SLAVERY
Currier & Ives, Cotton Plantation

Slavery in Africa
• Slaves represented the bottom stratum of African society
• Different from slavery as it developed in the Americas
• Most African slaves were captives of war
• Slavery in Africa not permanent or hereditary
• Assimilation

Indentured Servitude
• A means for people to get to the New World
• Master paid for passage to
America
• Indentured servant then owed 5–7 years of work
• Once indenture was paid, servant became free
• Indentured servants initially more desirable than slave

Growing Black Population
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600% increase in black population, 179 0-1860
 Less than 700,000 in 1790; 4 million by 1860
 1 out of every 3 Southerners – majority in Mississippi & South
Carolina
260,000 free blacks by 1860 (6% of black population)
 Required to carry papers & very limited in rights
 Could own slaves – 3,200 did so
 Many were mulattoes

Population of the Southern
States

Blacks in the North
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Northern states phased out slavery
 Almost all free by 1840
Over 3/5 of Northern blacks lived in cities
 Most were unskilled laborers
 Only 5 states allowed black men to vote

The Rise of King Cotton
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Eli Whitney’s cotton ‘gin made it possible to profitably grow short-staple cotton.
Annual production soared:
 1790 – 3,000 bales
 1810 – 178,000 bales
 1860 – 4 million bales
By 1860, South grew 75% of world’s cotton.
Eli Whitney’s
Cotton ‘Gin

Plantation Profits

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Capitalist agriculture
Benefited rest of U.S.
 Cotton = 60% of U.S. exports by
1840
 South became prime market for
Northern manufactured goods
Hampered economic development of South
 Few factories
 No public education
Main Plantation Crops

Slaveowning Concentrated in
Wealthy Hands
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Only 26% of Southern white families owned slaves by
1860
Average wealth of slaveowners was 13.9 times that of non-slaveowners
Majority of slaves lived on middling or large holdings

Slave Quarters, Carter’s
Grove Plantation, Virginia

Slave Quarters, Carter’s
Grove Plantation, Virginia

The Paradox of Black - White
Relations
 Blacks contributed to broader
American culture while creating separate subculture
 Whites could never resolve inherent contradictions of slavery
 Philosophical contradiction: rests on assumption that one man completely surrenders his will and becomes an extension of another man’s will
 Legal contradiction: slaves simultaneously people & property
Plantation near Richmond, VA

Justifications for Slavery
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Racism – blacks seen as lazy & childlike
 Argued slavery civilized & Christianized them
 Argued only whipping would make slaves work
Christian Religion
 Believed Bible condoned slavery
 Thought “Curse of Ham” (Gen. 9:20-27) justified it
Feudal Myth
 claimed reciprocal relationship – provided for slaves’ needs in exchange for devoted service
 Paternalistic care contrasted with
“inhumane” treatment of Northern factory workers

Woodcuts from
Josiah Priest,
In Defense of
Slavery

Blacks’ View of Slavery
Slave manacles
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Rejected racism, but learned to conform to whites’ expectations to avoid punishment
Saw Christianity as affirming their equality & offering promise of freedom as well as redemption
Blacks neither grateful for care, nor considered it payment – viewed it as fundamental right

Effects of Slavery on White
Relationships
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All whites got benefits of being part of the “master race”
 Racism used to keep nonslaveholding white majority in favor of system
Concept of chivalry defined women as weak & in need of protection from rapacious black men
Women had to endure husbands’ raping of female slaves
 Women often biggest critics of slavery as a result – e.g. Sarah
& Angelina Grimke