Exam 3: Lecture

Notes
III: Antebellum Slavery: Expansion and
Abolition

Kelly Nichols - November 2nd - December 4th

ANTEBELLUM SLAVERY
- Expansion
- Slave Migration
- Controlling Slaves
- Defending Slavery

Lundi, Novembre 2nd 2015:

- What we will be talking about
- Expansion of slavery occurs during the expansion of the country.
- Emergence of the domestic slave trade ( due to band of the Atlantic
Slave trade.)
- Legal aspects of trying to control slaves ( and on farms)

***INSERT US SLAVE POPULATION

GRAPH***

Supporters of slaves attempt to defend it

- Only numbers that really matter:
- 6% (40,370) to 0% (60)
- The disappearance (mostly) of slavery was gradual
- Where african americans are in the south shifts (Upper South Deep
South)
- Expansion of slvaery in the South is contracting everywhere else.
-

1860:
- Southern U.S.
- Brazil
- Cuba
- Puerto Rico

SLAVERY IN THE AMERICAS

South America had more slaves than everywhere else combined

Death Rate > Birth Rate. Must import from Africa

Ohio River boundary

Masson-dixson line
- determine freedom where adding states to the union
West of Mississippi Free or Not free?
Louisiana Purchase
MISSOURI COMPROMISE
- The Controversy
- The Compromise

Missouri - Wanted to be admitted as a slave state

- Geography IS VERY IMPORTANT
- Would upset power
- More power in congress
- how things would go ( slavery wise)
- Would be most Northern slave state
- Most Northern people opposed
- Maine also wanted to apply as free state
- Resulting deal: Missouri Compromise:
- Both admitted into union
- One Free (Maine) One Slave ( Missouri)
- This created a new boundary
- only affects land acquired by Louisiana Purchase
- Land North of Missouri border - Free; Land South - Slave
- Is not the last boundary
- (Issue again with Kansas and California)

Long Staple Vs. Short Staple Cotton

- Where this can be grown
- Long: narrow geographical regions ( in US)
- Only kind of cotton actually grown during civil war

COTTON KINGDOM

Short: Inland
- Easier to separate seed with long cotton (back in the day)
- Short: labor intensive process
- Made unprofitable
Changes:
- manufactoring
- things you can make with cotton
- cloth & textiles
- great Britain & NE US
- makes it cheaper to producee cotton based goods
- still issue of separating seed from cotton
- Gin Cotton
-

makes it easier to separate

does this job & easy to produce machine and easy to replicate
1 pound to 50 pounds of cotton a day
Eli Whitney 1793

SUGAR KINGDOM
Growth in Sugar Production
Production Characteristics

Mercredi, Novembre 4th

Great Britain, The NE of America industrial revolutions affected by Gin
creation. Southern Cotton plays major role
- 1790 > 1860
- 3K > 4+ million bales
- Could be grown on small farm or giant plantation
- Cotton was mostly grown in Southern states: Louisiana, Mississippi,
Alabama, & Georgia
- These 4 states were responsible for 80% of cotton production
- Laborers needed
- SUGAR KINGDOM: other kingdom that appears
- tobacco and rice still around
- centered in very small geographical area
-

even though, has REALLY BIG IMPACT

- especially on need for slaves
- southern part of Louisiana
- spread westward to include south eastern part of Texas
- gets its start decade before US buys Louisiana
- 1790s (flux of who owned it: Spanish French( Napoleon) Us
- Suger doesnt take off until US buys Louisiana in 1803
- This region becomes responsible for 95% of sugar production
- Puerto Rico also produces
- ^ Had giant head start
- DOMINATES PRODUCTION
- For slaves, Sugar work is Horrible
- 16- 18 hours a day
- Sugar must be cut and proceed in a short amount of time
- lots of mossquitos
- becomes a lot like cuba/ puerto rico
- Slave MORTALITY rates similar
- North looked into European immigrants
- paid them wages
Followed by a tobacco bust
- nutrient robbing plant
- soil was exhausted due to not resting the soil
lower demand
lower prices
lower yield
growing number of farmers who decided to grow something else
- grain: corn wheat
- stop commercial agriculture and raise livestock
- This required fewer laborers
-

SlAVE MIGRATION
-Numbers
Planter Migration
Domestic Slave Trade
Atlantic slave trade

Significant
# of people who
left he region
entirely
- has a devastating impact on slaves being able to maintain families
- Chessepeake bay region
- source of large amount of slaves
- not only source
- coming from North and South
- North would sell slaves before they turned 25 in order to make profit
- Economically large
- Lots of Slave trade travel within US
- minority would be moved entirely by sea
INSERT POWEPOINT
- coffle 15 - 30%
-

SLAVE CONTROLS: LEGAL

-

Regulating Slave Owner behavior

Regulating slave behavior

Lundi, Novembre 9th:

- Slave Owners/ Controllers
- Freeing Slaves
- Judge permission
- Go to legislature
- 1850s: (SOUTH) more restricted to free slaves
- some states NOT legal
- in order to reduce the free black population
- Educating Slaves
- Owners might be interesting in teaching slaves
- Even if you wanted to (SOUTH) made it illegal too
- Some states created limitations to teaching slaves
- (SOUTH) restrictions for slaves to get an education
- Punishing Slaves
- Growing restrictions******
- Legally: You can do whatever you want with your slaves
- (SOUTH) can kill your slave and get away with it
- overseers and drivers

other people that are in positions in power over slaves

- ( hire someone, they are brutal with your slaves and they kill
your slave. You have the right to be able to prosecute that person.
In some states, up to 10 years for killing your slave. In some states,
that person could be fined. Punishment, such as beating someone
to the point of death, if taken to court, can be fined for doing so.)
Slave Trading
- Seperation of young child from mother/ family
Slave Work Schedules
- Required to give slave a day off
- Sundays
-

SLAVE CONTROLS : PLANTATION

- Paternalism
- Activities Regulated
- Punishment

Conditions improved
Paternalism:
- Taking apart in the lives of their slaves
- Owners provided: (for their slaves)
- Protection
-

Material
- Spiritual
- Medical
- Direction
- Guidance
- As you would a child
- Restricting independence
- Clear Rules for them to follow
- Correction
- Aka punishment ]
- Slave where children that need to be told everything
- Most owners take an interest in the running of their farm
- Owners felt kinship to their slaves due to being born in US
- Slave Owners saw themselves as a father-figure and their slaves
as their children
- (Sometimes literally)
- Every aspect of a slaves life where controlled in someway:
- Rationing
- How much you ate/ if you ate
- Clothing adequate/ appropriate for the weather
- Time
- How you spent you time: Eat, Sleep, Break, etc
- Associations
- Rules
- especially OFF the plantations
- Marriage Abroad:
- Folks who had family on two different plantations
- Husband on one and wife and kids on another
- ^ Situation was common
- Provides context: Who you associate with.
- Want permission to visit your kids? Ask the master
- One way of punishment was to not allow visitations
- Ultimate control over slaves
- Punish them
- Good VS Bad masters
- Giving slaves off on Sunday:
- Humane
- Some had no interest in their slaves
-

Workers
Provided for the owners Wealth, Health & Comfort
Women = Sexual release & could produce new laborers

Mercredi, Novembre 11th 2015: NO CLASS

DEFENDING SLAVERY
-

Abolitionists
Free Soldiers
Free (Wage) Labor Advocates
Growing Isolation in Slave Use

Vendredi, Novembre 13th:

- Free Soilers
- Wanted all of the western territories to be free of slavery
- People working for wages was a new thing
- Most people worked for themselves
- Bartered for what you needed
- With Industrialization,
- people moved to Urban areas to live in cities
- growing number of people working for wages
- These present model
- Slavery = South
- (1860) 90% of the wealth was owned by slave owners

SLAVERY: FREE LABOR DEFENSE

Influence friends and politicians

Slave Owners cared more than free labor
- Lifetime employment
- provided with necessities needed in life
Care for Laborers
- Wage workers
- no benefits
- no job security
Focus on England because start of Industrial Revolution