1. Some argued that immigrants were mentally and physically defective, bred urban slums, and sold votes to corrupt politics
2. Others said that they worked for low wages and were stealing jobs from Americans
3. Protestants claimed that Church of Rome was attaining an undue power in American government
4. Many newcomers voted Democratic (older citizens thought they were radical)
v. Secret societies to combat the “alien menace”
1. Originated in NE, spread to west, then South
2. Native American Association (1837)
a. Held PHILA convention and formed Native American party
b. Anti-immigrant sentiment crested in 1850s
i. 1850- Supreme Order of Star Spangled Banner (nativist groups combined)
1. Ban Catholics from office
2. Restrictive naturalization laws
3. Literacy tests for voting
4. Code of secrecy (password=I Know Nothing)
5. Eventually became known as the Know-Nothings
vi. After 1852 election, Know-Nothings formed the American Party
1. Success in elections of 1852, carrying NY, PENN, and controlled state government in MASS
2. Elsewhere- modest
a. W members, because of Germans, claimed that they were not opposed to naturalized protestants
b. After 1854, strength of Know-Nothings declined
c. Most notable for helping the 2 party system to collapse and creating other political realignments
VII. Labor in the NE
a. Growth of cities and immigration caused the labor force to grow
i. Early years, work force in NE factories remained small and impermanent
ii. Manufacturers had to make do with a modest, largely female labor supply
iii. 1840s- Need for factory workers caused a large, permanent laboring class beginning to take place in the cities
b. Early years- easy for mill owners to treat workers with paternal solitude and soften the conditions of living and working in an alien environment
i. With the expansion of industry, workers were basically left to find whatever accommodations they could, and factories were becoming noisy, unsanitary, and dangerous places to work
ii. Avg. work day extended to 12-14 hours and hourly wages decline ($4-$10/wk. For skilled male workers); Women and children earned less
iii. Conditions not as bad as Europe, but were not the models of cleanliness that they desired
c. Workers tried to improve their conditions
i. Tried to persuade Legislatures to pass laws setting maximum work day
1. NH (1847) and PENN (1848) passed 10 hr. work day laws unless workers agreed to an express contract calling for more time on the job
2. Laws without impact because employers wanted express contract as requirement for hiring
3. MASS, NH, and PENN passed child labor laws with limited results
a. 10 hours for children unless parents agreed longer
b. Employers had little difficulty getting parents to consent
d. Commonwealth v. Hunt (1842) (MASS)
i. Unions were legal and strikes were legal weapons
1. Other state courts accepted principles of that decision
2. 1840s-50s union movement remained feeble and ineffective because many workers did not want to think of themselves as a permanent labor force
3. Unions that were successful did not stage strikes, and even less often, won them
e. Organization occurred at local level among limited skilled workers
i. More things in common with pre-industrial guilds than with modern unions
ii. Protect members’ favored positions by restricting skilled trades
iii. 1830s- craft unions organized together to form national organizations
1. National Typographical Union (1852), Stone Cutters (1853), Hat Finishers (1854), Molders and Machinists (1859)
f. All craft workers included woman, all though female workers were excluded in every industry.
i. 1850s- Women established own unions with support of middle-class female reformers
1. Little power to deal with employers, but served as mutual aid societies for female workers
g. 1840s-50s- working class known for passivity
i. England- workers becoming a powerful, united, and violent economic force, creating widespread turmoil and transforming the nation’s political structure
ii. Nothing happened in America
h. Factors inhibiting the growth of effective labor resistance
i. Immigrants
1. Willing to work for low wages
2. Eager to work; manufacturers replaced disgruntled Americans with immigrants
3. Ethnic divisions caused complaints to be internal rather than directed to employers
4. Political, economic, and social strength of industrial capitalists
5. Emerging social and economic structure of antebellum America.
VIII. Wealth and Mobility
a. USA commercial and industrial growth increased wealth of the United States, but wasn’t distributed widely
i. Some population groups shared hardly in the economic growth, but even among the rest of the population, differences were impossible to ignore
ii. Wealth had always been unevenly distributed (45% of wealth to 10% pop)
iii. Boston 1845- 65% $ to 4% pop.
iv. PHILA-1860- 50% $ to 1% pop.
v. American families- 50% 4 to 5% pop.
b. Factors that caused class disputes not to occur
i. Relative living conditions for workers declining, the absolute living conditions were improving
1. Life better for workers than in Europe or on farms
ii. Mobility within the working class
1. Opportunities for social mobility (higher and lower classes) were limited, but existed
2. Small # Workers managed to move from poverty to riches through work, ingenuity, and small% of luck
3. Many workers moved one notch up by becoming skilled and could envision children, etc. becoming more prosperous
4. Geographical mobility
a. More extensive in USA
b. Some West being opened to settlement for first time in 1840s-50s
c. Some workers- the dream of saving money to move west could be a reality
d. For most, the expense and expertise required to move to the agricultural west was a great, almost impossible step
e. More frequent- laborers moved from city to city
i. Victims of layoffs- looking for better opportunities elsewhere
ii. Search seldom led to anything better
iii. Root less ness made effective organization and protest more difficult
iii. Opportunities to participate in politics improved
1. Access to ballot offered communities a way to guide their society and feed significant in their communities
IX. Women and the Cult of Domesticity
a. Industry had affects on nature and function of the family
i. Shift of income-earning out of home and into factory
ii. Early 19th Century- families were the principal unit of economic activity (farms, shops, etc.)
iii. Men, women, and children worked together and shared tasks in making money
b. Family continued to remain strong among farming population, but changes were made
i. Agricultural work became more commercialized in NW
ii. Farm owners relied less on families and more on hired male workers
iii. Farmhands performed jobs once given to women and children
iv. Women worked in domestic tasks, removing them from the income-producing activities of the farm
v. Farmwomen in NW had lower economic status than women in the East
c. Changes in the industrial families
i. Urban household was less important as production center (many left home for work each day)
ii. Distinctions emerged between public world of the workplace and private world of the families, now dominated by child-raising, housekeeping, and domestics
d. Changes in social roles of men and women that affected factory workers, farmers, and growing middle class
i. Women had been denied many rights enjoyed by men and they lived in a patriarchal society
ii. Women could not obtain divorces, but men could and men usually won custody of children
iii. Most states- men controlled property and persons of their wives’
iv. Women had little access to business and politics
v. Women forbidden to speak in public before mixed audiences
vi. Women had far less access to education than men
1. Encouraged to attend elementary school, but the discouraged and barred from receiving higher education
2. Oberlin (Ohio) became the first college to allow females, admitting 4 in 1837, despite criticism
3. Coeducation remained rare until after the Civil War and only few Women’s colleges (Mount Holyoke- (MASS-1837-Mary Lyon)) emerged
e. In pre-industrial era, all members played crucial role in household, despite women limitations, but in the middle class society (Factory)- husband was the sole income producer and the wives engaged in domestic activities
i. Resulted in shift of middle class on women’s place in family and family’s place in society
1. Women seen as guardians of domestic values
2. Roles as mothers seemed more central to family than in past
3. Role as wives grew as well- more important as consumers and high value placed on keeping a clean home, entertaining, and expressing style
f. Distinct female culture began to develop
i. Friendships among women became intense and women began to form their own social networks
ii. Distinct female literature
1. Romance novel by female authors focusing on the ‘women’s sphere’
2. Women magazines (Goedy’s Lady’s Book-1837 edited by Sarah Hale)
a. Avoided dealing with controversies or political issues, focusing instead on fashions, shopping, and domestic concerns
g. By later standards, isolation of women seems to be oppression and discrimination, and men considered women un-fit for politics and business
i. Most middle-class men and women considered the female sphere a way for expressing qualities making women superior to men
1. Custodians of morality and benevolence (household)
2. Provide religious and moral instruction to children and counterbalance secular husbands
3. “Cult of domestication brought benefits and costs to mid-class women
a. Live lives with more material comfort
b. Values on female virtues and roles as wife and mother
c. Left women detached from the public world with few outlets for interests and energies
h. Costs of detachment clear among un-married, middle class women
i. 1840s- domesticity had grown so powerful that many women would no longer consider working in shops or mills
ii. Un-married women required some income producing activity
1. Few choices- teachers, nurses (both professions attracted women during 1840s and 1850s)
2. Otherwise, UM women were dependant on relative’s generosity
iii. Except for teaching and nursing, women’s work was designated as lower-class
1. Working-class women did not cultivate the domestic issues
2. Worked in factories under bad conditions
3. Found employment in middle-class homes
4. Domestic service- frequent sources of female employment
5. Women that needed to earn money had to move outside household to do so
i. Accompanying change ion family structure was a decline in birth rate
i. 1800- women had ~7 children; 1860-~5 children
1. BR fell quickly in urban areas among middle-class women
2. Birth control devices present, some caused change
3. Abortions were still legal- caused up to 20% birth terminations in 1850s
4. Most important cause- increased abstinence
a. Reflection of larger shift in 19th Century North society
i. Economy organized
ii. Production out of home
iii. Individuals expected more from the world
iv. Calculation about future- important decisions about child-bearing
v. Secular, rationalized, and progressive orientation of rapidly developing North
X. NE Agriculture
a. Agriculture in Northeast after 1840 declined and transformed
i. Declined because farmers could not compete with NW
ii. Production centers shifted West for many of farm goods that had been important to NE agriculture (wheat, corn, grapes, sheep, cattle, hogs)
iii. 1840- PENN, OH, VA- leading wheat growing states
iv. 1860- IL, IN, WISC, OH, MI
v. Corn- IL, OH, MO supplied NY
vi. 1840 cattle- NY, PENN, but in 1850- cattle states moved West (Far S as Texas)
b. Some E farmers responded by moving W and establishing new farms
i. Others remained and held their own, some surpassed, farmers of NW
ii. With increase of urban areas, farmers tried supplying food to the masses and made profits in vegetable and fruit raising, dairy farming, as well as NY (apple leaders) attracting many dairy farmers looking for profit
iii. ½ dairy products produced E, others came from W (OH- leading dairy state)
iv. NE led other areas in production of hay (dairy)
v. NY led nation in hay, with other crops grown in PENN and New England
vi. NE also produced many potatoes
c. NE agriculture beginning to back down to urban NE and Agriculture NW
i. Many parts of rural NE declined
XI. The Old NW
a. Life was different in NW in mid-19th Century
i. Some industry in region (more than S- 2 decades before civil war- steady increase in industry)
ii. 1860- 36,786 manufacturers employing 209,909 workers
iii. Cleveland- center of flourishing commercial center on Lake Erie
iv. Ohio River Valley- Cincinnati (meat-packing)
v. Chicago-great metropolis of section- national center of agriculture and meat-packing industries
vi. Most important industrial products of W were farm machinery, flour, meat, distilled whiskey, leather and wooden goods
b. Industry far less important in NW than NE
i. Many great lakes states populated by Indians
1. Hunting, fishing, sedentary agriculture were primary economic activities
2. Tribes did not integrate into commercialized economies of NW
c. For settlers that occupied former native land, agriculture was predominant
i. Lucrative and expanding activity (fertile lands)- contrast to NE (agriculture in decline)
ii. Typical NW citizen was owner of reasonably prosperous farm (200 acres)
iii. NW farmers motivated by sound agricultural reasons
1. NE became more industrial and enlarged markets for farm goods
2. Europe and England, undergoing same changes, imported large amounts of food
3. Growing WW demand for farm products and steadily rising prices
4. 1840s-50s- increasing prosperity
d. Affects on USA sectional alignments
i. NW sold products to NE and shipped the rest abroad
ii. Well-being of Western farmers was sustained by E purchasing power
iii. E industry found an important market for its products in the W
iv. Profitable to both, isolating the South within the Union
e. To meet demand, NW worked to improve productive capacities
i. Take advantage of unoccupied land
ii. W population settling in prairie region E of MISS and pushed beyond river
iii. Developed techniques to produce a large amount of crop in a short amount of time
1. Wasteful, exploitive farming resulting in quick exhaustion of rich soil
f. Less destructive techniques
i. New seed (Mediterranean wheat), better breeds of animals (hogs and sheep from England and Spain)
ii. Improvements of farm machines and tools
1. Effective grain drills, harrows, mowers, and hay rakes
2. Cast-iron plow- parts could be replaced when broken
3. 1847- John Deere established a Moline, ILL a factory to manufacture steel plows, more durable than those of Iron
g. Two other great machines heralding a grain revolution
i. Automatic reaper, invented by VA Cyrus H. McCormick
1. 6 or 7 men could harvest in 1 day what 15 men could do using older methods
2. Device patented in 1834, and 1847- McCormick established a plant in Chicago at the heart of the grain belt
3. 1860-100,000 reapers in use on W farms
ii. Thresher
1. Removed grain from the wheat stalks- appeared in large # after 1840
2. Before- grain was flailed by hand or trodden by farm animals (7 bushels/day was good)
3. Threshers could make 25 bushels/hour
4. Most were manufactured at the Jerome I. Case factory in Racine, Washington
h. NW- self-consciously conservative/democratic
i. Capitalistic, property conscious, middle-class
ii. Abraham Lincoln- IL Whig- voiced opinions of that section
XII. The Expanding South
a. S fanned out into SW and established new communities, states, and markets
b. Agricultural economy grew productive and prosperous
c. Trade in sugar, rice, tobacco, and **cotton** made S a major force in international commerce and created substantial region wealth
d. Society, Culture, and politics were affected
e. S experienced less of a fundamental change than the North
i. Remained agrarian
ii. Few important cities
iii. Tightened grip on slave labor
iv. Unlike North and sensitive to what it considered to be threats to S lifestyle
XIII. The Rise of King Cotton
a. Most important economic development was the shift of power from the “Upper South” (Original colonies) to the “lower South” (Expanding SW)
i. Reflected growing dominance of cotton in S economy
b. Upper South continued to rely on tobacco cultivation
i. Unstable market subject to recurring depressions (1820s-50s)
ii. Tobacco rapidly exhausted land- difficult for growers to remain in the same place very long
1. 1830s- farmers of Old South (VA, MD, NC) shifting to other crops (wheat) and tobacco moved to SW
c. S regions of coastal S (SC, GA, FL) relied on rice production (stable, lucrative)
i. Rice required substantial irrigation and 9 month growing season and cultivation remained confined to a small area
ii. Sugar also was profitable, but required demands much like cotton and was only grown in S LA and E TX
iii. Long Staple Cotton was another lucrative crop, but could only be grown in coastal SE
d. Decline of tobacco and limits of other crops might have forced S to look to non-agricultural pursuits in 19th Century had it not been for Short-staple cotton
i. Hardier and coarser strain of cotton that could be grown in a variety of climates and soils
ii. Seeds were more difficult to remove and process than long-staple cotton, but cotton-gin invention solved problem
iii. From W SC and GA, production moved steadily- first into AL and MISS, then into N LA, TX, and AK
iv. 1850s- principle factor in S economy
v. 1850/1860- 3/5 million bales of cotton/year
1. Fluctuations in prices due to overproduction (boom/bust cycles), but cotton economy grew
2. Civil War- represented 2/3 of USA export trade, bringing in 200 million $$$/year
3. Rice crop- 2 million $/year
4. “Cotton is King”
e. Cotton kingdom resembled gold rush on seekers of a new frontier
i. Profits drew settlers by thousands
1. Some- wealthy planters from older states that transferred their assets and slaves to cotton plantation
2. Most were small slave holders or slave less who intended to become planters
3. Shift occurred in slave population (1820-1860)
a. AL- 41,000 to 435,000
b. MISS- 32,000 to 436,000
c. VA- 425,000 to 490,000
d. 1840-1860- 410,000 moved with their owners from upper South to cotton states or sold to new owners
e. Slave sale to SW was an important economic activity and helped troubled planters of Upper South compensate for declining crop prices
XIV. Southern Trade and Industry
a. Economic activity of S developed slowly
i. Business classes of region- manufacturers and merchants- not without importance
ii. Growth of flour milling and textile and iron manufacturing, mainly in upper S
1. Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond, VA compared with best iron mills in NE
2. Industry insignificant when compared to the agriculture
3. 1860- total value of S textile manufacturing was $4.5 million (3x value 20 years ago, but only 2% of the value of cotton)
b. S developed a non-farm commercial sector to serve the needs of plantation economy
i. Brokers or factors that marketed planters’ crops
ii. Centered in NO, Charleston, Mobile, and Savannah where they worked to find buyers and purchase goods for planters
iii. S- rudimentary financial system, and factors also provided planters with credit (bankers)
1. Planters were frequently in debt due to price drops, and merchant-bankers had influence and importance in society
2. Professional lawyers, doctors, editors- also dependant on the plantation economy
3. Unimportant in comparison with the manufacturers, merchants and professionals of the North with whom the S had to depend on more and more
a. Recognized economic subordination of region
c. James B D De Bow- NO resident- prominent advocate of S economic independence
i. Published De Bow’s review (1846-1880) advocating S commercial and agricultural expansion and independence from North, warning of dangers of colonial relationship between sections
1. Review was clear evidence on how S was dependent on N
a. Printed in NY- no NO printer had adequate facilities
b. Filled with ads from N manufacturing firms
c. Circulation was modest compared to N publications
i. Charleston- 173 copies/issue
ii. Harper’s magazine (NY) regularly sold 1500 copies to SC
d. S made few efforts to develop an economy to challenge dependency
i. Important? About S peace history- why didn’t it develop a large, commercial and industrial economy
1. Great profitability of agriculture (cotton) system
2. Wealthy S invested in land and slaves- no money for anything else
3. S Climate unsuitable for industrial development
4. S Work habits impeded industrialization
a. Appeared to N not to work very hard and lack strong work ethic
5. Values of S that discouraged growth of cities and industry
a. S society based on traditional values of chivalry, leisure, and elegance
b. “Cavaliers”- happily free from acquisitive instincts of N
c. Cavalier image appealed to S whites, but it conformed to the reality of S society
XV. Plantation society
a. Minority of Whites owned slaves
i. White population in 1850 was 6 million, 347,525 owned slaves
ii. 1860- 8 million/383,637
iii. Figures misleading- slaveholders were normally head of family avg. 5 members
iv. With all families, etc. slave holders no more than ¼ of them were slaveholders, and smaller % owned slaves in large #
b. How S became to be seen as a society dominated by plantations
i. Planter aristocracy exercised power and influence in excess of their numbers
ii. Apex of society- determined the political, economic, and social life of region
iii. Enriched by $$, homes, land, and black servants, they became a class to which others paid deference
1. Compared to upper classes of England and Europe: true, entrenched aristocracies
2. In reality, S aristocracy was not similar to landed aristocracies of Old World
c. Some areas of Upper South- aristocrats occupied power for generations, but in most of the south, it was a great myth
i. Most of the planters important to the region were new to their wealth and power
ii. First generation settlers (1850s) arrived with modest resources and struggled for many years to develop a plantation on what was a rugged frontier, and only recently been able to live in comfort
iii. Large areas of Old South had been cultivated for less than 2 decades at Civil War
iv. World was not as leisurely as cavalier myth suggests
1. Growing staple crops was a business which was in a way as competitive and risky as the industry in the North
2. Supervision of operation carefully if they wanted to make a profit
3. Just as much competitive capitalists as contempted Northerners
d. Differences between reality and myth mad S planters determined to portray themselves as aristocrats
i. Determined to defend new found position
ii. Defense of Slavers and S Rights was stronger in the new, booming regions of S and weaker in established and flourishing tidewater areas
e. Image of aristocrats was sustained in many ways
i. Elaborate code of chivalry (obligated white men to defend their honor)
ii. Avoided “coarse” occupations as trade and commerce
iii. Those who didn’t become planters often went to the military, a suitable career for men raised in a culture in which medieval knights were a powerful image
iv. Definition of special roles for S women
XVI. The Southern Lady
a. Ways S women occupied roles similar to N women
i. Lives centered at home
ii. Companions to husbands, mothers to children
iii. Less than North did S women engage in public activities or find income-producing employment
b. Ways S lady different from N
i. Cult of honor- S men gave importance to defense of women
1. White men were more dominant in S and women more subordinate
2. Women have one right- right of protection (implies obligation to obey)
ii. Social realities of S
1. Most females lived on farms, isolated from people outside of their own family, and no access to public world- never looked beyond role as wife and mother
2. Fuller engagement of economic life of the family than mid-class N women
3. Spinning, weaving, other production
4. Supervised slave work force
a. Larger plantations- these roles considered unsuitable for women and the “plantation mistresses” became an ornament for husbands and less a meaningful part of economy or society
5. Less access to education
a. ¼ of white women over 20 were illiterate
b. Few women had beyond rudimentary schooling
c. S “female academies” were designed to train women to become suitable wives
6. S birth rate remained higher and infant mortality rate was higher
a. ½ children in 1860 died before 5 yrs.
7. Slave labor system created problems
a. Male owners had frequent sexual relations with female slaves
b. Children became part of plantation labor force- served as a constant reminder of husbands’ infidelity
c. Black women and men were the most important victims of practices, but white women suffered too
i. Resented husbands’ liaisons with slaves, but society prevented them from venting their anger (except toward female slaves) or openly admitting that relationships existed
iii. Few S women rebelled against their position in society
1. Some became outspoken abolitionists and worked with N
2. Some agitated for S reforms
3. Most white women in S found few outlets for discontent and instead convinced themselves of benefits and defended the virtues of S life
XVII. The Plain folk
a. Typical White S was a modest yeomen farmer
i. Some owned a few slaves, with whom they worked and lived far more closely with than larger planters
ii. Most (2/3) owned no slaves at all
iii. “Plain folk” owned their land and devoted themselves to subsistence farming
iv. 1850s- # of non-slave landowners increased faster than slave owning landowners
v. Some examples of farmers moving to planter class, but examples were rare
vi. Most yeomen knew that they had little prospect of substantially bettering their lot
b. S education system- few opportunities for poor whites
i. Sons of wealthy planters- system provided great opportunities to gain an education
ii. 1860- 260 S colleges and universities, pub. and pri. with 25,000 students enrolled, more than ½ the total # of students in the USA
iii. Lower S had 11,000 students in higher education compared to 3748 for NE
iv. College within reach of upper class
v. Below college level (lower class)- there were fewer, inferior S schools compared to NE, but not much worse than NW
vi. S had more than 500,000 illiterates, more than ½ country’s total
c. Majority of White S was modest farmers excluded from dominant plantation society
i. Why did plain folk have such little power in Old South?
ii. Why did they not oppose aristocrats?
iii. Why did they not resent slavery
1. No single answer
d. Some non-slave-owning Whites did oppose slavery oligarchy, but in limited ways and isolated areas
i. Southern Highlanders “Hill people” that lived in APP E of MISS and Ozarks W of MISS
ii. Most set apart from mainstream region society
1. Crude form of subsistence agriculture
2. No slaves
3. Proud sense of seclusion
4. Old ways and old ideals- loyalty to nation as a whole
5. Expressed animosity to toward planter aristocracy and misgivings (seldom moral objections) about slavery
6. Only part of region to deny trend to sectional conformity and only part to resist movement to secession
7. Civil War- many refused to support Confederacy; some fought for the Union
e. Non-slave-owning whites living in the midst of the plantation system
i. Many accepted it and were tied to it in important ways
1. Small farmers depended on aristocracy for many things
a. Access to cotton gin
b. Markets for crops and livestock
c. Financial assistance
2. Kinship of upper and lower-class whites
a. Poorest in community might be cousin of rich aristocrat
b. Mutual ties helped mute class tensions
f. Non-slave-owning whites that were not living in the midst of the plantation system but accepted it anyway
i. Members of tragic and degraded class- “Crackers”, “sand hillers”, or “poor white trash”
ii. Occupied infertile lands of pine barrens, red hills, and the swamps
iii. Lived in poor conditions and cabins
iv. Degrations resulted from dietary deficiencies and disease
1. Restored at times to eating clay
2. Affected by pellagra, malaria, and hookworm
3. Formed a true under-class; held in contempt be everyone
4. Their class was worse than black slaves (slaves looked down upon poor whites)
v. Among these people, there was no opposition to plantation system or slavery
1. Poverty- little strength to protest
2. Race- single most unifying factor in South- reduced tensions among classes
a. How poor they may be, they could still act as rulers to black population and feel a bond with whites wanting to preserve racial supremacy
XVIII. The “Peculiar Institution”
a. S referred to slavery as the peculiar institution, not that it was odd, but that it was special
i. S was only area in western world except for Brazil and Cuba where slavery still existed
ii. S slavery differed from Caribbean and L America counterparts
1. Slavery isolated S from rest of American society
2. As isolation increased, so did the S will to protect slavery
b. Within S itself, slavery had paradoxical results
i. Isolated blacks from whites, and developed a sharp and inviolable line between cultures
ii. As a result, blacks in slavery began to develop a society and culture in their own that was unrelated to surrounding white civilization
iii. Slavery created a unique bond between blacks and whites, masters and slaves, in S
iv. 2 races were deeply influenced and dependent on one another
XIX. Varieties of Slavery
a. Slavery was established and regulated in detail by law
i. Slave codes forbade slaves to hold property, leave masters’ premises without permission, to be out after dark, to congregate with other slaves except at church, to carry firearms, or to strike a white person, even in self-defense
ii. Codes prohibited whites from teaching slaves to read and write, and slaves couldn’t testify in court against whites
iii. No provisions on marriage or divorces
iv. If owner killed slave for punishment, t was usually not a crime
v. Slaves faced death penalty for killing or even resisting a white person and for inciting to revolt
vi. Rigid provisions for defining race
1. Anyone with trace of African ancestry was considered black and anyone thought to possess trace was considered black until he or she could prove otherwise
b. Provisions indicate that slaves lived under a uniformly harsh and dismal regime
i. Laws were applied unevenly, so above statement sometimes not true
ii. Sometimes, slaves acquired property, were taught to read and write, and assemble with other slaves
iii. Major slave offenses were referred to the courts, most transgressions were handled by masters who dealt varying punishments
iv. Variety of slave system
1. Some blacks lived in prison conditions, rigidly controlled by masters
2. Many (Most) enjoyed a certain flexibility and a degree of autonomy
c. Relationship between masters and slaves were dependent on the size of the plantation
i. Typical master had a different image of slavery than the typical slave
1. Most masters possessed few slaves, and shaped image of slavery from slavery on a small farm
a. Farmers supervised workers directly and worked among them
b. Blacks and whites developed a form of intimacy unknown on larger plantations
i. Paternal relationship could be warm and benevolent, but also cruel
ii. Blacks preferred to live on large plantations where they had opportunities for privacy and social world of their own
d. Majority of slaves lived on med.- large sized plantations with a large slave work force
i. Relationship between master and slave was less intimate
1. Planters often hired overseers and even asst. overseers to replace them
2. “Head drivers” (trusted and responsible slaves) and sub-drivers acted under overseers as foremen
ii. 1-2 methods of assigning slave labor
1. One- task system, more widely used in rice culture, where slaves were assigned a particular task in the morning, and after completing the job, were free for the rest of the day
2. Other- gang system, common on the cotton, sugar, and tobacco plantations under which slaves were divided into groups and directed by a driver and worked for as many hours as the overseer considered reasonable
e. Slaves were provided with enough necessities to enable them to live and work
i. Adequate if rough diet (corn meal, salt pork, and molasses)
ii. Many were allowed to raise own gardens and given fresh meats on occasion
iii. Received issues of cheap clothing and shoes
iv. Lived in crude cabins- slave quarters- clustered together in a complex near the master’s house
v. Plantation mistress or doctor provided some medical care, but slave women were a more important source
f. Slaves worked hard, with light tasks as children, and their workdays were long at harvest time
i. Slave women worked extra-hard
1. Shared fields with men and did domestic work (all)
2. Slave families were divided with husbands and fathers living on neighboring plantations or far away, slave women acted as single parents
3. Within slave family, women had special authority
g. Some argue that material conditions of slaves were better than those of the northern industrial workers
i. True or not, conditions of slavery in S were less severe than those in Caribbean and S America
1. There, the slave supply was replenished by African slave trade well into the 19th Century, giving owners less incentive to protect existing laborers
2. Working and living conditions were awful, and owners literally worked slaves to death
3. USA- strong economic incentives to maintain a healthy slave population
a. USA- only country that slave population increased through natural reproduction
h. Slave-owners treated slaves with solicitude by using hired labor for most un-healthy or dangerous tasks
i. Irishmen were hired to clear malarial swamps or handle cotton bales at bottom of chutes extending from the river bluff down to a boat landing
ii. If Irishman died- owners could hire another one at $1/day or less, but he would lose a $1,000+ investment if slave died
iii. Cruel masters forgot $$$ in heat of anger
1. Slaves were often left to overseers that had no stake in their well-being and were paid in proportion of how much work they could get out of the slaves that they supervised
i. Household servants had an easier life (physical) than field hands
i. Small plantation, same slaves might do field and house work, but on large ones, there would usually be a separate domestic staff: nursemaids, housemaids, butlers, and coachmen.
1. Lived close to master and family, often eating leftovers and sleeping in the big house
2. Affectionate, family relationships might develop between blacks and whites
3. More often, house servants resented being isolated from their fellow slaves
4. Female servants were subject to sexual abuse by their masters
a. House servants were first to leave after Civil War and emancipation
j. Slavery in cities v. Slavery in Country
i. On isolated plantations, there was little contact with outside, and masters maintained direct and effective control
ii. Deep and un-bridgeable chasm developed between slavery and freedom
iii. In the city, a master could not follow his slaves closely but use them profitably
iv. Slept at night in barracks that were guarded, but in the day, went about on various errands
v. Others were hired out, and after hours they often fended for themselves, with nobody bothering to supervise them
1. Urban slaves given the chance to mingle with free blacks and whites
2. Cities- lines between slavery and freedom remained but became less distinct
k. S considered slavery to be incompatible with city life
i. As cities grew, the # of slaves declined
ii. Reasons were social, not economic
1. Fear of conspiracies and insurrections
2. Excess of black women, white men (birth of mulattoes)
3. Slavery declined, but segregation increased
a. Segregation was a means of social control intended to make up for the loosening of the discipline of slavery
XX. The Slave Trade
a. Transfer of slaves from pt. To pt. In South was an important demographic consequences of SW development
i. Some slaves moved to the new cotton lands with their masters
ii. More often, movement occurred through slave trade
1. Traders transported slaves over long distances on trains, or river and ocean steamers
2. Shorter journeys- slaves moved on foot
3. Eventually, they arrived at Natchez, NO, Mobile, or Galveston where purchasers met to bid for them
a. At auction, slaves were checked like livestock, watching them as they walked, trotted, inspected their teeth, feeling arms and legs, looking for signs of age
b. Paid to be careful- traders could blacken gray hair and oiling withered skin, and concealing physical defects
c. A young field hand would get a price that in the 1840s and 1850s varied from $500 to $1700, depending on prices of cotton
d. An attractive women might bring much more
b. Domestic slave trade was essential to the growth and prosperity of the whole system, but also one of its most horrible aspects
i. Trade de-humanized all involved
ii. Separated children from parents and parents from each other
iii. Families kept together might be split up in division of estate after master death
iv. Planters condoned the trade and eased their consciences by holding traders in contempt and assigning them a low social position
c. Foreign slave trade- as bad or worse
i. Federal law prohibited the importation of slaves in 1808- they continued to be smuggled in as late as the 1850s- #s can only be guessed
ii. Not enough such imports to satisfy all planters and the S commercial conventions met annually to consider ways of making the South economically independent, began to discuss the legal opening of the trade
1. Convention voted to recommend the repeal of all laws against slave imports
2. Only delegates of states of Upper S, which profited from domestic trade, opposed the foreign competition
XXI. Slave Resistance
a. Few issues sparked as much debates among historians than the effects on slavery on blacks themselves
i. Slave-owners and many white Americans liked to argue that slaves were generally content, and it may have been true in some cases
ii. Clear that the vast majority of blacks were not content with being slaves and yearned for freedom, although there was little they could do to secure it
1. Evidence from the reaction of slaves to emancipation (freedom and joy; Few chose to still remain in service to their masters)
b. Rather than contented acceptance, the dominant response of blacks to slavery was one of adaptation and resistance
i. Extremes- slavery produced two reactions
1. “Sambo”- deferential slaves that acted out the role that he recognized the world expected of him
a. Most often- “sambo” was a façade in the presence of whites
2. Other extreme- slave rebel
a. Could not bring themselves to acceptance or accommodation
c. Slave revolts were extremely rare, but the possibility struck fear in White S
i. 1800- Gabriel Prosser gathered 1,000 rebellious slaves, but 2 blacks leaked the secret, and the VA militia was called in to break it up
ii. Prosser and 35 others were executed
iii. 1822- Denmark Vesey (Charleston Free Black) and 9,000 followers made plans for attack, but work got out and it was stopped
iv. 1831- Nat Turner (slave preacher) led group of armed blacks from house to house in Southampton County, VA
1. Slaughtered 60 whites before being overpowered by state and federal troops
2. 100 blacks put to death
3. Only actual slave insurrection in the 19th Century South, but conspiracies and threats of renewed violence continued throughout S
d. Resistance, for the most part, to slavery took less drastic forms
i. Slaves worked “within the system”- earning money to buy themselves and families’ freedom
1. Elizabeth Keckly bought freedom for herself and son from profits for sewing
a. Later became a seamstress and a personal servant and companion to Mary Lincoln in the White House
ii. Some slaves had good fortune to be set free upon their masters’ death
1. 400 slaves belonging to John Randolph of Roanoke, freed in 1833
2. 1830s-on state laws made it more and more difficult and in some cases impossible for an owner to set his slaves free (manumission)
a. Laws when permitting manumission required the slaves to be removed from the state once set free
b. Slave-owners objected to the near presence of free blacks because they set a disturbing example for slaves
e. 1860- 250,000 free blacks in slave holding states, ½ in VA and MD
i. Few (northern fringes) attained wealth and prominence
ii. Some owned other slaves (relatives to ensure their emancipation)
iii. Most lived in poverty, worse conditions than blacks in North
iv. Laws and customs closed many occupations to them, forbade them to assemble without supervision and placed many other restraints on them
1. Only quasi-free, and yet had all burdens of freedom- housing, taxes
2. Blacks preferred great hardships of freedom to slavery
f. Some blacks attempted to resist slavery by running away
i. Small # escaped to N or Canada, especially after the Underground Railroad
ii. Odds against escape, especially in Deep South, were great
1. Hazards of distance and slaves’ ignorance were obstacles
2. Also, “Slave Patrols” (whites that stopped blacks demanding to see travel permits)
a. Without permits, slaves were assumed runaways and taken captive
b. Slave patrols used bloodhounds for blacks that escaped in woods
c. Despite all obstacles, blacks continued to run away in large #
d. Some did so repeatedly, undeterred by penalties
g. Important method of resistance was the everyday defiance of masters
i. ***Refusal to work hard***
ii. Steal from masters and neighboring whites
iii. Isolated acts of sabotage- losing or breaking tools or performing tasks improperly
1. Extreme cases- blacks made themselves useless- cut off fingers- committed suicide
2. Might, on occasion, kill masters
3. Extremes were rare
4. Most part- blacks resisted by building into their normal patterns of behavior subtle methods of rebellion
XXII. Slave Religion and Black Family
a. Other response to slavery was realizing that there was no realistic alternative
i. Developed a rich and complex culture, giving them a sense of racial unity and pride
1. Distinct music- most impressive of all American musical traditions
ii. Most important- religion and family
b. Separate slave religion was not supposed to exist
i. Almost all blacks were Christians and were expected to worship under the supervision of masters
ii. Autonomous black churches were banned by law
iii. Blacks throughout the S developed their own version of Christianity, sometimes incorporation African practices such as voodoo, but more often simply bending religion to the special circumstances of bondage
1. Natural slave leaders emerged as preachers
2. Blacks held services in secret, often at night
c. Black religion was more emotional and reflected influence of African customs and practices than White
i. Slave prayer meeting often involved chanting, spontaneous congregation exclamations, and ecstatic conversion experiences
ii. Black religion more joyous and affirming
iii. Black religion emphasized the ideas of freedom and deliverance
iv. In songs, sermons, and prayers, blacks dreamed of the day when the Lord would call them home and lead them to freedom “Promised Land”
1. White masters interpreted language as the expression of hope for life after death, blacks used Christian salvation to express their hopes of freedom in the present world
d. Slave family was another crucial institution of S Black culture
i. Like religion, it suffered from legal restrictions- lack of marriage
ii. Nuclear family emerged as the dominant kinship model among blacks
iii. Families did not always operate according to white customs
1. Black women bore children at younger ages (14-15)
2. Slave communities did not condemn premarital pregnancies like white society and couples lived together long before marriage
3. Customary for couples to marry soon after conceiving a child
4. Family ties as strong as whites and many slave marriages lasted entire life
e. When slave marriages failed, it was often because of circumstances over which blacks had no control
i. 1/3 of black families were broken up by the slave trade
ii. Slave trade accounted for some of the other distinct features of the black family adapting to cruel realities of uncertain future
1. Networks of kinship grew to include aunts, uncles, grandparents, distant cousins and remained strong and important and served to compensate for family break-ups
2. A slave suddenly moved to a new area might develop fictional kinship ties and become adopted by a new family
3. Pulse remained strong to keep in contact with original family after break-up
4. Most frequent causes of flight from plantation is desire to find a husband or wife or child that had been sent elsewhere
iii. Whites also intruded on black family life by forcing sexual advances on slave women
1. Whites did not recognize children as their own, and they were consigned to slavery
f. In addition to establishing social and cultural institutions of their own, they also formed complex relationships with their masters
i. No matter how much blacks resented slavery, they found it difficult to maintain a hostile attitude toward their masters
ii. Dependent on whites for food, clothing, and shelter
iii. Also derived from masters a sense of security and protection
iv. Paternal relationship between slave and master- harsh, but important
1. Became vital instrument of white control
2. Creating a sense of mutual dependence, whites helped reduce resistance to an institution that was designed solely for white benefits