Chapter 11

The Peculiar Institution

The Icon of Frederick Douglass

The Mason-Dixon Line

Eve of Civil War – slave population was 4 million

Between 1/3 to ½ of population in south

British abolished slavery in 1833

“White Gold” created largest slavery society in history

¾ of world’s cotton supply

Cotton was ½ of total value of exports

Slavery investment exceed factories, railroads and banks

The Old South & Cotton

“importing” still done in lower South

Selling at public slave markets or courthouses (2 million)

Determined location, work, civil liberties for all

North benefited from cotton production (trade)

“Lords of the Loom” and “Lords of the Lash”

Southern cities were financial – loan to buy slaves/land

Short railway lines

New Orleans leading exporter of slave crops (40% of pop. were immigrants

South produced only 10% manufactured goods

Slavery, Economy, & The Nation

1820

1860

Cotton Exports

3 of 4 white southerners did NOT own slaves

Most lived in hilly areas on poor land

Desperately poor, self-sufficient

No market for manufactured goods

no need for industry

Why support Planters’ cause to save slavery?

shared racism and kinship

shared loyalty to South in face of criticism

apart of the system – returning runaways

Southern Society

Less than 40,000 owned +20 slaves that made them “planters”

Controlled politics and public life

Owning slaves = wealth, status, influence

Held most land (15,000 acres), had highest income, and dominated govt

Slave price – about $40,000 today

Often invested in industry

“Plantation mistress” – cared for sick, ran house, directed servants

Took summer vacations

“Paternalism”: idea that master had to care for dependents, act as protector, counselor, provide care

masked and justified brutality

few tried to “improve” slaves

“A man loves his children because they are weak, helpless, and dependent. He loves his wife for similar reasons.”

Planter Class

“most safe and stable basis for free institutions in the world”

White Supremacy: belief that blacks were innately inferior to whites and unsuited for free life

Used bible passages, referred to ancient Greece & Rome

Need it to cultivate arts & sciences

Best way to have equality for whites better than wage labor in North

Slavery keeps whites independent which is necessary for citizenship

Proslavery

Claimed the DOI was a “dangerous political error”

Freedom was a privilege not an entitlement

Obedience was a “fundamental law” to human existence

George Fitzhugh

In history slavery was “normal and natural” – liberty is an experiment

Slavery – “community of interest”

Slaves are “the happiest, freest people in the world”

Writers, editors, politicians, clergy in South supported system

Slavery, Liberty, and Civilization

Few rights

Illegal to kill a slave except in self-defense

Accused slaves were given a day in court with white judges/juries

Could be sold/leased at any time

No voice in govt, could not testify, sign contracts, own property/firearms, hold unsupervised meetings, or travel.

It was illegal to teach a slave to read/write

Enforcement depended on owners

Alabama – every life choice was judged by master

Missouri – Celia’s case

declared Celia was not a woman but a “slave”

sentenced to death

postponed so the owner would not be deprived of new “property”

Slaves and the Law

Some had laws ensuring proper treatment

Could have their own “mini-farm” or stole from plantation

Paternalism and growing price made it more logical to keep slaves healthy

Strict laws on voluntary emancipation

500,000 free mostly in South – little differences

Could not…

act in public or own dogs, weapons, liquor

hit a white person even in self-defense

testify in court or serve on juries

had to carry a certificate of freedom

if they needed public aid they had to labor for it

Many states expelled free blacks

Conditions of Life & Free Blacks

Early Emancipation

Lower South – very few freemen

Mixed communities in New Orleans, Charleston

Some of mixed race became slave owners

Many became educated skilled craftsmen

Elite blacks tried to maintain separation

Many worked in upper south as farm laborers (many worked with slaves)

Many purchased their wives/children but could not free them (had to leave the state)

Upper & Lower South

Diverse jobs – butlers, waitresses, nurse, gardener, carpenters, engineers, cooks, weavers

Cut wood, tended docks, laid railways, build govt buildings

200,000 worked in industry

Skilled and unskilled in lower south – many rented slaves

75% of women 90% of men worked in fields

“Overseer” – extreme brutality, “gang labor”

Rice plantations – self-run, leisure time (malaria)

City slaves – more domestic jobs, could “hire their own time”

Harsh punishment at mercy of owner

Exploited divisions in field/house hands, incentive systems

Threat of sale

Slave Labor

Working in a sugar-boiling house

Slave Culture & Family created family & religious centered communities, strong music/dance

own system of herbal medicine

law did not recognize slave marriage, but population naturally increased

named children after relatives

sale of slaves made women heads of house more common

10% of teens were sold in upper south

some allowed marriage, others only cared if children were able to work

“equality of powerlessness”

men could not protect wives/children

more traditional roles in places where they had free time

Religion & Liberty Usually Baptist or Methodist

most plantations had their own black preacher (not educated)

some had biracial congregations

free blacks in North est. their own churches

Used preaching as a form of social control over slaves

secret nigh time gathering, “praise meetings”

Slaves identified themselves with the chosen people, God would free in time

glorified folklore that had the weak outsmarting the strong

constant them of drive for freedom

Resistance day to day was most common – “silent resistance” – breaking tools, disrupting routine, abusing animals

faked illness, stole food

arson, poisoning, armed assault

Fugitives – little knowledge of land, use of North Star, 1,000 per year

Sometimes headed South to blend with free communities

Everglades – protection from Seminoles

only 25% tried to reach North

Underground RR, Harriet Tubman (Maryland) – made 20 trips back

The Amistad 1839, 53 slaves took control of the ship and tried to force it to Africa

was seized off the coast of Long Island by an American vessel

JQA, supreme court justice, declared them free as they were taken from

Africa in violation of the slave trade laws

inspired other revolts

The Creole, seized by 135 slaves in 1841

and forced to the British Bahamas

where they were given refuge

Slave Revolts 200-500 men and women outside of New Orleans

used knives, axes, guns, clubs, marched toward city destroying property

intercepted by militia, 66 killed, remaining executed

1822 Denmark Vesey – preached the bible did not support slavery

Vesey rebuked blacks who gave way to walking whites

Nat Turner’s Rebellion Preacher from Virginia, claimed a vision from God

Aug. 22, 1831, 80 joined

Marched town to town assaulting white women/children (60 killed)

Turner captured and with 17 others killed

Regret? “Was not Christ crucified?”

Panic resulted, many beaten or executed

Questioned whether slavery should be ended

1832 harsher laws, prohibited preaching, owning firearms, and reading

Huge repression of free speech of abolitionists