HIST 1483 1st Edition Lecture 17Outline of Last LectureI. War of 1812II. Era of Transition and GrowthIII. Clicker QuestionsOutline of Current LectureI. The Rise of the SouthII. Southern Justification/RationalizationIII. Abolition of SlaveryIV. Approaching the Civil WarV. Examining the Lives of SlavesVI. Clicker QuestionsCurrent LectureI. The Rise of the SouthA. The south was settled by the same kinds of people as there were in the north1. Most migrants were yeoman farmers2. There was a small southern aristocracy in the Tidewater region from Charlestown to South Carolinai. Most southern planters lacked the refinement of the old antebellum stereotype3. New cotton areas of the deep south were only slightly removed from the frontieri. Between 1820 and the Civil War, the cotton industry expanded greatly from eastern Texas to (approx.) the Carolinasii. Indians located in these regions were removed (“5 civilized tribes”: Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creeks, Seminoles) to the west in the Trails of Tearsiii. As cotton cultivators moved in to the lands formerly held by Indians, they too were on the frontiera. Geographically and socially removed from the coastal elites4. Census returns disproved the myth of the great landed estates in the southi. By 1860 there were about 8 billion non-slave inhabitantsa. “Typical” southerners looked a lot like yeoman farmers in the northii. Slave holdersa. About 25% of white families in the South owned slavesb. Half of the slave holders owned no more than 4 slavesThese notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.c. 15% owned more than 30 slaves and thus constituted the slave-owning “aristocracy” (fewer than 15,000 people)d. Typical slave holder was a successful farmer who often worked with slavesiii. A lot of the land in the south was unsuited for plantations anyway because much of it is timber that must be cleared in order to be farmed5. A large minority of white southerners didn’t own land or slavesi. There’s a landless class of white (25-40%) who were common field hands or herders with impoverished livesB. Antebellum south was unique1. Overwhelmingly rural and agricultural2. Very spread out to maximize profiti. In Texas, only 2.3 people per square milea. In Georgia, 18 people per square mileii. In the northwest, about 65 people per square mile3. Since the south lacked urban centers it lacked manufacturing and transportation networksi. In 1860 only about 10% of U.S. manufactured goods were produced in the southii. Most of the agricultural output came from the south but industrial output was a northern phenomenon4. South was a producer of staple crops for the rest of the nation and Europei. Cotton, tobacco, rice, sugarii. By 1860, more than half of U.S. exports were agriculture products from the southa. Became dependent on imports for practically everything else(1) Many planting regions (especially in MS) weren’t even self-sufficient in foodstuffs and had to import food (beef and grain from the northwest) to feed their families(2) Also became dependent on the north for investment capital(i) Southern capital tended to be tied up in land and slave(ii) South was in debt to the north(a) South became, in some respects, an economic colony of the north(iii) Much of its cotton exports went through NY before it went to Europeiii. Cotton was labor-intensivea. Required many field handsb. Slavery became economically, socially, and politically important in the south5. Southerners were conscious of their minority status in the union in terms of status, wealthy, congressional representationi. The south managed to stay even with the north in terms of representation in the Senate simply because they each had the same number of statesa. This continued until California was admitted (we will learn about this later)ii. Went on the defensivea. Created an espousing doctrine of minority rights and nullificationb. Foreshadow of the political crisis slavery createsC. Slavery was a system of race relations and a system of labor1. The system of chattel (moveable property) slavery was built on a foundation of racismi. Racism cut across class linesa. Slave owners had a deep psychological reason to justify slavery(1) They had to justify their own behavior(2) Racism played to those emotionsb. Had an appeal to the lowest class of whites because even they could claim superiority over the imported Africans2. Slaves represented an investment capitali. By the 1860s the slaves population numbered about 4 milliona. They represented a $2 billion investmentb. Viewed purely as an investment, slaves were very profitable(1) 1859: the average plantation field slave produced $78 in cotton earnings yearly, while costing only $32 to be fed, clothed, and housed yearly(2) The “property value” of prime field hands increased dramatically ($600 in 1844 to $1800 in 1860)c. Slaves were not only moveable property but could also be used as collateral(1) Many slaves were purchased on installment plans with mortgage paymentsII. Southern Justification/RationalizationA. Slavery grew because it was profitable and so it spread1. This expansion brought slavery to the forefront of America’s social agendai. Northern abolitionist societies grew up and blossomed in the 1830s and 1840sii. Southerners became very defensive and combativea. Stopped apologizing, stopped considering it to be a necessary evil(1) Started casting it as a positive goodB. Pro-slavery arguments by slave-owning southerners:1. Historical: every superior civilization had slavery, someone has to do the dirty work2. Scientific: pseudo-scientific evidence of racial inferiority3. Religious: slavery was justified by the bible and a means of civilizing and Christianizing Africans4. Social: slaves were better off than northern “wage slaves”5. Economic: slavery constituted the perfect labor force, free from strikes and discordC. Pro-slavery arguments by non-slave-owning southerners:1. Energetic yeoman farmers could rise to the planter aristocracy through hard work and lucki. Slavery offered an opportunity for economic advancement2. The abolition of slavery would put 4 million free laborers into the workplace to compete withD. Rebuttals after being confronted by abolitionists:1. Masters were decent2. Slaves were content3. Living conditions were better than those in northern factoriesIII. Abolition of SlaveryA. Arguments for