What Are Your Impressions?
• How prevalent was slave ownership
in the South?
• How were slaves treated?
• How did the demand for slaves
impact prices?
• How important was cotton to the
American economy?
The South
• Cotton was the most
important Southern crop and
America’s major export
• South not impacted by
immigration, urbanization, or
industrialization- it remained
primarily agricultural
• Older sections of Virginia,
Maryland, and North Carolina
were shifting from tobacco to
wheat
The South
• Edmund Ruffin found that marl introduced
into the soil increased wheat yields
• Southerners also imported Peruvian
guano as fertilizer
• New methods of farming, crop rotation,
and improved drainage increased crop
yields
Economics of Slavery
• The increased importance of
cotton increased the importance
of slavery
• Price of slaves rose until by
1850 a slave was worth as much
as $1800
• Crop value per slave rose from
$15 to $125
• High prices for slaves in the
Deep South caused a shift of
slaves from older regions to
“down the river”
Economics of Slavery
• A great migration of slaves
occurred as they were
shipped further west from
the seaboard states
• Slave trading became big
business- but impacted
slave families as husbands,
wives, and children were
separated (mostly in the Old
South)
Economics of Slavery
• Because it was so lucrative,
the business of slave trading
lost its social stigma and men
of high social station engaged
in it
• Since slaves were so
expensive, holders of slaves
became smaller in number
• By the Civil War, only 1 in 4
Southern white farmers owned
any slaves at all
Economics of Slavery
• Small farmers grew the staple crops- they
might have a slave or two toiling alongside
• “Poor white trash” lived in squalor in the
mountains eking out what they could from
the poor soil
• Large plantations grew commercial crops
and usually had profits of %10 or more
Economics of Slavery
• Slavery resulted in the South’s failure to
develop locally owned marketing and
transportation facilities
• Transportation cost the South about $15
per bale of cotton- most of the money
going to Northern capitalists
• Intelligence and skills of slaves wasted- in
fact, South less than %80 of whites literate
Antebellum Plantation Life
• Plantations were like small
villages
• Southern homes were
centers of manufacturingturning out clothing and
other textiles
• Wives often ran the
plantation
• White children were raised
by white family and slaves
• Slave children normally did
not begin work until age 67
Sociology of Slavery
• Treatment of slaves depended on
the master- some did not whip while
others whipped at least once a
month
• Average of 20 lashes for small
offences such as shirking work and
39 or more for running away
• Some slaves were whipped to death
but by 1821 laws allowed masters to
be charged with murder if a slave
died from abuse- conviction resulted
in a large fine (one woman was
fined $214.28)
Sociology of Slavery
• Most owners provided
adequate clothing, food, and
housing (slaves were valuable)
• Slave infant mortality was
twice that of whites and life
expectancy about 5 years less
than whites
• The US was only place where
slavery grew due to natural
increase (only %5 of slaves to
the New World went to North
America- ½ million grew to 4
million by 1860)
Sociology of Slavery
• Masters generally felt responsible for their
slaves and slaves were dependent and
often imitative of their masters
• From their close proximity arose every
type of human relationship
• Slaves adapted to the system while
attempting to resist it
Sociology of Slavery
• Because slaves often
appeared happy and were
not overtly rebellious, whites
persuaded themselves
slaves were content with the
system
• As Northern opposition to
slavery mounted, the system
hardened towards slaves
• The fear of revolt caused
harsh treatment
Sociology of Slavery
• The 1822 Denmark Vesey
Conspiracy resulted in the
execution of 37 slaves with
another 30+ deported
• After a Louisiana revolt, 16
slaves were decapitated
• The 1831 Nat Turner revolt
in Virginia killed 57 whites
• After the Turner revolt, the
South made it harder for
masters to free slaves
Sociology of Slavery
• Slavery did not flourish in
cities and cities did not
flourish in regions of slaverythe South had few large cities
• Southerners disliked free
blacks as it proved blacks
were more than childlike
savages and they set a bad
example
• Free blacks were barred from
occupations where they might
cause trouble
Sociology of Slavery
• Some slaves were smuggled into the
South from Africa but the navies of the US,
Britain, and France patrolled African coast
Psychological Effects of Slavery
• The injustice of slavery impacted both
slave and master
• Slaves resisted through revolts, shirking
work, and passive resistance
• Slavery gave weak and shiftless whites a
scapegoat
• Slavery reinforced the patriarchal system
Manufacturing in the South
• Small flour and lumber mills flourished
• Iron and coal were mined
• By 1825 textile manufacturing was on the
rise due to water power
• Less than %15 of manufactured goods
came from the South
• Almost all goods and services came from
the North
Northern Industrial Juggernaut
• In the North – rapid industrial growth
• 1859 – Northeast produced $1.27 billion out of
$2 billion
• Steam power facilitated by rich coal fields in
Pennsylvania
• American society open to innovation
• Inventions included vulcanization of rubber,
sewing machine, cylinder press, screw-making
machine, friction match, and the lead pencil
Northern Industrial Juggernaut
• Machines substitute for shortage of skilled
labor
• By 1850, US led world in manufacture of
goods by precision instruments
• Expansion westward uncovered new
resources
• Workers open to labor-saving devices
(Luddites)
• Society more open to corporations
Northern Industrial Juggernaut
• Immigration stimulated manufacturing
• Gold finds added to supply of capital
• European investors financed American
businesses
• Improvements in transportation made
goods cheaper
• Middle class = expanding national markets
Nation of Immigrants
• Jobs created by industrial
growth attracted
immigrants
• Attitudes of “native”
population
• Social, racial, and
economic rivalries
• Immigrants brought about
end of hiring young
women (Waltham
System)
The Irish
How Wage Earners Lived
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Low wages and crowding increased slums in cities
City services virtually non-existent
Factory towns - small gardens possible
Cities – even grass unusual
All members of poor families had to labor to survive
Unions established with varying results – general
unionization did not arrive until after Civil War
• Unionization seemed “un-American” – wage labor looked
down upon
Progress and Poverty
• Despite wealth in US and average
standard of living, urban worker existed in
conditions comparable to slavery
• Wealth gap increased
Foreign Commerce
• Increase in both imports and exports
• Exported more raw materials and imported
more manufactured goods
• Britain remained biggest trading partner
• Sailing packets facilitated movement of
people and freight
• NE made good living through whaling
• Advancements in ships- the clipper ship
Foreign Commerce
• Clipper ships
provided swift
passage to California
gold fields
• Cut transit time from
5-6 months to 3
months
• Speed impacted by
weight – did not carry
bulky goods – carried
specialty goods
Clipper Ship
Steam Conquers the Atlantic
• Oceangoing steamships came later than
river ships due to fuel and stability
constraints
• Soon eclipsed the clipper ships (average
speed versus bursts)
• Construction of iron ships spelled end of
dominance of American shipbuilders
• Steamships resulted in drastic decrease in
cost of freight and passage
Steam Conquers the Atlantic
• Conditions for
poorer
passengers poorcrowded and foul
• Allowed even the
poorest ability to
migrate
Canals & Railroads
• Canal building
increased
internal and
external trade
• By 1840- 3,326
miles of canals
• Traffic on Erie
Canal 20 times
greater in 1851
than 1836
Canals & Railroads
• First railroad built in England
• By 1840- US had 3,328 miles
of RR
• Most track lay east of
Appalachian Mts.
• Engineering problems with
track and locomotives made
growth of RR slow process
• By 1860- US had 30,636 miles
of RR
• By 1855- RR connected east
with St. Louis and Chicago
Financing the Railroads
• Railroad construction
required immense amounts
of labor and capital
• Private investors supplied
about ¾ of the money used
in railroads prior to 1860
• Funds were raised
periodically through the use
of “calls” – sometimes if a
railroad made money that
money could be used to
complete the project
Financing the Railroads
• Railroads in rich regions had no problem
attracting capital- other regions demanded
“mixed enterprises” (half the capital
coming from state and local government)
• Most often Congress blocked federal aid
to railroads but that changed with the
Illinois Central which was granted land
(200 foot right-of-way with strips of land 1
mile wide and 6 miles deep)
Financing the Railroads
• By mortgaging the land or selling it to
farmers, the Illinois Central raised the
funds to construct the RR
• This led to more grants to more than 40
RRs
• Some businessmen made more money
supplying the RRs than in running them
Railroads and the Economy
• Agriculture increased as farmers could
now transport crops to market at
affordable rates
• Farmers moved into formerly inaccessible
territories
• Railroads sold farmland at low rates
• Access to markets caused farmers to
become more efficient and increase output
Railroads and the Economy
• New tools were invented to
make farming easier such as
the steel plowshare and the
mechanical reaper by
McCormick
• Wheat output rose nearly 75%
due to the reaper
• Cities such as Buffalo and
Cincinnati prospered but
Chicago grew the most due to
railroads
Railroads and the Economy
• Railroads stimulated more than just agriculturesuch as Investment banking and bar and sheet
iron production
• The proliferation of trunk lines and canals led to
a sharp drop in freight and passenger rates
which helped increase commerce
• Food that fed the factories on the east coast
came from the west via railroads
• European demand for American foodstuffs made
American farms boom
Railroads and Sectional Conflict
• Increased production and cheap
transportation boosted the Western
farmer’s income and standard of living
• Changes had their costs
Farmers became dependent on middlemen
Buying a farm required more capital due to
higher land costs and cost of machinery
More farmers became laborers and tenant
farmers
Railroads and Sectional Conflict
• The West and East became more
integrated due to railroads and business
• These economic ties became cultural and
many regions became anti-slave
• The South failed to forge links with the
Northwest as it had no like transportation
system- the South relied on the Mississippi
River
The Eve of the Civil War
• The mid-1840s to the mid-1850s was a period of
remarkable economic growth due to railroads,
canals, and the settlement of new land
• This boom took a turn for the worse after the
Crimean War and Europe’s lack of demand for
American food- the Panic of 1857
• Demand for Southern cotton remained high and
the South believed it was immune to downturns
and could be better off out of the Union (“King
Cotton”)
Quiz
• This was the major American export in the
middle of the 1800’s
• During the middle 1800’s, this was the
economics of slavery
• This was the approximate number of white
planters/farmers with slaves
• Much of the South’s cotton trade was
controlled by them
Quiz
• Generalization about the treatment of
slaves is difficult because of this
• Nat Turner became notorious for this
• This was the Southern reaction to the Nat
Turner Rebellion
• This most accounted for the lack of cities
and industry in the South
Quiz
• Manufacturing in the South can be
described as this
• By the 1850’s, the US led in type of
manufacturing
• Wage laborers survived in the cities
because of this
• Clipper ships were popular for this reason
Quiz
• Railroad growth lagged initially due to this
• Before 1860, ¾ of railroad investment
came from her
• This was the first railroad to benefit from
federal support
• The steel plowshare and his mechanical
reaper helped make US farmers more
productive
Quiz
• This competed the most with the railroads
• The decreasing importance of this
increased conflict between the South and
the other sections
• How would the US economy be described
in the 1840’s – 1850’s?