Ch. 11 Cotton, Slavery and the Old South 1800-1849

19th century upper South (VA, MD, NC) cultivated tobacco, but unstable prices and exhaustive of soil. By 1830s upper South began to grow wheat, tobacco growing shifted westward. Southern regions of South (SC, GA, FL) continued growing rice, Gulf some sugar—crops limited b/c hard to cultivate. Decline of tobacco in upper South led not to industrialization but growing of short-staple cotton- could grow in difft env’ts, w/ cotton gin now profitable. Demand for cotton growing b/c of rise of textile industry in GB 1820s/30s and New England 1840s/50s—new lands and expansion to meet new demand. Beginning 1820s production of cotton moved westward into Alabama, Mississippi, LA, TX, AK. By 1850s dominated economy

Or the Deep South, is that part of the southern United States lying wholly within the cotton belt, including South Carolina, Georgia, and the Gulf states of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. Before the Civil War, the Border States and the Middle South states (Arkansas, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia) had more diversified economies than did the Lower South states, which relied more heavily on cotton and sugar as their main cash crops and on slave labor. In the later antebellum period, these states (Florida excepted) secured political leadership in the South and led the drive for secession.

Refers to the cotton-producing region of the southern United States up until the Civil War. As white settlers from Virginia and the Carolinas forced the original Native American inhabitants farther and farther west, they moved in and established plantations. The section remained indeliblytied to and controlled by plantation agriculture. From the Atlantic coast to Texas, tobacco, rice, and sugar were staple crops from 1800 to the 1860s. It was cotton production, however, that controlled life in the region. The predominant feature of the Cotton Kingdom was the employment of slave labor. The societal structure of the area in the antebellum era was built around slavery. The vast majority of the population of the southern United States at this time, slaves, freedmen, and farmers without slaves, were ruled by a disproportionate minority of less than 2,000 large landowners (those who owned more than one hundred slaves). Because of the isolation and self-containment of the plantation system, coupled with a small population with limited resources, social services were practically nonexistent. This meant that social life, community services, education, and government rested in the hands of the large landholders. The only other outlet for community life was the church. The notion of mass production of cotton in the South, and slavery with it, was dying out prior to the turn of the nineteenth century due to slow and unprofitable methods employed by the farmers. In 1793 that changed with the invention of Eli Whitney's cotton gin. The gin made mass cotton production in the South feasible and helped to institutionalize slavery in the region. The Louisiana Purchase and the annexation of Texas as a slave state helped to expand the Cotton Kingdom. Politically, cotton became the foundation of southern control of the Democratic Party.

The antebellum South was more of an oligarchy-a government ran by a few. The government was heavily affected by the planter aristocracy. The dominance of aristocracy in the South widened the gap between the rich and poor because the aristocrats made all the decisions in their favor in government.

Yeomen farmers meant those middling white United States Southerners of the 19th century who owned their own land but few or no slaves.

The southern backcountry was a vast area roughly the size of western Europe, extending 800 miles south from Pennsylvania to Georgia, and several hundred miles west from the Piedmont plateau to the banks of the Mississippi. The terrain consisted of corrugated ridges and valleys, rising from the coastal plain to the crest of the Appalachians (the highest point was Mt. Mitchell in North Carolina at 6,684 feet), then falling away to the western rivers.

The cotton gin invented by Eli Whitney in 1793 is the main reason for this. Now with the use of this machine a much more hearty variety of cotton could be grown. This was the “short staple” variety. With this new variety and invention men rushed westward to fresh, fertile lands for the growth of cotton. Now with slaves as a valued resource more care was given to them

Below them were the poor whites of the South, about 10% of the population. Often times they were called “hillbillies,” “Dirt eaters,” “crackers,” or “poor white trash.” These poor whites eked out an existence on the poorest lands. Because of poor diet and bad living conditions, they often suffered from diseases such as hookworm and malaria. Poor nutrition, worms, and heat all worked to debilitate the whites – thus giving them a reputation of being lazy, shiftless, and illiterate.

Although each colony had differing ideas about the rights of slaves, there were some common threads in slave codes across areas where slavery was common. Legally considered property, slaves were not allowed to own property of their own. They were not allowed to assemble without the presence of a white person. Slaves that lived off the plantation were subject to special curfews. In the courts, a slave accused of any crime against a white person was doomed. No testimony could be made by a slave against a white person. Therefore, the slave's side of the story could never be told in a court of law. Of course, slaves were conspicuously absent from juries as well. Slave codes had ruinous effects on African American society. It was illegal to teach a slave to read or write. Religious motives sometimes prevailed, however, as many devout white Christians educated slaves to enable the reading of the Bible. These same Christians did not recognize marriage between slaves in their laws. This made it easier to justify the breakup of families by selling one if its members to another owner.

The task system used during slavery allowed some slave to work unsupervised as long as they completed their assigned task within the alloted time. After completion of the task some slaveowners permitted their slaves to spend their time working for themselves.

The gang system is a reference within slavery to a division of labor established on the plantation. It is the harsher of two main types of labor systems. The other form, known as the Task System, was less harsh and allowed the slaves more autonomy than did the gang system. In the antebellum Cotton South the slave labor force consisted of a heterogeneous mix of strong and weak workers. The gang system utilized this mix by specializing workers to tasks that suited their physical capability. It was the allocation of slaves to assignments based on their comparative advantage that was the dominant cause of the productivity gain as farms moved from the task to the gang system

Nat Turner, a slave owned by Joseph Travis of Southampton, Virginia, believed that he had been chosen by God to lead a slave rebellion. In February 1831, an eclipse of the sun convinced Turner that this was a supernatural sign from God to start an insurrection. However, it wasn't until August 21st that Turner and about seven other slaves killed Travis and his family to launch his rebellion. In all, about 50 whites were killed. Turner had hoped this his action would cause a massive slave uprising but only 75 joined his rebellion. Over 3,000 members of the state militia were sent to deal with Turner's gang, and they were soon defeated. In retaliation, more than a hundred innocent slaves were killed. Turner went into hiding but was captured six weeks later. Nat Turner was executed on 11th November, 1831.

According to Walter Hawkins slaves constantly talked about the possibility of escape: "there arose in some an irrepressible desire for freedom which no danger or power could restrain, no hardship deterred, and no bloodhound could alarm. This desire haunted them night and day; they talked about it to each other in confidence; they knew that the system which bound them was as unjust as it was cruel, and that they ought to strive, as a duty to themselves and their children, to escape from it".
The main problem was having to leave family and friends. Henry Bibb wrote in his autobiography that it was "one of the most self-denying acts of my whole life, to take leave of an affectionate wife, who stood before me on my departure, with dear little Frances in her arms, and with tears of sorrow in her eyes as she bid me a long farewell." They also knew that there was the possibility that if they evaded capture, their closest relatives would be severely punished. They also knew that successful escapes were rare. Slaveowners used bloodhounds to trace their slaves. Problems of finding food and shelter in a hostile environment and the absence of maps were also other factors in understanding why most slaves failed in their bids for freedom. Moses Grandy explained the problems that runaways faced: "They hide themselves during the day in the woods and swamps; at night they travel, crossing rivers by swimming, or by boats they may chance to meet with, and passing over hills and meadows which they do not know; in these dangerous journeys they are guided by the north-star, for they only know that the land of freedom is in the north. They subsist on such wild fruit as they can gather, and as they are often very long on their way, they reach the free states almost like skeletons."
Within a few days of leaving the plantation most runaways were brought back and heavily punished. Francis Fredric was free for nine weeks but was captured and received 107 strokes of the whip. Moses Roper, received 200 lashes and this was only brought to an end when the master's wife pleaded for his life to be spared.
A study of runaway notices of local newspapers revealed that 76 per cent of all fugitives were under 35, and 89 per cent of them were men. Another study suggested that field slaves were more likely to try and escape than house slaves.
The development of the underground railroad increased the number of slaves who were able to reach safety. By the middle of the 19th century it was estimated that over 50,000 slaves had escaped from the South using this method. Plantation owners became so concerned by these losses that in 1850 they managed to persuade Congress to pass the Fugitive Slave Act. In future, any federal marshal who did not arrest an alleged runaway slave could be fined $1,000. Any person aiding a runaway slave by providing shelter, food or any other form of assistance was liable to six months' imprisonment and a $1,000 fine.

The Underground Railroad, a vast network of people who helped fugitive slaves escape to the North and to Canada, was not run by any single organization or person. Rather, it consisted of many individuals -- many whites but predominently black -- who knew only of the local efforts to aid fugitives and not of the overall operation. Still, it effectively moved hundreds of slaves northward each year -- according to one estimate, the South lost 100,000 slaves between 1810 and 1850.
An organized system to assist runaway slaves seems to have begun towards the end of the 18th century. In 1786 George Washington complained about how one of his runaway slaves was helped by a "society of Quakers, formed for such purposes." The system grew, and around 1831 it was dubbed "The Underground Railroad," after the then emerging steam railroads. The system even used terms used in railroading: the homes and businesses where fugitives would rest and eat were called "stations" and "depots" and were run by "stationmasters," those who contributed money or goods were "stockholders," and the "conductor" was responsible for moving fugitives from one station to the next.
For the slave, running away to the North was anything but easy. The first step was to escape from the slaveholder. For many slaves, this meant relying on his or her own resources. Sometimes a "conductor," posing as a slave, would enter a plantation and then guide the runaways northward. The fugitives would move at night. They would generally travel between 10 and 20 miles to the next station, where they would rest and eat, hiding in barns and other out-of-the-way places. While they waited, a message would be sent to the next station to alert its stationmaster.
The fugitives would also travel by train and boat -- conveyances that sometimes had to be paid for. Money was also needed to improve the appearance of the runaways -- a black man, woman, or child in tattered clothes would invariably attract suspicious eyes. This money was donated by individuals and also raised by various groups, including vigilance committees.
Vigilance committees sprang up in the larger towns and cities of the North, most prominently in New York, Philadelphia, and Boston. In addition to soliciting money, the organizations provided food, lodging and money, and helped the fugitives settle into a community by helping them find jobs and providing letters of recommendation.
The Underground Railroad had many notable participants, including John Fairfield in Ohio, the son of a slaveholding family, who made many daring rescues, Levi Coffin, a Quaker who assisted more than 3,000 slaves, and Harriet Tubman, who made 19 trips into the South and escorted over 300 slaves to freedom.

As a result, slaves developed a pidgin language, using the limited English taught by their masters as the basis of their vocabulary. Hence, if a slave wanted to express the concept of being wealthy or rich, he may have used these words: "I am eating high on the hog." Or if he wanted express a feeling of being safe and secure, he might have expressed it this way: "I’m sleeping in tall cotton." When slaves needed to communicate an idea, opinion or thought for which they had not learned an English word, they surely must have used words from their native African language. Mothers taught their children this African-English pidgin, which slaves used to communicate among themselves. This was the language that slaves used to express their feelings of love to each other and hope for their children. This is the language [that] slaves used to sing their songs and tell their stories. Slaves used their African-English pidgin language to teach survival strategy from one generation to the next. It became the language of slavery. When a slave escaped from the South to the North, it was the inability to speak proper English that frequently branded him an escaped slave.