Cotton and Slavery 1815-1848

Slavery in Colonial Times Tobacco, rice and sugar cane would slowly be replaced with cotton. A crop that became more and more valuable. While slavery began without cotton, its persistence in American society was a result of the growing cotton industry. Why Africans? Disease not an issue Did not rely on them for help, no agreements/treaties Not as organized to resist

Slavery in the North Couldn’t support large scale agriculture Farmers moved to more reliable work in factories Strong Quaker/Puritan backgrounds promoted anti-slavery for religious reasons Higher education promoted anti-slavery Newspapers promoted anti-slavery

The Cotton Gin The invention of cotton gin in 1793 made it possible to process more and more cotton each day. Thereafter, cotton and slavery began to expand - from the Atlantic Coast to Texas.

Cotton Production in the South, 1820–1860 Cotton production expanded westward between 1820 and 1860 into Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, and western Tennessee. As industrialization grew, so did slavery.

Cotton Production In 1800, the U.S. produced 73,000 bales of cotton. By 1820, cotton accounted for 39% of all American exports. By 1840, cotton accounted for 52% of U.S. exports. By 1860, cotton accounted for 58% of all American exports and 75% of the world’s entire supply of cotton.

Cotton Exports as a Percentage of All U.S. Exports, 1800–1860 After 1800, cotton rapidly emerged as the country’s most important export crop and quickly became the key to American prosperity.

Between 1820-1860, cotton fueled the entire American market economy! Southern planters sold the cotton and used the income to purchase supplies from the West and goods and services from the North. Northern factories made money by turning raw cotton into cloth and northern merchants profited from shipping the cotton and reshipping the finished textiles. Slavery provided the labor for this American market economy; thus, slavery was a NATIONAL institution that spread its influence throughout the entire nation!

Because slave labor produced the cotton, increasing exports strengthened the slave system itself.

Slave Population, 1820–1860 Slavery spread southwestward from the upper South and the eastern seaboard following the spread of cotton cultivation.

In 1820, cotton production and slavery was concentrated in the upper south. By 1860, cotton production and slavery had spread to the lower south. From the 1840s forward, cotton production made the southern economy stronger and wealthier than the northern economy.

In summary, the expansion of cotton - encouraged by the new technology of the cotton gin - stimulated the growth of slavery. This woodcut of a black father being sold away from his family appeared in The Child’s Anti-Slavery Book in 1860.

As slavery grew in the South, so did what many Northerners called “The Slave Power.” The planter aristocracy - a very small percent of southern society - controlled the social, political, and economic power of the south. From the first presidential election to the election of Lincoln, Southerners controlled the national government most of the time. The South held disproportionate political power under the Constitution.

The South held disproportionate political power under the Constitution In the Senate - while the North had 60% of the total population and 70% of the entire nation’s voters - they only sent 50% of the Senators to Congress as there was an equal number of slave and free states. In the House - the 3/5 compromise gave slave states an average of 20 more congressmen after each census than they would have had on the basis of a free populace. Slaves states had about 30 more electoral votes than their share of the voting population would have otherwise allowed.

From the first presidential election to the election of Lincoln, Southerners controlled the national government most of the time 49 of 72 years were controlled by Southern slave-owners. The only presidents who were reelected were slave-owners. 2/3 of the Speakers of the House and Presidents Pro Tem of the Senate were Southerners. For the entire 72 years, the majority of Supreme Court justices were Southerners and most were slave owners.

The planter aristocracy - a small percent of southern society - controlled the social, political, and economic power of the south In 1860, 25% of all Southerners owned slaves. Of that 25% 52% owned 1-5 slaves 35% owned 6-9 slaves 11% owned 20-99 slaves 1 % owned 100 or more slaves Those who owned 20 or more slaves - about 3% of the entire white population - controlled the social, political, and economic power of the South.

In addition, the white southern slave owners had a huge hold over the white, non-slave owning population. How, then, were they able to convince the vast majority of white southerners to fight for a system - slavery and the power of slaveholding aristocrats - in which they had no stake? Unfortunately, a belief in white supremacy.