THE SOUTH AND THE SLAVERY CONTROVERSY, 17931860

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THE SOUTH AND THE SLAVERY CONTROVERSY, 1793-1860

• Chapter 16

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Cotton is King

• In 1787 many in both south and the north thought
  that slavery was on its way out.
• Reasons?
• Impact of Eli Whitneys cotton gin.
• Short-staple cotton
• Seeds no longer removed by hand

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King Cotton

• Cotton becomes dominant cash crop in south,
  especially in the gulf bottom lands.
• Southern planters buy new land and slaves
  aggressively
• Northern shippers make big profits shipping.
• Britain highly dependent on American cotton.
• Britains most important product in the 1850s was
  cotton cloth.
• About 75 of its cotton came from US.
• 1/5th of Britains workers directly or indirectly
  got livelihood from cotton processing.

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Southern Cotton Production, 1860
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Changes in Cotton Production
1820
1860
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The Planter Aristocracy

• Before the Civil War planter aristocracy controls
  government in the South.
• Planter Aristocracy at the top.
• 1850, only 1733 families owned more than 100
  slaves.
• Cream of the political and social leadership.
• Owned the lions share of the wealth.
• System retarded economic development.
• Why?

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Slaves Of The Slave System

• Problems with plantation system
• Raped the land
• Economy was monopolistic
• System was economically unstable
• Led to a dangerous dependence on one crop
• South lacked diversity

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Slave-Owning Population (1850)

• Below the 1733 leading families were the less
  wealthy slave owners. 345,000 families
  representing 1.7 Mill people in 1850.
• Over 2/3 owned fewer than 10 slaves.
• Maj. of whites didnt own slaves

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Whites Without Slaves

• Majority
• Mostly subsistence farmers on poorer land
• Bottom of group Poor white trash, rednecks,
  crackers
• Had no stake in the slave economy, but were some
  of the strongest supporters of the system
• Why?
• Mountain whites very poor, resented slavery,
  Hillbillies

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Stay on Course
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Free Blacks Slaves Without Masters

• By 1860 there were about 250,000 free blacks
• Societies attitude toward them.
• Risk of being high-jacked back into slavery.
• Attitude in the North
• Northern v. Southern view of blacks

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Plantation Slavery

• 4 Mill. black slaves
• Basement of southern society.
• Numbers had quadrupled since 1800.
• Important source of wealth
• Stagnated the southern economy.
• Slave population moved south as prime cotton land
  shifted to the Deep South.
• Slave population in states.

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Southern Population (1860)
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Distribution of Slaves, 1860
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Slave Life

• Not much fun
• Hard work, ignorance and oppression
• No political or legal rights.
• Floggings common
• Many places illegal to teach them to read.
• Slave-breakers.
• By 1860 most slaves concentrated in the Deep
  South.

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Slave Rebellions

• Were slave rebellions, but never successful.
  Often informed upon by other slaves.
• 1800 Gabriel in Richmond
• Denmark Vesey, Charleston in 1822.
• Most famous was rebellion by Nat Turner in Va. in
  1831.
• Significance

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Early Abolition

• Early abolitionism. Quakers.
• American Colonization Society (1817)
• Liberia. 15000 freed blacks transported to Africa
• Why dont more American Blacks go back to Africa?.

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Growth of Abolition

• In the 1830s abolitionist turned into a crusade.
  
• Why?
• Theodore Dwight Weldearly Abolitionist preacher.
• Lyman Beecher, head of Lane Theological Seminary,
  hotbed of early abolitionism. Very influential
  and father of
• Harriet Beecher Stowe
• Henry Ward Beecher
• Catharine Beecher

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Radical Abolition

• 1831 William Lloyd Garrison burst onto the scene.
  young
• His view on slavery.
• Published militant abolitionist magazine The
  Liberator.
• Founded the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1833.

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Black Abolitionists

• Sojourner Truth
• David WalkerMilitant.
• Frederick Douglas
• Greatest of the Black abolitionists
• escaped from bondage in 1838 at 21.
• Protégé of Garrison

Frederick Douglas
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The South Lashes Back

• Before 1830
• More anti-slavery societies in south than north
• Southerners openly debated merits of slavery.
• After 1830 debate in South ends and many
  southerners defend as positive good. What
  changed?
• Nat Turners rebellion in 1831
• Nullification Crisis
• Reaction to Northern criticism
• Southern preachers arguing that slavery supported
  by Bible

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The Abolitionist Impact In The North

• Abolitionists were not particularly popular in
  the North for some time. Why?
• North had heavy stake in the cotton of the south.
• Textile mills relied on southern cotton.
• Many northerners feared political controversy.
• Many northern politicians carefully distanced
  themselves from the abolitionists.
• Abolitionists harrassed
• Yet, by 1850 abolitionism had gained strength and
  taken root as a popular cause.

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End of Chapter