Late Antebellum
Virginia Reconsidered
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By Daniel Crofts The Virginia Magazine of History and
Biography, Vol. 107, No. 3 (Summer, 1999), pp. 253 - 286
Virginia, 1859
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If there were men and
women in Virginia who
clung to the notion that
Virginia was a part of the
Old South, they were
working hard to willfully
misunderstand their
surroundings. For
Virginia, despite its
ancient ties to the landed
aristocracy and planting
classes, was developing
into a robust, modern
economy.
Virginia as “the Old South”
Corn
 Wheat
 Livestock
 Seafood
 Tobacco
 The Slave Trade
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Although tobacco
agriculture was waning
compared to previous
peaks, the state was a
huge producer of corn,
wheat, livestock, and
seafood. And, it is also
important to note that
even with some tobacco
fields falling back into
forests, Virginia was still
the number one producer
of tobacco in America.
Virginia’s Economy, 1850s
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About one in three
counties contained a
city which made up
most of the population.
Irish and German
immigration increased
population rapidly.
Many slaves were hired
out for industrial labor.
Increasing Urbanization
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In Virginia, iron, coal, and
salt were all produced by
industrial corporations. In
Richmond alone, there were
over seventy iron
manufacturers. The people of
Virginia were not committed
to traditional economic
systems. Just getting the
crops grown in Virginia to
northern markets became a
huge industry.
Manufacturing increased by
67% in the 1840s .
A Changing Economy
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Canal Systems
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Railroads
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Banking Industry
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All of the industries listed
to the left were developing
in Virginia by the 1840s.
Each helped to facilitate
trade in one way or the
other, and each created
jobs for Virginians in
urban regions, as well.
By the 1850s, Virginia was
as connected by trade
with Baltimore,
Pennsylvania, and Ohio as
it was with the Deep
South.
Virginia as an Economic
Crossroads, 1850s
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The chances are that the
hiring out of slaves to
work industrial jobs
would have forced
Virginians to act
decisively – to choose
between continuing the
practice of slavery in new
and heretofore unknown
ways, or to convert to a
wage system.
Could Virginia’s Labor Exist,
Half Slave and Half Free?
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The purchase of slaves tied up huge sums of
capital in labor. Labor was free going forward;
however, most plantation owners required
enormous credit in order to run day to day
operations.
Slavery slowed innovation. The mechanized
farming practices being developed during this
period were not driven by slaveholders
The value of an educated workforce would
inevitably have prevailed.
Factors Against
Perpetuating Slavery
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Slavery was a viable option for railroad
construction, coalmining, factory work, and
any number of other trades.
The huge number of enslaved men and women
who were hired out to do work in iron
manufacturing mills, on the railroads, or in
skilled positions like carpentry demonstrated
that in fact slavery could be adapted to almost
any trade – if there was a will to expand the
system.
Slavery was Adaptable.
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Enslaved laborers in the
ironworks foundries of
Virginia were organized
to the point that they
could make decisions
about whether or not it
was suitable to work on
hot days in the summer.
Some Richmond tobacco
factories paid enslaved
laborers “overwork”
wages to compensate
them.
Slaves in Ironworks, Tobacco,
and other industries
The East-West Divide in
Antebellum Virginia
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East of the Blue Ridge Mountains and near the
Southern Piedmont , Virginians sympathized most
with the Deep South.
West of the Blue Ridge – what we call Southwest
Virginia today – was only about 15% of the
population was enslaved. This is the lowest
percentage of anywhere that seceded from the
Union.
In Northwestern Virginia, approximately 95% of the
population was white.
Recall that West Virginia’s secession from the state of
Virginia occurred when Virginia seceded from the
Union.
Regions of Virginia
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Virginians traditionally
claimed that enslaved men
and women were better
treated in the state than
anywhere else. Of course,
in Virginia, enslaved
people had the ever
present fear of being sold
from their families during
the late Antebellum
Period. Although many
Virginians condemned the
practice of selling slaves
away from their children
or loved ones, the profit
motive was enough to
ensure that the practice
continued.
Selling Slavery in Virginia
Northern Industrial Wage Workers VS. Enslaved Workers in the South
 Neither economic system allowed for much social mobility, and in neither
region of the United States was political equality expected from the lower
classes.
 Poor and middle class whites harbored feelings of animosity and jealousy
for the wealthiest plantation owners in Virginia. Of course, they also
aspired to change places with them.
 In order to maintain social harmony among whites, elite Southern
Democrats perpetuated the argument that an end to slavery would
degrade poor whites by forcing them to do the most inhumane tasks
which were presently completed by enslaved labor. This rhetoric of racial
superiority unified many white Virginians in defense of slavery.
 Nevertheless, given the high number of free blacks and the egalitarian
views of many women in the state, Virginia was an outlier among
Confederate, secessionists.
Virginia Politics
During the 1850s
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The Decline of the Whigs In
Virginia in the 1850s
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Intensely pro-Slavery, Southern sympathetic Democrats.
Opposed by moderate Whigs, who were in favor of
higher tariffs, moderation concerning slavery, and
government involvement in internal improvements.
Increasing democratization coincides with economic
downturn for Van Buren’s Democrats.
Many new voters support Whigs plan of “economic
development and moral uplift,” but the Whigs still can’t
seem to win the state in Presidential Elections – even
though many of the Whig candidates were Virginians!
The Political Divide
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Whigs
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Industry, Banks,
Railroads, Canals,
Public Schools and
Temperance.
Some Whigs argue
that the free, wage
labor must be adopted
eventually.
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Democrats
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Oppose big
government and taxes
German & Irish
consistently
supported the
Democrats – disliking
Whig “moralizing.”
They adopt a strong
pro-slavery stance.
Favor states rights; VA
and KY Resolutions.
The Whigs VS. Democrats
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Both parties are divided on the slavery issue –
especially along the East-West divide.
Both parties supported universal manhood
suffrage.
Both parties supported the Compromise of
1850 when it was enacted.
Overall, the Democrats won on popular votes,
but the Whig minority was formidable.
Even so, much unifies the
parties.
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Westward migration of
Virginians to the Deep
South
kinship
ties with slaveholders.
High prices for slaves
produced high profits
for slave sellers.
Southerners, even in
modern cities like
Richmond felt out of
place in dealing with
the social order of
Northern capitalists.
Although slaveholders
decreases, their
influence increased.
Why Support Slavery?
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Virginia Democrats split
their vote between
Stephen Douglas and John
Breckenridge. This
allowed the former Whig
and current Constitutional
Union Party Candidate,
John Bell to win the state
of Virginia. Yet, the
overall result of the
Election was an Electoral
College victory for
Abraham Lincoln.
The Election of 1860
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The immediate cause of
the first seven states
leaving the Union – South
Carolina first, followed by
the remainder of the
Lower South: GA, FL, MS,
AL, LA, and TX – was the
Election of President
Abraham Lincoln. But
even after Lincoln’s
election, Virginians stayed
in the Union.
The Election of Lincoln
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Virginia was a state that was tied to the North
economically. Wheat, corn, tobacco, livestock,
and seafood products were all exported to the
North, often via Baltimore.
The Upper South – Virginia, North Carolina,
Tennessee, and Arkansas – were simply
different from the Deep South – having a
unique set of interests beyond slavery.
The divisiveness between Lincoln’s
Administration and Davis’ new Confederate
government would escalate the situation.
The Upper South
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The bombardment and eventual surrender of Ft.
Sumter in South Carolina necessitated the calling up
of 75,000 soldiers by Lincoln – and that tipped the
balance of power for the Upper South.
April 12, 1861 – Ft. Sumter
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Virginians had been 2 to 1
against secession after the
Election of Lincoln. But
when Lincoln was
compelled to raise an
army, secessionists took a
more forceful stance
against the government.
Intimidation practices
were put into effect, and
secessionist forces
attempted to take over
both the Harper’s Ferry
arsenal and the Gosport
Naval Base – the shipyard.
The Secession Convention
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Virginia had unique interests economically
which tied it to the Northern States.
Virginia had always played a unique role as a
broker of intrastate diplomacy.
Virginia was the home of Washington,
Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe – the Mother
of Presidents – and the site of America’s
decisive Revolutionary War Victories.
Virginia was the most industrially developed
region in the South, and would be the site of so
many Civil War battles.
Why is Virginia critical?