S
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:
 WHAT WAS PECULIAR ABOUT ANTEBELLUM SLAVERY?
 PECULIAR: (1) STRANGE; (2) PARTICULAR, INDIVIDUAL
 WHAT WERE THE SOCIOECONOMIC JUSTIFICATIONS AND
EFFECTS OF ANTEBELLUM SLAVERY?
 WHAT ARE THE CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF AMERICAN
EXCEPTIONALISM/ NATIONALISM?
 WHAT CAUSED THE CIVIL WAR?
EARLY EMANCIPATION IN THE NORTH AND NORTHWEST
SLAVE AND FREE STATES AS OF 1840 (UNDER MISSOURI
COMPROMISE)
THE PECULIAR (STRANGE) INSTITUTION
1807: BRITAIN ABOLISHED THE SLAVE TRADE, ENFORCED BY
ROYAL NAVY
1820S: NEWLY INDEPENDENT REPUBLICS OF CENTRAL &
SOUTH AMERICA ABOLISHED SLAVERY
1833: SLAVERY ABOLISHED THROUGHOUT THE BRITISH
EMPIRE.
1844: SLAVERY ABOLISHED IN THE FRENCH COLONIES.

BY 1844, IN THE WESTERN WORLD, LEGAL SLAVERY
EXISTED ONLY IN THE U.S.
THE PECULIAR (PARTICULAR, INDIVIDUAL) INSTITUTION
JOHN C. CALHOUN, SPEECH TO U.S. SENATE “ON THE RECEPTION
OF ABOLITION PETITIONS”
“THE PECULIAR INSTITUTION OF THE SOUTH THAT, ON THE
MAINTENANCE OF WHICH THE VERY EXISTENCE OF THE
SLAVEHOLDING STATES DEPENDS, IS PRONOUNCED TO BE
SINFUL AND ODIOUS . . . .
I HOLD THAT IN THE PRESENT STATE OF CIVILIZATION, WHERE
TWO RACES OF DIFFERENT ORIGIN, AND DISTINGUISHED BY
COLOR, AND OTHER PHYSICAL DIFFERENCES, AS WELL AS
INTELLECTUAL, ARE BROUGHT TOGETHER, THE RELATION NOW
EXISTING IN THE SLAVEHOLDING STATES BETWEEN THE TWO, IS,
INSTEAD OF AN EVIL . . . . good—a positive good
NEVER BEFORE HAS THE BLACK RACE OF CENTRAL AFRICA,
FROM THE DAWN OF HISTORY TO THE PRESENT DAY, ATTAINED A
CONDITION SO CIVILIZED AND SO IMPROVED, NOT ONLY
PHYSICALLY, BUT MORALLY AND INTELLECTUALLY. IT CAME
AMONG US IN A LOW, DEGRADED, AND SAVAGE CONDITION,
AND IN THE COURSE OF A FEW GENERATIONS IT HAS GROWN UP
UNDER THE FOSTERING CARE OF OUR INSTITUTIONS, REVILED
AS THEY HAVE BEEN, TO ITS PRESENT COMPARATIVELY CIVILIZED
CONDITION . . . .
ABOLITION AND THE UNION CANNOT CO-EXIST.”
THE ECONOMICS OF SLAVERY
 SOME EFFECTS OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION:
 COTTON GIN MADE COTTON CHEAPER TO PROCESS
 DEVELOPMENT OF TEXTILE INDUSTRY INCREASED WORLD
MARKET FOR COTTON
LAND UNDER COTTON
PRODUCTION, 1820 AND 1860
 THE SOUTH HAD A DIVERSIFIED AGRICULTURAL
ECONOMY – BUT COTTON WAS THE PREDOMINANT CROP IN
THE ANTEBELLUM ERA
COTTON BELT
 BY 1830 COTTON REPLACED TOBACCO AS THE MAIN CASH
CROP – AND PLANTATION AGRICULTURE HAD MOVED INLAND
FROM THE UNHEALTHY CHESAPEAKE REGION
 WESTWARD EXPANSION IN THE SOUTH WAS BASED ON THE
QUEST FOR MORE COTTON LAND
 BY THE 1840s, ¾ OF THE WORLD COTTON SUPPLY CAME
FROM THE SOUTHERN U.S.

THIS WAS STILL TRUE IN 1860
 MORE COTTON PLANTATIONS = MORE SLAVES
YEAR
COTTON
EXPORTS
(BALES)
SLAVES
1830
750,000
≈ 800,000
1850
2.85 MILLION
≈ 3.2 MILLION
 SLAVE LABOR WAS STILL ESSENTIAL TO PLANTATION
AGRICULTURE
SLAVES PICKING AND BALING COTTON ON A MISSISSIPPI
PLANTATION
SLAVES GINNING COTTON
 MYTHS AND FACTS ABOUT THE ECONOMICS OF SLAVERY:
 MYTH: SLAVERY WAS UNPROFITABLE AND WAS ON ITS WAY
OUT BY THE TIME OF THE CIVIL WAR
 FACTS (DEMONSTRATED BY ROBERT FOGEL AND STANLEY
ENGERMANN IN TIME ON THE CROSS):
 SLAVERY YIELDED AN AVERAGE 8 – 10% RETURN ON
INVESTMENT – HIGHER THAN THE AVERAGE RETURN ON
INVESTMENT IN NORTHEASTERN INDUSTRY
 ECONOMIES OF SCALE, AND INTENSIVE UTILIZATION OF
LABOR MADE SOUTHERN PLANTATIONS ABOUT 35% MORE
EFFICIENT THAN NORTHERN FAMILY FARMS
 FROM 1840 – 1860, PER CAPITA INCOME IN THE SOUTH
INCREASED MORE (1.7%) THAN IN THE NORTH (1.3%) OR THE
NATIONWIDE AVERAGE (1.4%).
 THE WORLD DEMAND FOR COTTON INCREASED FROM 1830
THROUGH 1860 (AND SUPPLY CLOSELY MATCHED DEMAND).
FACT: IN 1860 THE AMERICAN SOUTH, IF
INDEPENDENT, WOULD HAVE BEEN ONE OF
THE WEALTHIEST COUNTRIES IN THE
WORLD BASED ON THE REVENUE OF THE
COTTON TRADE.

 OTHER ASPECTS (DISADVANTAGES?) OF THE SOUTHERN
ECONOMY
 LITTLE INDUSTRY – RELIED MOSTLY ON IMPORTS FOR
MANUFACTURED GOODS
 THERE WAS SOME INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT – EXAMPLE
ABOVE: GRANITEVILLE TEXTILE CO., RICHMOND, VA, EST. 1845
COMPARE THE TRANSPORTATION REVOLUTION, NORTH AND SOUTH:
FEWER RAILROADS AND CANALS IN SOUTH, AND SOUTHERN RAILROADS
MOSTLY MOSTLY SHORT LINES
 SOIL DEPLETION: SOUTH NEEDED NEW COTTON LAND,
NEEDED TO EXPAND (BUT THAT WAS NOT OUT OF THE
QUESTION – TEXAS FIRST, THEN CUBA AND SOUTH AMERICA
BECKONED!)
 > 75% OF SOUTHERNERS DID NOT OWN SLAVES!
SLAVEOWERS IN THE SOUTH, 1850
JOHN C. CALHOUN’S PLANTATION HOME, FORT HILL, S.C. – AND
THE HOME OF A YEOMAN FARMER
THE YEOMAN FARMER MIGHT OWN A FEW
SLAVES, BUT WOULD WORK ALONGSIDE THEM.
JOHN C. AND HIS CLASS DID NOT!
YEOMAN FARMER CLASS IDENTIFIED WITH
PLANTER CLASS
• HATED PLANTERS
POOR WHITES – MOUNTAIN PEOPLE • HATED BLACKS
• HATED EVERYBODY
SOUTHERN SOCIETY (1850)
6,000,000
“SLAVOCRACY”
[PLANTATION OWNERS]
THE “PLAIN FOLK”
[WHITE YEOMAN FARMERS,
POOR WHITES]
BLACK FREEMEN
250,000
BLACK SLAVES
3,200,000
TOTAL U.S. POPULATION --> 23,000,000
[9,250,000 IN THE SOUTH = <40%]
SOME SOUTHERN
STATES (LIKE
MISSOURI) DID NOT
ALLOW FREE BLACKS
TO RESIDE THERE
SOME PROHIBITED
SLAVEOWNERS FROM
EMANCIPATING
SLAVES
RESTRICTIONS LIKE
THIS BECAME MORE
COMMON AFTER NAT
TURNER’S REBELLION
WHICH STATES HAD THE LARGEST PERCENTAGE OF FREE AFRICANAMERICANS? WHY?
SLAVE LIFE
 MUCH OF WHAT PEOPLE “KNOW” ABOUT SLAVERY
(INCLUDING SOME AUTHORS OF SOME TEXTBOOKS) IS
MYTHS SPREAD BY ABOLITIONISTS
 THE MYTHS GAINED CURRENCY BECAUSE THE SOUTH
LOST THE CIVIL WAR, AND HISTORY IS WRITTEN BY
WINNERS, NOT LOSERS
 SOME MYTHS AND FACTS ABOUT SLAVE LIFE
 MYTH – SLAVEOWNERS/ WHITE OVERSEERS ROUTINELY
KILLED, WHIPPED, MAIMED, STARVED SLAVES
 FACT: SLAVES WERE EXPENSIVE, VALUABLE LIVESTOCK.
SLAVEOWNERS WANTED SLAVES TO BE ALIVE, HEALTHY,
WITH NO INCENTIVES TO ESCAPE
 PUNISHMENTS FOR ESCAPE ATTEMPTS WERE SEVERE (SEE
NEXT SLIDE) – BUT OTHERWISE SEVERE PUNISHMENTS WERE
RARE
 N.B. THAT WHIPPING WASN’T CONSIDERED TOO SEVERE
FOR WHITE SAILORS, LABORERS, ETC.
SLAVES WERE
EXPENSIVE
SLAVEOWNERS HAD
NO INCENTIVE TO
KILL, MAIM, STARVE
THEM & EVERY
INCENTIVE TO KEEP
THEM HEALTHY
AND AS HAPPY AS
POSSIBLE (BUT
ALMOST NOBODY
IS HAPPY TO BE A
SLAVE!)
PENALTIES FOR ESCAPE WERE HARSH
SLAVE COLLAR AND MUZZLE, LEG
IRONS, SCARS FROM SEVERE
WHIPPING
AFRICANS NEVER GAVE IN TO SLAVERY! CONSTANT ESCAPE
ATTEMPTS, CONSTANT REBELLIONS
 THE DIET AND CLOTHING OF SLAVES COMPARED FAVORABLY TO
THOSE OF NORTHERN INDUSTRIAL WORKERS
 MOST SLAVE FAMILIES RECEIVED ALLOTMENTS OF PORK AND
CORN, AND HAD PLOTS OF LAND WHICH THEY WERE ALLOWED TO
GROW VEGETABLES, KEEP CHICKENS, ETC.
 MYTH: AFTER THE SLAVE TRADE WAS BANNED IN 1808, “OLD
SOUTH” STATES (CHESAPEAKE) BRED SLAVES FOR SALE TO “NEW
SOUTH” (COTTON BELT )STATES.
 FACT: THERE IS NO EVIDENCE FOR THIS. EVIDENCE AGAINST
THIS MYTH:
PRICES FOR FEMALE SLAVES OF CHILDBEARING AGE WERE
HIGHER IN THE NEW SOUTH THAN THE OLD SOUTH.
 MORE SLAVES WERE BORN IN THE NEW SOUTH THAN THE OLD
SOUTH
 NOT PROFITABLE TO SELL SLAVES FROM OLD TO NEW SOUTH
 MYTH: SLAVEOWNERS FREQUENTLY SPLIT UP SLAVE
FAMILIES BY SELLING THEM SEPARATELY
 FACT: THIS WAS RARE. SLAVEOWNERS ENCOURAGED
SLAVE FAMILY UNITY:
 HAVING A FAMILY DISCOURAGED ESCAPE
 FAMILIES WERE BASIC SOURCE OF SOCIALIZATION,
RAISING AND TRAIING OF SLAVE CHILDRENM FOOD
DISTRIBUTION AND PRODUCTION – AND “HAPPY” SLAVES
WERE MORE PRODUCTIVE
 NOT A MYTH – SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF SLAVES
(REMEMBER JEFFERSON AND SALLY HEMINGS, HALF-SISTER
OF HIS WIFE)
MOST SLAVES ON
PLANTATIONS LIVED IN
SINGLE-FAMILY CABINS
(WITH LAND TO FARM ON)
THIS SERVED INTEREST OF
PLANTATION OWNERS – BUT
ALSO MADE FAMILIES THE
CORE OF AFRICANAMERICAN LIFE –
SOURCE OF PROTECTION,
SUPPORT, KNOWLEDGE, AND
CULTURAL IDENTITY.
A SLAVE FAMILY OUTSIDE OF ITS
CABIN
 MYTH: “THE SECOND TRIANGULAR TRADE: - THE
MOVEMENT OF OVER 1 MILLION SLAVES WESTWARD (OLD
TO NEW SOUTH) SPLIT UP SLAVE FAMILIES:
 SEE ABOVE – SLAVEOWNERS HAD NO INCENTIVE TO SPLIT
NUCLEAR FAMILIES (EXTENDED FAMILIES MAY HAVE BEEN
SPLIT, THOUGH)
 MOST WHITES WHO MOVED WEST MOVED LOCK, STOCK
AND BARREL, TAKING THEIR SLAVES WITH THEM
 N.B. – MOVEMENT OF SLAVES WAS INVOLUNTARY
 SLAVE SOCIETY
 FAMILY-BASED (SEE ABOVE)
IMPORTATION OF SLAVES BANNED 1808  BY 1850 OVER 85%
OF SLAVES WERE BORN IN THE U.S., HAD NO EXPERIENCE OF
AFRICA
 VESTIGES OF AFRICAN CULTURE, RELIGION MERGED WITH
EUROPEAN CULTURE IMPOSED ON SLAVES 
 SOME ISOLATED INSTANCES OF AFRICAN-ENGLISH DIALECTS
(E.G. GULLAH IN CAROLINA BARRIER ISLANDS)
 RELIGION – CHRISTIANITY – MOSTLY BAPTIST (LIKE MOST
SOUTHERN WHITES)
 GOSPEL PREACHING – CALL AND RESPONSE ( RAP AND HIPHOP)

“STEPIN FETCHIT” (LINCOLN PERRY) “THE LAZIEST MAN ON
EARTH” - FROM “THE BIG TIME” 1945
OUT ON YOUTUBE
 MUSIC – SLAVE SPIRITUALS
“GO DOWN MOSES”
LOUIS ARMSTRONG –
“SATCHMO”
-
B.B. KING
RAGTIME, BLUES, JAZZ, ROCK N’ ROLL, ROCK . . .
RAGTIME --SCOTT JOPLIN, “THE SILVER SWAN” (PIANIST =
MAX MORATH)
BLUES – B.B. KING, “THE THRILL IS GONE”
 THE LEGACY OF SLAVERY INCLUDED THE MYTH OF AFRICAN
INFERIORITY (WHICH PERSISTS TO SOME EXTENT TODAY)
 JUSTIFICATIONS FOR SLAVERY:
 BIBLICAL: ANCIENT CURSE UPON HAM
 HISTORICAL : ALL GREAT CIVILIZATIONS PARTICIPATED IN SLAVERY
 LEGAL: THE U.S. CONSTITUTION PROTECTED SLAVERY W/O THE
WORD “SLAVERY”
 RACIST: MULTIPLE THEORIES REGARDING INFERIORITY OF THE
BLACK RACE
 SOCIOLOGICAL: THE BLACK RACE AS SOCIETAL “CHILDREN” WHO
NEEDED PATERNALISTIC GUIDANCE
SOUTHERN PRO-SLAVERY PROPAGANDA
 SLAVE PERSONALITY STEREOTYPES
• NAT TURNER-REBELLIOUS, SURLY, HOSTILE, MURDEROUS
•
SEXUAL BEASTS – BLACK MEN AS DANGER TO “FLOWER OF
SOUTHERN WOMANHOOD”
• GOOD, CONTENT SLAVES: MAMMY AND UNCLE
•
HAPPY-GO LUCKY, DOCILE, SIMPLE, CHILDLIKE -- SAMBO
SAMBO IN THE 20TH CENTURY
PC EDITIONS -2000-03
JOEL CHANDLER HARRIS, THE COMPLETE TALES OF UNCLE
REMUS (1881) -- “OLD UNCLE” SLAVE STEREOTYPE) –
CHANDLER INTENDED IT AS “A WONDERFUL DEFENSE OF
SLAVERY”
THE DISNEY VERSION: “SONG OF THE SOUTH” (1946)
JAMES BASKETT AS UNCLE
REMUS
“MAMMY”
– IN THE MOVIES AND IN REALITY
MORE STEREOTYPES
“NEGROS LOVE
PRESENT DAY
WATERMELON” STEREOTYPE – DOWN TO THE