Note Service Chapter 11 Section 1 – King Cotton and Southern Expansion American Communities Natchez – Under – the – Hill I. The flatboat men from the Mississippi are angry because of the tax on their merchandise. The tax was supposed to eliminate competition from weaker captains who could not afford to pay the 10 dollars. Their goods were confiscated and they responded by declaring violent threats only to be stopped by the militia. II. French originally owned this territory and obtained it from Natchez Indians who they killed and later enslaved in 1720 and 1730. III.
Spanish built city away from flooding and it became a major trading post on Mississippi river. American colonization of surrounding areas lead to American growth in city. Last stop before New Orleans IV. Surrounding the city were great mansions by plantations owners surrounded by poor housing for their slaves. Planters did not like the combination of white and black men living in these under the hill areas. V. Slave owners forced undesirables to leave under the hill because they thought they would revolt. Under the Hill hit by tornado – Natchez and Natchez under the hill both lost.
King Cotton and Southern Expansion The Cotton Gin and Expansion into the Old Southwest I. The extreme success of cotton and slavery as a process to make it made it widely popular in many of the southern states: Maryland, Del, Vir, N/S Carolina, Geo, Ken, Tenn. , Miss, Ala, Mississippi, Louis, Ark, Florida, Texas II. Drawback of Cotton: seeds difficult to remove – Day to clean one pound of it III. Eli Whitney/ Greene – Cotton Gin – 1792 – Made it more profitable IV. Cotton Gin: hand cranked with teeth that tear lint away from seeds V. 0 Pounds of Cotton Per Day Now – Increased the Number of Slaves Needed VI. By 1811 – 60 Million pounds of cotton a year from south VII. Alabama Fever – After war of 1812 many slave owners went to fertile land in Ala, Miss, Geo for its fertile soil. – Swift Migration VIII. Population of Mississippi Doubled, Alabama Grew 16 fold, Calhoun and Clay were prominent expansionists (war hawks) who encouraged a westward movement IX. Expansion was performed at the expense of the Indian Population – Creeks at Horseshoe bend – 1814 – Trail of Tears – Cherokees X.
Indian Removal influenced by slave system and by the fact that indians didn’t fit into white master and black slave system – civilized Indians were kicked out. XI. After Alabama Fever 1816 – 20 several other surges of cotton planters continued – “Flush Times” – west was flooded for fertile land – more land = more slaves The Question of Slavery I. Old System for Growing Cotton Worked Well – large groups of people planting with one overseer – single crop planted in large amounts II. Slaves were needed after indentured servants did not do the work – expansion of land meant expansion of slavery for the difficult work III.
These dependence on cotton and therefore slaves was at a time when slavery was in question – being outlawed in many places and slave trade was outlawed completely IV. Invention of Cotton Gin cause such a rise in the smuggling of slaves – 1804 slave shipping was legalized – a bill in 1808 then officially made it illegal again because of national opinion. The Internal Slave Trade I. Plantation owners in upper south sent slaves to old southwest in order to meet demand for slaves – Between 1820 – 60 50 percent of slave population was forced to migrate. II.
Coffles: Slaves shackled together by their feet forced to move III. Slaves sold in slave pens and taken on boats and cargo to meet the needs of expansion. Sold at auctions IV. Alexander McDonald – Charleston Slave trader gained a respected name – Alderman and bank president. V. Slave traders were viewed as scum for separating families but slave owners were also just as bad. The Economics of Slavery I. The modernization of fabric making machines made cotton a required substance and English corporations wanted all they could get – very profitable II. Represented 200 million a year III.
Henry Hammond – America has power because it makes Cotton – Cotton is King IV. Southern Slavery financed northern industrialization in nineteenth century with the dynamic force of cotton V. As cotton boomed it provided industrialization of north with shipping jobs and textile jobs Cotton Culture I. North failed to recognize connections with south – regarded it as backwards II. William H. Seward – made antislavery convictions against south III. Southern cities were not focused on because of focus on plantations – northern cities were and thrived – New Orleans is the exception IV.
South also left behind in canals and railroads and industrialization – Richmond iron is exception – William Gregg textile mills in Georgia also exception V. Southerners thought Cotton was king so they didn’t invest in canals or railroads because they are more risky VI. More acreage however devoted to corn – still cotton and its vast profit affected the south’s culture – cotton basically became king To Be A Slave The Maturing of the American Slave System I. Slave population grew from 700K to 4 mill From 1790 to 1808 – Trade seized – Natural increase for amount of slaves II. Dependence on Cotton meant dependence on Slaves
III. Slave Stats: 55% Engaged in Cotton Growing, 20% produced other crops mostly tobacco, 15% domestic servants, 10% Mining, Lumber, industry, and construction IV. Slave owning basically traveled south as the north completely abolished it, bordering states began to sell excess slaves to expansionist movement and to south V. More than half of slave owners owned 5 or fewer slaves but 75% lived in groups of 10 or more VI. Large plantations were the major aspects of slavery, Basically all of slavery was from natural increase which varies from many tropical countries The Challenge to Survive
I. Treatment of slaves was horrible – most children died compared to grown counter parts – twice as likely – pregnant women treated badly and forced to work – Fanny Kemble described this II. 20% or more of slave labor force was sick at one time – cholera and malaria spread – slaves on average lived until mid to late 30 while white people lived to mid to late 40’s III. Housing and lack of good diet and sanitation caused pneumonia and dysentery that killed many slaves The African American Community – pg. 306 – 313 * Harder lives of black people in antebellum south African-Americans here created an enduring and continuously influential culture * They developed different values and attitudes, especially their own forms of Christianity, which played a vital role in shaping a culture of endurance and resistance. * Over half of all slaves lived on plantations with 20 or more other slaves, and others, on smaller farms, had links with slaves on nearby properties. * In law, slaves were property (sold, bought, rented, worked, and used as owner saw fit) * Most Southerners treated black people as inferior, but acknowledged the humanity of their slaves Slave Families Slave marriage was not really recognized by any southern state * Most owners encouraged and sometimes arranged it through due to the desire of more capital * The relationship between a slave husband and slave wife is more equal because both are subject to the hands of the white people and both have to work on the field. However, the white marriage system is more patriarchal and is more unequal. * In slave families, the husband and wife worked together in loving and sheltering their offspring and teaching survival skills. Family meant continuity * Strength of relations shown with many relatives who searched for each other after the Civil War approached its end. * Fear of separation was constant and real because separation was common * Tried to act like larger families, with children respecting and learning from elders, addressing elders of age with certain titles, and addressing peers of similar age with certain titles * The purpose of this emphasis on family and kinship networks was the conscious rejection of white paternalism. African American Religion Slaves brought religions from Africa but owners did not allow them to practice their religions in fear of organized rebellions. * Religious ceremonies and traditions allowed the African religion to survive and reshape Christianity to serve their needs. * Great Awakening swept south after 1760s and Second Great Awakening (ultimate transformation) converted many African American slaves to Christianity. * Free African Americans founded independent churches and denominations. * African Americans found powerful vehicle in Christianity to express wants for freedom and justice. Most white owners made slaves attend white church services. * African religion and Christianity fused to form a new community religion full of enthusiasm, emotion, and protest. * Black Christianity was an enabling religion: it helped slaves to survive, not as passive victims of white tyranny but as active opponents of an oppressive system that they protested. African Americans had strong spiritual freedom. Freedom and Resistance * Most slaves knew that they would never escape. * Southerners determined to prevent escapes. * Slave patrols common on southern roads Harriet Tubman (Underground Railroad, leading 300 slaves to freedom) * “Running Away Nearby”: Slaves who knew they couldn’t get freedom frequently demonstrated their want for liberty or their unhappiness over mistreatment by taking unauthorized leave from their plantations. * Early attempts at rebellion shook the slave system, which slave owners could not ignore. Slave Revolts * Nat Turner’s Revolt greatly raised southern fears * Every southerner knew about Gabriel Prosser’s slave revolt as well * Denmark Vesey’s conspiracy raised fears among white people concerning African American religion and free black people. He recruited 80 slaves and he and his conspirator, Gullah Jack, tried to counter white people in SC by taking a ship back to Haiti * Nat Turner’s Revolt: Virginian revolt led by a partially educated slave and then preacher, Nat Turner, killed over 55 white slave owners until the 40 of them were executed when they were hiding in the woods. This revolt demonstrated to white southerners that educating slaves could result in organized rebellions. Free African Americans * Growing number of free African Americans New rule in Virginia: A freed person must leave state within the year or go back to slavery * Most free black people lived in country-side of Upper South, working as tenant farmers or farm laborers * Life was difficult for female-headed families * Cities like Charleston and Natchez were home to flourishing free American communities that formed independent churches and fraternal orders. * Natchez: Some free black people (William Johnson- barber) were prosperous and kept careful social distances from the black people who were poor.
The free black elite treated white people with great tact and deference. * In South in 1830s: South tightened black codes- laws concerning free black people. (African Americans couldn’t carry firearms, buy slaves, and were liable to criminal penalties meted out slaves; while not being able to testify against white people, hold office, vote, or serve in militia) * In 1841, whites organized a campaign to deport from the state any free black person who adopted “the practices of rogue, incendiary, or abolitionist. ” * Many were deported from Natchez that year. William Johnson (who was not threatened) aided some poor blacks by quietly helping them obtain attestations of good character from white planters. * White people increasingly fears the influence free black people might have bon slaves, for free blacks were a living challenge to slave system. * South’s largest population group: White men who did not own slaves (2/3rd of all Southerners) Yeomen * Yeoman: British term for a farmer who worked their own land which is applied to independent farmers of the South, most of whom lived on family-sized farms. Communities filled with farmers whose practices are similar to subsistence farming. * Isaac Cobb and Richard White were famous yeomen and slave owners who were economically independent yet intimately tied to a larger but still very local group. * Farm men and women relied on relatives for large farm tasks. * Slavery was significant item in community barter system, with people loaning slaves to others at times * Slavery provided link between richer and poorer in communities with both yeomen and large slave owners (black belt GA).
In the black belt, the large slave owners were clearly dominant. * Only in upcountry communities did yeomen feel truly independent. Poor White People * 1/3rd of farmers in Georgia up-country were tenant farmers * 30-50% of all southern white people were landless * Slaves made up permanent, stable work force in agriculture and in many skilled trades/ * Tenant farmers, with less equipment, were still able to grow enough food for their families. * Like yeomen, tenant farmers aspired towards independence. * Relationships between poor white people and black slaves were complex. Whites and blacks often worked side by side in the fields * White people engaged in trade to supply slaves with prohibited items, like liquor, helped slaves escape, and even were executed for their actions in helping plot revolts. * However, poor white people still insisted, sometimes violently, their racial superiority over blacks. * Fact was that this “third class of white people” served to blur the crucial racial distinction between independent whites and supposedly inferior, dependent black people on which slavery system rested. White people served a potential threat to slave system (Like how Natchez slave owners viewed some boatmen) Yeoman Values * ? In 1828 and 1832, southern yeomen and poor white men voted overwhelmingly for Andrew Jackson. * He was popular among these people for his outspoken policy of expansionism, his appeals to the common man, and his rags-to-riches ascent from poor boy to rich slave owner. * Southern yeomen placed a very high value on freedom that grew directly from their experience as self-sufficient property-owning farmers in small, family-based communities. Made them resistant to economic opportunities and challenges that capitalism and industrialization posed for northern farmers, which southern farmers believed encroached on their freedom. * The freedom that yeomen highly valued was dependent on slavery. * Slavery was an indicator of white people, rich or poor, being equal in a sense that they’re all free * Democratization in politics and white manhood suffrage perpetuated white skin privilege. * Southern yeomen supported political leaders by supporting freedoms they believed they would not have under any other system. Any that appeared to threaten slavery threatened the social structure of southern yeomen. ?1. William Henry Trescot explained that the south would secede from the union before giving up slavery. a. Trescot prefired the civil war…what a pro 2. 4 of the 12 million people who lived in the south in 1860 were slaves. a. In many parts of South Carolina and Georgia, blacks outnumbered whites. b. Jefferson said some quote about holding wolf by the ears relating to slavery 3.
The cotton boom in the 1790s decreased the wanting for any emancipation and Jefferson’s vision of a peaceful emancipation faded. 4. Southerners found justification for slavery in the bible and in the histories of Greece and Rome. The strongest defense was the constitution allowed slavery. a. There was a clause about returning runaway slaves b. Also made a conclusion that congress could not abolish the international slave trade for twenty years. c. Missouri crisis of 1819 alarmed the southerners who were shocked by the evidence of widespread antislavery feeling in the north. . Denmark Vesey’s conspiracy showed how antislavery talk is bad e. Nat Turners revolt was important in the mind of the southerners as they began to close ranks in defense of slavery. 5. Lloyd Garrison began publishing the liberator, newspaper that would become the leading antislavery organ in 1831. 6. British said they would abolish slavery on plantations in the West Indies 7. Southern states didn’t support hotheaded south Carolina, but they did support the notion that the gov’t couldn’t just take away their right to do what they want (have slaves) 8.
In 1830s, south barricaded themselves from the antislavery shiz. 9. Increased slave laws in the south 10. The slaves weren’t allowed to do anything…. very few were literate…only 5% 11. Gag rule was presented to prevent congressional consideration of abolitionist petitions. 12. Antislavery speakers were quieted, so they moved to the north. 13. Hammond, in his address, denied that slavery was evil. He said that it had produced the highest toned, purest, best organization of society that has ever existed on the face of the earth. 14.
George Fitzhugh said that Negro slaves of the south are the happiest and freest people in the world because all the responsibility for their care was born by concerned white masters. Northern employers don’t take care of workers. 15. There were some dissenters, however. Most came from upcountry nonslave holders. a. One protest occurred in the Virginia legislature in 1832. Nonslaveholding delegates ,alarmed by the Nat Turner Rebellion, forced a two week debate on the merits of gradual abolition. Abolition was defeated 73 to 58 in the final vote. 16. It became harder to be a slaveholder at this time.
Slave owners declined from 36 to 25 percent of the population from 1830 to 1860 17. Slaveholders were 10 times wealthier than nonslaveholders 18. Labor was getting expensive, and lots south slave trade went on in which the upper south sold to the lower south and lots of people gained money 19. Increased commercialization of agriculture led to higher land prices that made it harder for poor whites to buy land 20. Railroads exposed yeomen to market economy 21. Hinton helper published an attack on slavery in a book. This was huge in a dispute between slave owners and nonslaveowners
