The Slaveholders’ Regime apush

Indenturehood Servitude vs. Slavery How differed from slavery? Voluntary Fixed term Defined as people Contractual Indenturehood = Economic Agreement Slavery = Legal Property + Moral absence of freedom Unrestrained personal control of one group over another Denial of economic opportunity Denial of citizenship & basic rights Denial of cultural self-identification

The Global Slave Trade The US imported 7% of the total of 10 million slaves sent to the Western Hemisphere Brazil 36% Caribbean 40% South America 17% Sugar drove the world slave trade Tobacco drove the US slave market in the 1700s Cotton drove the US slave market after the invention of the cotton gin (1790s) 1801: 100,000 bales 1859: 5,400,000 bales

“Cotton is King” in America The Cotton Kingdom: Climate & soil perfect for cotton Steamboats & rivers = cheaper than canals to get cotton to market Slaves = “solution” to labor needs More profitable on large Farms Cheaper to supervise large groups of slaves Shorter work hours, but greater intensity of work Yearly returns consistently >10% Therefore: profitable & economically viable Could have been MORE profitable but there was A LOT of competition

Average Rate of Return on Slaves Period Upper South Lower South 1830-35 11% 12% 1836-40 10% - 1841-45 14% 19% 1846-50 13% 17% 1851-55 1856-1860

Ye Olde Antebellum South Rural/Agricultural focus Few “large” cities <10% US industrial goods made in the South Cotton = 57.5% of all US exports (1860) White population = homogenous Long-time “natives” vs. immigrants Economic “colony” of NE Slavery = largest capital investment Population ↑ 1.5 million (1820) to 4 million (1860) Constant fear of rebellion Nat Turner, et al. → stricter Slave Codes & patrols

Ye Ole “Peculiar” Institution Slaveholders = minority in South Only 20-25% owned slaves Less than half owned over 4 slaves Only 2.7% of owners (1 out of every 200 owners) had 50+ slaves % of slaveholders decreased between 1830-1860 But large % connected to slave-owning class Racism (white v. black) trumped class animosity (white v. white) Plantation slaves = majority in South 60%+ slaves lived with groups of 10+ slaves (1860) But ~40% of slaves lived with less than 10 slaves… Slaveholders = politically dominant Economic stake >2/3 of office holders owned slaves Owned 93% of region’s agricultural wealth

Rationale for Slavery Historical Every “superior civilization” had slavery Freed upper classes for intellectual activity Scientific Quack science supported racial differences Religious Used Biblical examples to justify OK if purposed to Christianize African “heathen” Social Better life than exploited white factory workers Kept the “natural” social order intact Economic Stability: no threat of strikes Emancipation &/or colonization economically improbable Societal Support Yeomen classes’ “American Dream” Stopped competition for jobs Better to “white trash” than a slave Rationale for Slavery

Slavery Studies over Time Slavery as an Institution, 1880s- 1900 Focus on politics or economic effects of the institution Social effects on Whites, 1900- 1950s Phillips: Slavery was humane & paternalistic Stamp: Slavery was based on force Social effects on Slaves, 1960s-1970s Elkins: compared slavery to Nazi camps Genovese: slaves had power to negotiate Gutman: black family cushioned the effects

The New History, 1980s… Focus on Women Autonomy/Agency Resistance Culture Resilience Regional studies

Reflection Qs Why did slavery flourish in the South but not in the North? Give and explain two rationales for slavery. Record two things that you will remember in a month. Cotton fields in the South