SLAVES AND MASTERS

The South as American Counterpoint  Shrouded in Myth: “Gone with the Wind” versus “Simon Legree”  Distinctive Features: heat, humidity, staple crop agriculture, native born populations, race  Colonial Economics

The Divided Society of the Old South  Wealth divides white Southerners by class  White society also divided by region  Black society also divided with about 6% free  Race divides all Southerners by caste

Slavery the Peculiar Institution Slavery the System The Slave Experience Resistance

The Growth of Slavery  Cotton gin makes cotton production profitable.  New territory is being opened for slavery.  Slavery is fundamental to the growth of cotton.  Owning slaves seen as way to economic prosperity.

Eli Whitney and Slavery  Inventor of the cotton gin  It will make cotton production efficiently and cost effective which will drive the demand for slaves  Whitney will also introduce a rifle with interchangeable parts which will aid in producing weapons quickly for the American Civil War

Anglo Justifications for Slavery  Racial Blacks are seen as “brutes” and should be controlled  Religious Bible scripture provides examples of slavery  Scientific Blacks are inferior to whites  Paternalism Blacks are being taken care of

Slave Concentration, 1820 Slave Concentration by 1860

Distribution of Slave Labor, 1850

50% of all slaves lived in the Black Belt (“Cotton Belt”)

Slaves’ Daily Life and Labor  90% of slaves lived on plantations or farms  Most slaves on cotton plantations worked sunup to sundown, 6 days/week  About 75% of slaves were field workers, about 5% worked in industry  Urban slaves had more autonomy than rural slaves

Conditions of Slavery  Lived in crude quarters that left them exposed to bad weather and disease.  Diets consisted of cornmeal and salt pork.  The weather conditions of the South made health problems like yellow fever, dysentery, and malaria common.  Slave codes reinforced the concept that slaves were property and prevented slaves from having any rights.

The Plantation System  Plantations were diverse economically and self sufficient.  Slaves were organized into specialized gangs that performed specific duties.  Productivity was tied to maintaining discipline.

Field Slaves  Majority were field slaves and worked dawn to dusk. Some worked under the task system which required slaves to complete a specific job once done they were free to manage own affairs.  Did skilled work like carpentry and ironsmithing and unskilled work like tending the crops.  The women also had to care of their families by cooking, tending house and taking care of the children too!  Masters hired out slaves to perform other duties and keep the slave’s wages.

House Slaves  Household slaves cooked, cleaned, and nursed the master's children.  Are constantly watched by their masters and mistresses. Had far less privacy than those who worked the fields.  House slaves faced beatings, verbal abuse and sexual assault.

Slave Quarters

The Big House

Slave Families, Kinship, and Community  Normal family life difficult for slaves fathers cannot always protect children families vulnerable to breakup by masters  Most reared in strong, two-parent families  Extended families provide nurture, support amid horror of slavery  Slave culture a family culture that provided a sense of community

African American Religion  Black Christianity the cornerstone of an emerging African American culture  Whites fear religion’s subversive potential, try to supervise churches and preaching  Slave religion kept secret from whites reaffirmed the inherent joy of life preaches the inevitable day of liberation

Slave Resistance  Slaves worked slowly, broke tools, faked illness and destroyed crops.  Many stole livestock, food, or valuables, burned buildings or killed their masters.  They pursued education! Learning to read is a powerful tool!

Resistance and Rebellion  Run away often aided by the Underground Railroad  Stories, songs asserting equality

Slave Punishment  Slaves were punished for not working fast, being late, talking back, running away, and other reasons.  Slave punishment included whippings, torture, mutilation, imprisonment, the threat of abusing a loved one and being sold away.

Resistance and Rebellion  Gabriel Prosser  Denmark Vesey  Nat Turner

Slave Rebellions and Uprisings,

Gabriel Prosser’s Rebellion  Gabriel Prosser plans the first major slave rebellion.  Gabriel wanted to create an independent black state in Virginia on August 30,  Gabriel and 26 of his companions are hanged.

Denmark Vesey’s Rebellion  Minister who plans rebellion with over 1,000 members.  Informant betrays revolt. Most faced deportations and hangings.  South is paranoid about slave revolts and Slave Laws.

Nat Turner’s Rebellion  Nat Turner claimed to have visions and was ordered by God to rebel.  In August 1831, led a revolt in which 57 men, women and children are hacked to death.  The rebellion causes the South to pass strict Slave Codes.

Free Blacks in the Old South  Southern free blacks severely restricted Sense of solidarity with slaves Generally unable to help  Repression increased as time passed Had to register with the state & carry “freedom” papers Were excluded from certain jobs Subjected to re-enslavement & fraudulent “recapture”  By 1860 some state legislatures were proposing laws to force free blacks to emigrate or be enslaved

White Society in the Antebellum South  Only a small percentage of slave owners lived in aristocratic mansions less than 1% of the white population owned 50 or more slaves  Most Southern whites were yeomen farmers

The Planters' World  Big planters set tone, values of Southern life  Planter wealth based on commerce land speculation slave-trading cotton planting  Plantations managed as businesses  Romantic ideals imitated only by richest

The Value of Cotton Exports as a Percentage of All U.S. Exports

Planters and Paternalism  Planters pride themselves on paternalism  Better living standard for Southern slaves than others in Western Hemisphere  Relatively decent treatment due in part to their increasing economic value after 1808  Planters actually deal little with slaves  Slaves managed by overseers  Violent coercion accepted by all planters

Small Slaveholders  Slave conditions worst with fewer than 20 slaves share the master's poverty slaves at the complete mercy of the master  Masters often worked alongside the slaves  Most slaves would have preferred the economic and cultural stability of the plantation

Yeoman Farmers  Small farmers resent large planters  Some aspire to planter status  Many saw slavery as guaranteeing their own liberty and independence  Slavery viewed as a system for keeping blacks "in their place"

A Closed Mind and a Closed Society  Planters fear growth of abolitionism  Planters encourage closing of ranks  Slavery defended as a positive good Africans depicted as inferior slavery defended with Bible slavery a humane asylum to improve Africans Slavery superior to Northern wage labor  Contrary points of view suppressed

Slavery and the Southern Economy  White Southerners perceived their economic interests to be tied to slavery  Lower South: slave plantation society  Upper South: farming and slave- trading region

The Internal Slave Trade  Mixed farming in Virginia and Maryland  Need less labor, more capital  Upper South sells slaves to lower South  Virginia, Maryland, and Kentucky take on characteristics of industrializing North  Sectional loyalty of upper South uncertain

Slave Concentration, 1820

The Rise of the Cotton Kingdom  "Short-staple" cotton drives cotton boom  Cotton gin makes seed extraction easy  Year-round requirements suited to slave labor  Cotton in Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, east Texas  Large planters dominate cotton production  South produces 75% of world's cotton, cotton the most important U.S. business

Slave Concentration, 1860

Slavery and Industrialization  Southerners resent dependence on Northern industry, commerce  Southerners project industrial schemes some propose using free white labor others propose the use of slaves  Slaves work in southern factories  High cotton profits discourage shift to industry

The "Profitability" Issue  Slavery not profitable for South as a whole  White small farmers have lower living standards than most Northern farmers  Profits from cotton not well- distributed  Slave system results in waste of human resources, Southern underdevelopment

Defending Slavery  Southern planters feared revolts & the growth of abolitionism & used a new defense slavery: It was sanctioned in the Bible Constitution did not prohibit it Slavery was a “natural” way of life for “inferior” Africans Slavery was more humane than Northern industrial exploitation

Defending Slavery  Proslavery Southerners protected South against anti-slavery ideas: Feared abolitionist propaganda would inspire slave rebellions or inspire the yeoman to support abolition Increased restrictions on blacks by making it illegal to teach slaves to read & write Banned church services & meetings without supervision

Conclusions  The post-1793 cotton boom transformed the American economy & Southern society: Cotton facilitated westward expansion & the entrenchment of African slavery in the South In the 1830s, the South became increasingly defensive about perceived Northern attempts to end slavery

Worlds in Conflict  Separate Southern worlds planters slaves less affluent whites free blacks  Held together by plantation economy, web of customary relationships