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 SystemThe Slave ExperienceResistance

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, 1820Slave Concentration, 1820Slave Concentration by 1860

Distribution of Slave Labor, 1850

55%

15%10%

10%

10%

Cotton

Domestic Work

Rice or Sugar

Tobacco

Mining, Industry, or Construction

50% of all slaves lived in the

50% of all slaves lived in the

Black Belt (“Cotton Belt”)

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

1800--Gabriel Prosser 1822--Denmark Vesey 1831--Nat Turner

Slave Rebellions and Uprisings, 1800-1831

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, 1800.

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 1850--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