Travel West and Old South
Themes
• Why and how people traveled to the American
West
• Antebellum
• Life under slavery
• Structure of Southern society
Why Travel?
• Religion
- Mormons
• Free Land
• Gold
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
(Mormon Church)
• The Church’s Founder: Joseph Smith
• Received revelations from an angel in 1820
and published Book of Mormon in 1830
• Eventually settles with many followers in
Illinois
Mormon Followers and Persecution
• New revelations in Book of Mormon seemed
to undermine the Bible
• Actions appeared to violate separation of
church and state
• Accused of odd sexual practices
• In 1844 Joseph Smith was murdered in Illinois
and the church was now leaderless
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
(Mormon Church)
• After the death of Smith a new leader
emerged:
• Brigham Young
• Goal: Freedom from religious persecution
• Migration to Utah began in 1847
• By 1848, 5,000 settlers had migrated
• In 1896 Utah became a state
Trails to the West
Donation Land Claim Act
(1850)
• To encourage migration west
• Free land in Oregon Country:
1. White, male citizens over 18 could receive 320 acres
of land
2. If married, his spouse could receive 320 additional
acres
3. Land had to be occupied four years and improve it
• Over 2.5 million acres was given out to over 7,000
people
• Only whites were eligible for land
California Gold Rush
• 1848 gold was discovered outside of
Sacramento
• News was confirmed by President Polk in 1848
• Population explosion:
1848- 14,000
1852- 225,000
California Gold Rush
• Prospectors initially worked alone
• 49ers could earn $50/day
• By 1850s they might work in groups using a
“Long Tom”
• Prospectors came from all over the United
States and the world:
Central and South America, Europe, Australia,
and Asia
California Gold Rush
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95% of Gold Rush migrants were male
Some made fortunes; most did not
Others sold items to prospectors
Levi Strauss a German immigrant who struck it
rich selling pants to prospectors
Travel West; How?
• Some travelled by sea
• Ships could travel from East Coast around the
tip of South America to West Coast
• If traveling by sea, gold fields were the
probable destination
• Most took overland trails
-Between 1840-1860 approximately 300,000
made the journey: 200,000 California, 53,000
Oregon, 43,000 Utah
Travel West
(The Journey)
• Length of trip: 4-6 months
• Chief expense was transportation; a wagon and
gear might cost $400
• Most travelers were of the “middle class” (semisuccessful farmers, merchants, etc)
• Walking over 2,000 miles
• Travelers feared conflict with Indians; while there
was some conflict, most interaction was positive
• Average death rate was less than 5%
• “Wagon Train”
Slavery
• Highest slave population located in Southeast
• Cotton’s demand for slave labor
• Cotton export:
- by 1840: 51.6%
- by 1860: 57.5%
• By 1860 slavery spread over entire South
• Small-scale cotton farming did not require slave
labor whereas large operations involved many
slaves
Slave Life
• A majority of slaves:
- lived on large plantations with at least 10
slaves
- worked in “gangs” under close supervision
Slave Life
• Slave Narrative: Solomon Northup
• Woke before sunrise, ate and then went to
fields
• Worked sunrise to sunset
• Quota: 200lbs of cotton or whipped
• Chores had to be completed at night
Slave Life
• Diet: corn meal and salted pork
• Often raised vegetables, fished, and hunted
small animals
• Worked six days per week; earned money for
Sunday work
• Christmas was celebrate as a holiday (Only
time slaves could eat till they were filled)
Slave Life
• Slaves could be beaten and whipped; even for
minor offenses
• Some slaves were forced to wear a torture
mask
• To cope:
- Slaves developed close family ties, marriages
were common and encouraged by slave
owners
Slave Life
• Family members were often separated
because of internal slave trade (international
slave trade abolished)
• Slave owners in Upper South profited by
selling slaves to Deep South or Southwest
Slave Life
• Slaves sometimes stole food, faked illness, or
worked slowly
• Some ran away
- Underground Railroad
- Harriet Tubman, former slaves, led others to
freedom
Slave Life
• Nat Turner Rebellion 1831
• Location: Southampton, VA
• A slave named Nat Turner led a rebellion of slaves
and killed over 60 white men, women, and
children
• Turner and 16 slaves are captured and executed
• Whites went all around the countryside killing
any blacks they encountered and beheaded them
Slave Life
• Slave owners encourage slaves to become
Christian
• Slaves identified with:
-Promised Land (freedom)
- Stories of Jews enslaved by Egyptian
Pharaohs
White Southern Society
• Justifications for Slavery (Biblical)
• Many argued it was “natural” for people of
African ancestry to be enslaved
• The Bible was used:
- “Curse of Ham”: “Cursed be Canaan; lowest
of slaves shall he be to his brothers” (Gen
9:20)
White Southern Society
• “When a slave owner strikes a male or female
slave with a rod and the slave dies
immediately, the owner shall be punished. But
if the slave survives a day to two, there is no
punishment; for the slave is the owner’s
property.” (Exodus 21: 20-21)
• “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear
and trembling, in singleness of heart, as you
obey Christ”(Ephesians 6: 5)
White Southern Society
• Historical
• Ancient Greeks and Romans owned slaves
• U.S. Constitution protected slavery
- 3/5 Compromise
• Nation’s founders like Washington and
Jefferson were slave owners
White Southern Society
• Social
• Paternalism: Slaves were like children (family) in need
of help. Civilization and Christianity were brought to
people considered inferior.
• They took care of their slaves by providing food and
shelter
• George Fitzhugh – Pro-slavery argument
- Described Northern factory workers as “wage slaves”
- No one looked after factory workers’ needs
- Argued slave owners took care of slaves even when
slaves grew old
White Southern Society
• According to Virginian Thomas R. Dew, Most
slaves declared that, “the slaves of a good master
are his warmest, most constant, and most
devoted friends”
John C. Calhoun, and influential southern
politician, declared that in the states where
slavery had been abolished, “the condition of the
African, instead of being improved, has become
worse,” while in the slave states, the Africans,
“have improved greatly in every respect.”
White Southern Society
• Arguments did not explain slavery fully:
- Ignored separation of families
- If slavery was so good, why did so many slaves
try to escape?
- Victims of slavery faced violence and horrible
living conditions
White Southern Society
• Southern women were expected to defer to
their husbands
• Women were expected to treat slaves harshly
in the household
White Southern Society
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Society structure
Great Planters – 1% of pop: 20+ slaves
Small Farmers – 35-45% of pop: 0-3 slaves
Landless Whites – 20-25% of pop
Slaves – 35% of pop
White Southern Society
• About 75% of Southern whites did NOT own
slaves
• Question: Why would Southern whites fight to
protect slavery in the Civil War if they didn’t
own slaves?
Small Farmers
• Freeing slaves was not a Union war aim until
about two years into the Civil War
• Many in Deep South identified with local
communities; not the nation as a whole
• Large plantations were the social center of life
in the South
• Large planters lent small farmers a “helping
hand” VERY often
Small Farmers
• All Southern whites had one common trait;
they weren’t slaves
• If slavery existed, they weren’t on the
“bottom” of their society
Review
• How and why did people travel to American
West? How did this impact the nation?
• Describe and evaluate life in the Old South