Slavery and the Old South

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Slavery and the Old South

• Oppression and Resistance

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The Old Plantation-ca. 1800

• What does this painting tell us about slave life?
• What does it obscure? (Thinkitll come up again.)

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The Structure of Rural White Society
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Large Planters

• Best education
• Political and social leaders
• Employ overseers to run plantations
• Smallest group
• Emphasize chivalry, honor, and hospitality

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Small Planters

• Many more than large planters, but still a
  relatively small social group
• Some political power
• Generally do not employ overseers
• Aspire to rise to the class of large planters,
  but the expense of slaves generally prevents this

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Yeoman Farmers

• Some own a few slaves
• Raise a variety of crops
• Largest white group
• Could vote/hold office
• Strong supporters of slavery
• Aspire to rise to planter class

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Mountain Whites

• Live isolated in Appalachian Mtns.
• Self-sufficient farmers
• Nationalists who oppose the power of the planters
  and the slavery system
• Most fight for the Union in the Civil War

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Poor Whites

• Rarely own land
• Work as tenants or day laborers
• Looked down on by most other whites
• Tend to refuse slave work
• Health problems and malnutrition common
• Strong supporters of slavery

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The Institution of Slavery

• Most Southern Whites owned NO slaves
• Most slaves lived on plantations with a hundred
  or more slaves
• So, who controlled slavery and antebellum
  Southern society?
• Slavery did not benefit most whites, yet most
  Southern whites supported the institution. Why?

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Conditions of Slavery

• About 4 million slaves in the antebellum South at
  slaverys peak
• Most live in separate slave quarters on
  plantations
• Maintain families, religion, and traditions
  despite slavery
• Labor systems gang and task system
• Have no legal rights

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The Slave Trade

• The Middle Passage was a devastating and
  dangerous experience
• Slaves were packed tightly into ships. Many died
  of disease.
• The U.S. ended the international slave trade in
  1808, though illegal smuggling did continue

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Separation of Families
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Physical Torture

• The use of physical punishment was common, though
  generally not as brutal as in the Caribbean
• One slave might be singled out for punishment to
  serve as an object lesson to others
• Women faced the added threat of rape by masters

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Slave Quarters
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(No Transcript)
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Free Blacks Always Faced the Danger of Being
Returned to Slavery
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Hidden Transcripts

• Difference between public and private speech and
  behavior
• Difference between what is said and what is meant
  when what is really meant is not likely to be
  understood by someone from outside the group
• How might slaves have used hidden transcripts
  to deal with bondage?

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Agency and Resistance

• Working slowly
• Sabotaging tools and machinery
• Feigning illness
• Running away for brief periods or permanently
• Self-mutilation
• Suicide and infanticide

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Slave Rebellion

• Slave revolts were uncommon in the United States,
  though whites feared them greatly
• The lack of a population majority as well as a
  place to go in case of successful rebellion
  tended to mitigate the tendency toward rebellion
• Slave codes became much more restrictive in the
  South whenever a rebellion occurred, especially
  after the successful revolt on San Domingue
  (Haiti) led by Toussaint LOverture

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Gabriels Rebellion-1800 Virginia

• Gabriel Prosser planned an assault on the
  Richmond armory to arm themselves and destroy
  slavery in Virginia
• After the Revolution many slaves had greater
  freedom of movement, especially those like
  Gabriel who worked on the water
• Gabriels plan was given away by a fellow slave
  before the revolt could take place, and Gabriel
  and the other leaders of the plot were executed

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Denmark Vesey-1822

• Born in Africa, he purchased his freedom after
  winning 1500 in a lottery
• He organized about 9000 others in the black
  community to revolt in Charleston, SC
• The plot was given away before it could go
  forward and Vesey and over 40 others (including 4
  whites) were hanged

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Nat Turner-1831

• A preacher among the slave population of
  Southampton, Virginia
• Had a series of visions of two armies clashing in
  the sky and took this as a sign that he should
  lead a rebellion to destroy slavery
• Led his followers in a surprise attack on
  slaveholding families, beginning with his own
  masters
• Over 60 whites were killed in the insurrection,
  most of them hacked to death with machetes
• After spending several months hiding in the
  Dismal Swamp, Turner and his followers were
  captured, tried, and executed

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Fear of Slave Revolts Greatly Increases and Slave
Codes are Made More Restrictive in the Wake of
the Massacre
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The Confessions of Nat Turner
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Classes in Slave Society
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Southern Defense of Slavery

• Early on, slavery was generally viewed by white
  Southerners as a necessary evil, but as it came
  under increasing attacks nationally, Southerners
  began to defend the peculiar institution as a
  positive good in society
• Defenders include Thomas Dew, John C. Calhoun,
  and William J. Grayson

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Arguments Used in Defense of Slavery

• The master/servant relationship is familial, like
  a parent/child relationship (patriarchal system)
• The Bible accepts slavery
• Slavery existed in the great historical
  civilizations like Greece and Rome
• Slavery is Gods will because slaves are suited
  to their condition
• Slaves are happy
• The system of slavery allows young, old, and sick
  slaves to be cared for

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Major Arguments Used Against Slavery

• Slavery is in opposition to the founding ideals
  of the United States democracy, equality,
  liberty
• The Declaration of Independence says All men are
  created equal.
• Slavery is a violation of basic human rights
• Slavery is immoral
• Slavery allows for the commission of horrendous
  physical abuse
• The Bible abhors slavery (esp. New Testament)

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The Old Plantation-ca. 1800

• What does this painting tell us about slave life?
• What does it obscure?