The Slaveholders’ Regime apush

Slavery in perspective Legally: Property Morally: 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 PeriodUpper SouthLower South %12% % %19% %17% %12% %

Ye Olde Antebellum South Rural/Agricultural focus –F–Few “large” cities –<–<10% US industrial goods made in the South –C–Cotton = 57.5% of all US exports (1860) White population = homogenous –L–Long-time “natives” vs. immigrants Economic “colony” of NE Slavery = largest capital investment –P–Population ↑ 1.5 million (1820) to 4 million (1860) Constant fear of rebellion –N–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 –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

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

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

Reflection Qs 1.Why did slavery flourish in the South but not in the North? 2.Give and explain two rationales for slavery. 3.Record two things that you will remember in a month. Cotton fields in the South