Chapter 16The South and the Slave Controversy

The Cotton KingdomThe Peculiar Institution

“Cotton is King”• Eli Whitney’s cotton gin

ironically prolongs slavery• Constitutionally international

slave trade ended in 1808, but internal slave trade continued

• The Northern states were exporters of cotton, therefore tied to slaves economically

• England was great importer of American cotton, but also England was a nation of abolitionist

Southern socio-economic system

The pyramid of power• Planter aristocrats 3%• Small slaveholders / farmers• Slaveless whites (75%) of

white population self sufficient farmers…including “po white trash” that were often sick

• Mountain whites lived on frontier

Non whites at longer end of pyramid

• Freed blacks…despised by southern whites…laws enforced a second class status (in northern states also).

• Some (few) freed blacks owned slaves and fought for Confederacy.

• Indians below pyramid…forced WEST

Planter aristocracy

• Small percentage of southern people owned 100 plus slaves. They lived in stereotypical mansions and on large plantations. The super wealthy aristocrats controlled southern society, and educated children at private schools. Mistress of house ran plantation with overseer and various types of slaves

Plantation slavery• One crop economy (wore

out soil)• King Cotton price level at

mercy of world market• North used raw material

of cotton to build manufacturing base and advocate tariffs

• Immigrants by and large migrated to Northern states

Slave conditions

• 1808 international slave trade banned, but domestic one flourished

• 4 million slaves by 1860 (lots of natural reproduction)

• Slaves an investment…dangerous jobs done by immigrants or “po white trash”

Slave conditions

• Deep South of South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama and Louisiana accounted for half of all slaves

• “Sold Down the River” meant going to work in Deep South on rice / tobacco / indigo plantations

• Slave auctions were brutal affairs

Life under the lash

• Rape of women• Broken families• Laws aimed to protect

slaves were not often enforced

• Adopted surname of a master

• Many slaves adopted Christian religion

Slave “rebellions”

• Work slower , break equipment, poison food

• Gabriel’s Rebellion of 1800

• 1822 rebellion of Denmark Vesey

• 1831 Nat Turner’s rebellion

Nat Turner’s RebellionNathaniel Turner (1800-1831) was a black American who organized and led the most successful slave revolt in the United States. Nat Turner was born a slave on Oct. 2, 1800, in Southampton County, Va. As a child, he exhibited notable leadership qualities and intelligence. His insight prompted friends to believe he was destined to be a prophet. Commenting on Nat's precociousness, they remarked that he "would never be of any service to anyone as a slave."Turner had a restless, observant, inquisitive mind. He read the Bible and extracted from it useful ideas on liberty and freedom. He preached to other slaves, counseling them to seek self-respect, to fight for justice, and to resist and rebel against the institution of slavery if they were to be free men. He believed that he was chosen by God to deliver his people from bondage and "slay my enemies with their own weapons."

In February 1831 Turner received what he believed to be a sign from God (a solar eclipse) telling him that it was time for him and his companions to prepare for the revolt. On August 21 they began their attempt to overthrow the institution of slavery. In 48 hours they killed between 55 and 65 whites throughout Southampton County. A family of poor whites, who owned no slaves, was spared. On August 23 Turner's black liberation army was met and overpowered by a superior state and Federal military force. Over 100 blacks were slain in the encounter and dozens more immediately executed.Turner, the "Black Spartacus," escaped and was not caught until October 30. On November 5 he was tried and convicted. Although he admitted to leading the rebellion, when asked how he pleaded, he said "not guilty." Six days later he was executed for trying to free his people from slavery.This slave rebellion catalyzed the beginning of the abolitionist movement in the United States. Because Turner's motive was a desire for liberty, some regard him as cast in the same mold as the American patriots who fought the Revolutionary War and as other freedom-loving men. No less than Patrick Henry, Turner too believed that "give me liberty or give me death" must be man's guiding philosophy of life.

Early Aboltionism• 1817 American Colonization

society founded to return slaves to Africa.

• Liberia founded under James Monroe’s administration

• 1830s Second Great Awakening spurs more abolitionism

• Quakers• Theodore Weld’s Slavery As

It Is

Radical Abolitionism

• 1829 David Walker’s Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World

• 1831 William Lloyd Garrison’s The Liberator

• Sojourner Truth fought for abolitionism

Frederick Douglas

• His Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas

• Conscience Whigs• 1840 Liberty Party ,

1848 Free Soil Party , Republican Party in 1860

• Civil War was the price of Emancipation

How Southerners Supported Slavery

• The good of the “peculiar institution”

• Religion • Northern Wage Slaves• 1836 Congressional Gag

Resolution (repealed in 1844)

Abolitionism in the North

• Extreme Abolitionist unpopular….Garrison survived mob in 1835

• Unionist in North• Economic connection

with South (bank loans and cotton)

• Prejudice• Uncle Tom’s Cabin by

Harriet Beecher Stowe