Chapter 5 African Americans in the New Nation

EMANCIPATION  What is it?  Why did it become an issue?  Where was it happening?  What impact did it have on African Americans?

I. Reasons  Economic change –Wage labor  Evangelical Christianity –Great Awakening  Revolutionary ethos –Natural rights doctrines  African Americans sought freedom –Escaped, purchased, sued, and petitioned for it

Where?  New England  Mid-Atlantic  South

Northern Emancipation  New England –Slavery collapsed quickly  African Americans refused to remain in bondage  Most white people acquiesced

Northern Emancipation Example: Massachusetts  African men who paid taxes could vote, 1783  Elizabeth Freeman

Northern Emancipation (cont.)  Mid-Atlantic states ( NJ, NY, and PA) –Investment in slaves greater than in New England

Example:  PA approved gradual emancipation, 1780  New York, 1799

The Northwest Ordinance, 1787 –Law that organized sale, usage, and provisions for new territory – banned slavery  Set a precedent for excluding slaves from territory (s. of Ohio R. open to slavery

The Louisiana Purchase and the Lower Mississippi Valley  People of African descent a majority –Two groups –Creoles and Plantation Slaves

As a result of the American Revolution, Britain cedes its territory east of the Mississippi

In 1803, the Louisiana Purchase nearly doubles the size of the young nation

Slave States vs. Free States  As U.S. territory grows, new states are created.  States in the North are considered Free States (no slavery)  Southern states are considered Slave States.  …it’s not necessarily all about slavery.

Slave States vs Free States

Slave States vs. Free States  The abolition movement is still in its infancy.  The creation of slave states vs. free states is mostly about political & economic power.  To understand, we have look at how America had developed two very different ways of life…

Life in the North  2½ times the population of the south due mostly to immigrants looking for work in factories  The North was industrial – 110,000 factories vs. 20,000 in the South  In 1860 – production of over $1.5 Billion in goods (the South produced just $155 million)

Life in the South 1.Primarily agrarian 2.“Cotton Is King!” * > 5 million bales a yr. (57% of total US exports). 3.Slow development of industry.

Slave-Owning Population (1850)

Slave Auction Notice, 1823

Why does the South want Slave States?  The South needs to expand their agricultural economy & sees the addition of new states as the perfect answer. HOWEVER…  The addition of a new Free State meant 2 more senators & additional congressmen in the House of Representatives that would vote in agreement with other northern states on issues such as tariffs.

Protecting a Way of Life  Southerners needed to maintain at least an equal number of slave states to free states so that they have equal representation in Congress (or better).  …otherwise, legislation would be passed that was agreeable to the northern way of life – not the southern.

The Missouri Compromise  Maine admitted as a free state  Missouri admitted as a slave state, but..  Slavery not allowed in any new states created above Missouri’s southern border.

Missouri Compromise

–1819, Spain cedes Florida to the US in return for nullification of a Five Million Dollar debt

Soon after, Mexico Wins Independence from Spain

Antislavery Societies in the North and the Upper South  Anthony Benezet –First antislavery society in the world, 1775 –DE, MD, KY, TN  Never appeared in Deep South

Antislavery Societies in the North and the Upper South –Generally cooperated in a loose framework, –Quaker dominated –Gradual emancipation –Upper South  Small and short lived

Manumission and Self- Purchase Free individuals by deed or will –Virginia repealed ban on private manumissions, 1782  Hundreds of slave holders in Upper South freed slaves  Religious sentiment and natural rights principles

Manumission and Self- Purchase  Self-purchase agreements –Masters make a profit  Unprofitable investments –Changing crops –Old age –To avoid immediate escape

The Emergence of a Free Black Class in the South  Free black class grew in Upper South –Manumissions, self-purchase, and freedom suits –Maryland and Virginia had the largest population

Free Blacks in the Deep South Much smaller group  Generally the illegitimate children of slave holders  Favorites  Unable to work  NC made manumissions more difficult after 1777

II. Forces for Slavery  North –Slavery was weak, little opposition to abolition

Forces for Slavery  South –Slavery was strong and important to economy  Thrived and expanded

The United States Constitution  Slaveholder concessions  Continuing the Atlantic slave trade for twenty years  Returning escaped slaves to masters  Three-Fifths Compromise

Cotton  Increased cultivation –Britain –Eli Whitney

Cotton  Intensified white racism –Scientific racism justified slavery –Naturalization laws

III. Free Black Communities  Dynamic communities –North and Upper South  Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York, and Boston  Established distinctive institutions –To avoid inferior status in white-dominated organizations –Preserve African heritage

Free Black community  Mutual aid societies –Christian moral character –Generally restricted to men  Black freemasons  Prince Hall

Origins of Independent Black Churches  Biracial churches –Never embraced African Americans as equals  Subordinate churches

Origins of Independent Black Churches  African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church –Richard Allen, –Absalom Jones –Benjamin Rush

The First Black Schools  Early 1700s –Slave and free children –North and South –Ran by white clergy

The First Black Schools  After Revolution –Black people established schools for black children  Mutual aid societies and churches created and sustained  Produced a growing class of literate African Americans

The First Black Schools  Prince Hall  Brown Fellowship  Christopher McPherson –Produced a growing class of literate African Americans

IV. Black Leaders and Choices  Educated black elite provided leadership –Richard Allen –Absalom Jones –James Forten –Prince Hall

Migration  Prince Hall –Petitioned Massachusetts legislature to support colony

Migration  Paul Cuffe and colonization –End the Atlantic slave trade –Spread Christianity –Refuge for free black people –Make profits

Slave Uprisings  Legacy of fear and hope –Gabriel, 1800  American and French Revolution influenced  Natural human rights –Charles Deslondes, 1811

Slave Uprisings  Frightened white southerners  Raised hope for freedom among slaves

The White Southern Response  Legacy of slave uprisings –Deepened reactions against egalitarianism (a belief in human equality especially with respect to social, political, and economic rights and privileges)

The White Southern Response  Feared race war that emancipation would cause  Southern states tightened control of black population (for example) –Outlawed assemblies

The White Southern Response –Placed curfew on slaves and free blacks –Made manumissions more difficult –Revived slave patrols –Became suspicious of outsiders –Forcing free black people out of southern states

V. The War of 1812  White prejudice and fear of black revolts

The War of 1812  Eliminated armed black participation in state militias  Navy ended black service on warships, 1798  Southern states refused to enlist blacks in 1812 –Concerned black men with guns would aid slave revolt

VI. The Missouri Compromise  “A fire bell in the night”  Missouri applies for statehood, 1819 –Eleven free and eleven slave states

The Missouri Compromise  Tallmadge Amendment –Proposed gradual emancipation –African-American crowd galleries to hear debates –Southern threats of secession

The Missouri Compromise  Compromise –Henry Clay  Missouri, Maine, and 36-30

VII. Conclusion  Waning egalitarian commitment and rising racism –Doomed earlier promises of freedom

Conclusion  Free black communities grew –Laid a foundation for  Education  Spiritual growth  Economic development

Conclusion  Forces for slavery grew stronger –Permanent black bondage