary-presided over by Lyman
Beecher-Weld’s pamphlet, American Slavery as It is-influenced
H.B. Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Radical Abolitionism
• 1831 Willm Lloyd Garrison-The Liberator-30 year war of words
• 1833 American Anti Slavery Society
• Sojourner Truth-freed black woman in NY
• Martin Delaney-black recolonization
• Frederick Douglass-escaped in 1838-tremendous oratorNarrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
• Garrison complained and burned constitution-no real solution
• Douglass-looked to politics to rid slavery-Backed Liberty, Free
Soil, Republican Party-when does evil need bloodshed
South Lashes Back
• Antislavery existed in South-ended in 1831-1832
• After Virginia decided to not end slavery-South tightened down
• 1831-Nat Turner’s rebellion sent a scare throughout
• Nullification issue in 1832 upset South more
• Proslavery-Positive good, supported by Bible, Aristotle, good for
Africans, master-slave relationship, contrast slavery w/Northern
industry, cared for in old age
• South grew more and more intolerant & grew violent in its
defense & argument-Gag Resolution of 1836
• 1835 Fed Govmnt ordered southern postmasters to destroy
abolitionist literature
Abolitionist Impact in North
• Garrison and others not popular in North
• Northerners revered Constitution & talk of secession angered
many
• North had economic interest in South, North bankers &
creditors owed $300 million by southern planters, Industry fed
by cotton
• Repeated tongue-lashings by North eventually led to violenceLewis Tappan’s house ransacked in 1834 in NY, Garrison w/
rope around neck led through streets of Boston in 1835, E.P.
Lovejoy killed in 1837, Politicians avoided abolitionists
• By 1850s abolitionists really made a dent in southern mindmore & more began to openly oppose expanding slavery