The South and the Slavery Controversy
I.
II.
Cotton in the South
a. Eli Whitney
i. Before Eli Whitney’s cotton gin, people were talking about
slavery’s unprofitability. However, his invention in 1793 made
possible the wide-scale cultivation of cotton
ii. Cotton quickly eclipsed tobacco, rice, and sugar as the main crop
in the South
iii. This created a demand for labor, causing slavery to increase
iv. Planters would buy more slaves and land to grow more cotton, so
as to buy still more slaves and land
b. Cotton and the Economy
i. Cotton was ½ of all U.S. exports after 1840
ii. South produced ½ of the world’s supply of cotton
iii. North –
1. Shippers reaped a large profit:
a. Would load cotton at southern ports
b. Transport them to England
c. Buy manufactured goods for sale in the U.S.
iv. England –
1. Most important manufacture was cotton cloth (1/5 of
population got its livelihood from that)
2. 75% came from the South
v. South –
1. Southern leaders knew that Britain was tied to them by
cotton and this dependence gave them an inflated sense of
power
2. “Cotton was King”
3. Though that any conflict with the North would result in
England helping the South
The Planter “Aristocracy”
a. Rich Southern Planters Rule
i. 1850 – 1,733 families owned more than 100 slaves each. This
group made up the political and social leadership of the section and
nation
ii. They could educate their children in the finest schools (North or
abroad)
iii. Money provided the leisure for study, reflection, and politics
b. Southern Society
i. Dominance by the rich was undemocratic and widened the gap
between the rich and poor
ii. Had a feudal society, with manors and jousting tournaments
c. Women In Southern Society
i. Had more of a leadership role
III.
IV.
ii. Gave daily orders to cooks, maids, seamstresses, laundresses, and
body servants
iii. Treatment of the slaves by women varied
iv. Nearly no slaveholding woman believed in abolition
The Slave System
a. Problems With Plantation System
i. Land Butchery –
1. Greedy planters took all the nutrients out of the soil
because they were concerned with making a profit
2. This caused people to move West to find good land
ii. Monopolies –
1. As the land wore down, small farmers sold their holdings to
the rich and went north or west
iii. Overspeculation –
1. Caused many planters, including Andrew Jackson in his
later years, to get in a huge debt
2. Slaves were expensive (cost $1,200) – had to be fed,
clothed, given health care, deliberate injuries, runaways,
disease, lightening
iv. One-Crop Economy –
1. System discouraged a healthy diversification of agriculture
2. Southerners didn’t like the Northern middlemen (bankers,
agents, shippers) getting rich (born in Yankee clothes and
died in Yankee coffins)
v. European Immigration –
1. North –
a. Added to the manpower and wealth of the North
2. South –
a. Discouraged by the competition of slave labor
(couldn’t get a job)
b. High cost of fertile land
c. European ignorance of cotton growing
The White Majority
a. Slave Owners
i. 1850 – 1,733 families had 100+ slaves; 255,000 had 10- slaves
ii. ¼ white southerners owned slaves
b. Small Slaveowners
i. Small slaveowners were usually small farmers
ii. Worked alongside the slaves
c. Whites Who Owned No Slaves
i. 1860 – over 6.1 million
d. Flatland Whites
i. Majority lived in backcountry and were poorer
ii. Subsistence farmers – raised corn and hogs, not cotton
iii. Lived isolated lives – occasionally a prayer meeting
iv. Known as “hillbillies”, “crackers”, or “clay eaters”
V.
VI.
v. Why did they support slavery?
1. Had no direct stake in the preservation of slavery, yet they
hoped to preserve the system in case they could buy a few –
“American dream” of upward mobility
2. Took comfort knowing that they weren’t on the bottom of
the social ladder
e. Mountain Whites
i. Independent small farmers
ii. Didn’t own slaves
iii. Were attached to the Union
Free Blacks
a. Free Black Population
i. 1860 – 250,000
ii. Upper South – emancipation was traced to idealism (group of ideas
or way of thinking) of Revolutionary Days
iii. Deep South – free blacks were mulattoes (children of white planter
and slave mistress)
iv. Some purchased their freedom with earnings from labor after hours
b. Conditions of Free Blacks in the South
i. Prohibited from working in certain occupations and from testifying
in court against whites
ii. Could be forcefully taken back into slavery
iii. Were examples of what could be achieved by emancipation and
were resented by defenders of the slave system
c. Conditions of Free Blacks in the North
i. 250,000
ii. Antiblack feeling was frequently stronger in the North than in the
South
iii. Denied the right to vote and barred from public schools
iv. Hated by immigrants who competed with them for jobs
v. The agitation of the North spread to the new territories in the from
of prejudice
vi. Some were beaten by mobs (Frederick Douglass – abolitionist and
orator – from Maryland – escaped slavery to MA – helped with the
Underground Railroad and campaigned for Lincoln)
Plantation Slavery
a. Importation of Slaves
i. 1860 – 4 million slaves
ii. Boom was from cotton and demand for labor
iii. Commerce and Slave Trade Compromise –
1. Allowed the slave trade to continue for 20 years – 1808
2. Because the slave trade was so profitable, (slaves were
expensive), many slaves were smuggled in
3. A few people doing the slave trade were caught, but most
were acquitted by southern juries
VII.
iv. Most of the new slaves came from reproduction. This implied
much about the tenor (general direction) of the slave regime and
family life
b. Slaves as Investments
i. Planters invested $2 billion by 1860
ii. Slaves were the primary form of wealth in the South
iii. Most were spared dangerous jobs (tunnel blasting and swamp
draining) – low wage-earning Irish laborers were hired for that
c. Slaves Breeding
i. SC, FL, MI, AL, and LA each had about a majority of blacks
ii. Breeding slaves was not encouraged. However, women who bore
many children were highly prized (some were promised freedom if
they produced 10 children)
iii. White masters would intermingle with slaves, increasing the
mulatto population
d. Slave Auctions
i. Sold along with cattle and horses
ii. Were often chained so they couldn’t get away
iii. Families were separated on the auction block. This was one of the
themes of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Life as a Slave
a. Varying Conditions as a Slave
i. Hard work and oppression
ii. Men and women toiled in the field from dawn until dusk
iii. Had no civil or political rights – no legal marriage (could get
protection from murder or unusually cruel punishment – some
States offered further protections – banning the sale of a child
under the age of ten)
iv. All laws were difficult to enforce because slaves couldn’t testify
against whites in court
v. Some took care of white children – “mammy”
b. Beatings
i. Whipping was common
ii. Caused slaves to be sullen (gloomy) and hurt their resale values
iii. Most planters didn’t want to whip their slaves because their
prosperity was riding on them
c. Concentration of Blacks in the Deep South
i. SC, GA, AL, MI, and LA were the biggest slaves owning States –
farmed cotton
ii. Life was harder here than in the Old South because it was on the
frontier (where life was tougher)
d. Large Plantation Slaves
i. Most lived on plantations of 20 or more slaves
ii. In some counties in the Deep South, slaves made up 75% of the
population
iii. Family life was stable
VIII.
1. A slave culture developed
iv. Forced separation was more common on smaller plantations and in
the upper South
e. Family Life as a Slave
i. Most slaves were raised in stable two-parent households
ii. Named children for grandparents
iii. Avoided marriage between first cousins
f. African Traditions
i. Many were Christianized from ministers from the Second Great
Awakening. Religion was a mix of Christian and African elements
ii. “Responsorial” style of preaching – minister’s remarks were
punctuated with amens (adaptation of the give-and-take between
caller and dancers in the African ringshout dance)
The Burdens of Bondage
a. Emotions of Slaves
i. Deprived of dignity and sense of responsibility that comes from
independence
ii. Denied an education because reading brought ideas, and ideas
brought discontent (most States had laws against educating slaves
and most were illiterate)
iii. The “American Dream” was a mockery and hopeless
b. Reaction of Slavery By Slaves
i. Slowed the pace of their labor just to the point where their slaves
wouldn’t beat them. This fostered the myth of black “laziness” in
the minds of whites
ii. Stole food and other goods from the plantation
iii. Sabotaged expensive equipment, stopping work until it was
repaired
iv. Rarely poisoned their masters’ food
c. Attempts At Freedom
i. Many tried to runaway
ii. Some rebelled:
1. 1822 – Denmark Vesey (won enough money in a lottery to
buy freedom) plotted a rebellion in Charleston, SC (it was
betrayed by informers; Vesey and about 30 others were
hung) – some historians think the conspiracy was real
2. 1831 – Nat Turner (a black preacher) led a rebellion that
killed 60 Virginians (mostly women and children); Turner
and 15 others were hung
d. Results of the Threat of Rebellion
i. The poor conditions of slavery and the brutality of the whip and
branding iron increased black hostility
ii. White southerners increasingly feared rebellious blacks
iii. Rebellions ended Southern abolitionist organizations
IX.
X.
iv. The South was one of the last areas of slavery in the Western
world. The defenders of slavery were forced to degrade
themselves because of this
e. Reaction to Rebellion
i. Southern legislatures passed stricter controls on slaves
ii. After the uprisings, the movement to abolish slavery was primarily
supported in the north
Early Abolitionism
a. Early Abolitionist Movement
i. Gradually, antislavery societies were created
ii. It first appeared among the Quakers during the Revolutionary War
iii. Because most people didn’t like blacks, early abolitionists
advocated shipping them back to Africa. 1817 – American
Colonization Society
iv. 1822 – Republic of Liberia on the West African coast was
established for former slaves (this even appealed to Lincoln).
15,000 freed blacks were transported there over 4 years. None
really wanted to go there after having lived in America and
become partially accustomed to how it was in America. 1860 –
Virtually no southern slaves were Africans, but AfricanAmericans, with their own distinctive history and culture
b. Abolitionist Movement Spreads
i. In the 1830s, the abolitionist movement spread because:
1. 1833 – The British emancipated the slaves in the West
Indies
2. Second Great Awakening – Instilled the feeling that slavery
was a sin
c. Theodore Dwight Weld
i. Was evangelized by Charles Grandison Finney in the Burnt Over
District
ii. Went to Lane Theological Seminary in Cincinnati, OH (presided
over by Lyman Beecher, father of Harriet Beecher Stowe)
iii. In 1834, he and others were expelled for organizing an 18-day
debate on slavery. He and the others were called “Lane Rebels.”
They spread out across the Old Northwest preaching antislavery
gospel
iv. Weld also created a propaganda pamphlet, called American
Slavery as It Is (1839). Its arguments made it among the most
effective abolitionist pieces and greatly influenced Harriet Beecher
Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Radical Abolitionism
a. William Lloyd Garrison
i. Published an antislavery newspaper in Boston called The Liberator
ii. Lasted from 1831-1861
iii. Wanted to stamp all of it out immediately (most others wanted
gradual change)
XI.
iv. Wanted the North to succeed from the South
v. Also wanted equal rights for women
vi. Offered no real solution to the problem – advocated the forming of
an independent slave republic that would bring an end to slavery
b. Black Abolitionists
i. David Walker –
1. Advocated a bloody end to slavery in Appeal to the
Colored Citizens of the World (1829)
ii. Sojourner Truth –
1. A freed black woman who fought tirelessly for black
emancipation and women’s rights
2. Was illiterate, but a charismatic speaker
3. Believed she was hearing the voice of God (so she changed
her name to this)
4. Advocated having a “negro state”
iii. Martin Delaney –
1. Advocated the mass recolonization of Africa. He even
visited Africa to seek a suitable site for relocation
c. Frederick Douglass
i. Escaped from slavery in 1838
ii. Born in MD
iii. Was a great orator
iv. Was beaten and had many threats against his life
v. 1845 – Published Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
vi. Helped raise two regiments of black soldiers during the Civil War
vii. Looked to politics to solve the problem of slavery. He backed the
following parties:
1. 1840 – Liberty Party
2. 1848 – Free Soil Party
viii. 1850s – Republican Party (Campaigned for Lincoln during the
election of 1860)
The South Lashes Back
a. Southern Abolitionist Movement
i. 1820s – More antislavery societies in the South than the North
ii. 1831-1832 – VA legislature defeated various emancipation
proposals
1. After this, the slave States began tightening their slave
codes and moved to prohibit emancipation of any kind
iii. 1830s – Nat Turner’s conspiracy and Garrison’s newspaper (which
Southerners thought would create violence) created a hysteria
b. Nullification Crisis of 1832
i. Further planted fears of revolts from blacks
ii. Jailings, whippings, and lynchings were often done to prevent the
discussion of the slavery problem
c. Black Slaves vs. Women/Children Wage Earners of the North
XII.
i. Women and children worked in poor conditions in the North.
Southerners were quick to come them to slaves
ii. Women and children –
1. Worked in dark and stuffy factories
2. Older workers were discarded
iii. Blacks –
1. Worked in fresh air
2. Old and sick were cared for
d. Results of Slaves vs. Wage Earners Debate
i. These arguments widened the gap between the North and South
ii. South isolated themselves not only from the North, but the western
world
iii. South reacted defensively
iv. South grew intolerant of slavery questions
e. Gag Resolution
i. Piles of anti-slavery petitions poured into Congress
ii. 1836 – Southerners in the House passed this resolution. It required
any anti-slavery appeals to be put aside without debate
1. John Quincy Adams, after 8 years, got its repeal
2. Increased discussion by Southern conventions of ways to
escape Northern economic and political hegemony ()
f. Anti-Slavery Literature
i. Sent to plantations
ii. Blacks couldn’t read, but could see the pictures and drawings
iii. One mob broke into a post office and burned abolitionist mailings
iv. 1835 – The National government ordered southern postmasters to
destroy abolitionist material and called on southern State officials
to arrest federal postmaster who did not comply (Not freedom of
the press)
The Abolitionist Impact in the North
a. Lack of Abolitionist Support In the North
i. Constitutional Reverence –
1. Had been brought up to revere and support the
Constitution. Slavery was one of the compromises coming
out of the Constitutional Convention
2. Garrison’s talk of secession wasn’t favored at all by
Northerners
ii. Economic Stake –
1. Southern planters owed northern bankers and other
creditors about $300 million. This sum would be lost
succession were to happen
2. New England textile mills were fed with cotton raised by
the slaves. Succession might cut off this vital supply and
lead to unemployment
b. Violence in the North
i. People sometimes committed acts of violence on extreme
abolitionists
ii. 1835 – Garrison had a rope tied around him and was dragged
through the streets of Boston by the Broadcloth Mob, but escaped
iii. 1837 – Reverend Elijah Lovejoy’s printing press was destroyed
four times and he was killed by a mob in this year
c. Summary of Abolitionism in the 1850s
i. Many citizens had come to see the South as the land of the unfree
and the home of a hateful institution
ii. Few northerners were prepared to abolish slavery outright.
However, growing numbers were opposed to extending it to the
western territories – called “free-soilers”