Chapter 17

The South and the Slavery Controversy

"Cotton Is King"

1793 Eli Whitney introduced the cotton gin
The cotton was the crop that revolutionized and eventually became dominant over tobacco, rice, and sugar.
As the time went by the cotton industry became a huge market and the more cotton the more slaves and land that were needed.
Mostly the ones making the profit were the Northerners who were selling the cotton for pounds of sterling
By 1840 cotton accounted for over half the value of the American exports.
The south was accounted for producing over half the worlds cotton
Because of the mere fact that cotton was being supplied to Britain, if war broke out that would be bad for Britain

The Planter "Aristocracy"

In 1850 alone 1,733 families owned more than 100 slaves
But even in the best light dominance by a favorite Aristocracy was undemocratic
An aristocracy would widen the gap between the rich and poor.
Sir Walter Scott helped idealize and ideal feudal society but in reality many of his activities were specially Capitalistic

Mark Twain later on accused Walter Scott of starting the civil war.
Even women owned their own slaves. The relationship between the slaves ranged from Affectionate to Atrocious

Slaves of the Slave System

All the things that followed were mostly caused because of cotton. People getting rich quickly caused by the mass cultivation of the land, which also attributed to the leakage of population from the northwest and west.
The economic structure of the west became monopolistic.
As the land wore thin the small farmers sold their lands to the big farmers.
The big got bigger and the small got smaller
Another cancer was the Plantation system. Even though slaves were cheap to feed, they were also very expensive to buy and about a quarter of the slaves would die
The south hated the north because they were getting rich at their expense
By the 1860's only about 4.4 percent of the population were foreign born

The White Majority

By 1850 there were about 345,000 families that were the less wealthy slave owners
Just about two thirds of the 345,000 families owned ten or less slaves
By 1860 there were about 6,120,825 white persons that didn’t own a slave

Even though the number of non-slave holder where far greater than those of the slave owners, they still didn’t do nothing to stop slavery.

There was a special group of whites, also know as the mountain whites. These whites were still living the way that their ancestors did.

Free Blacks: Slaves without Masters

William T. Johnson was a successful free black that had his own farm, he even owned slaves
The free blacks were sort of like a third raze. They were not allowed to work in certain places and they were also not allowed to testify against white men.
Anti black feelings were far more greater in the north than in the south
The south hated the individual black but liked the black race; the north in the other hand hated the individual and liked the race.

Plantation Slavery

By 1860 the population of the blacks reached nearly 4 million
Slave importation was outlawed in 1808
By 1860 the planters had spent about $2 Billion in black slaves
By the 1860's slaves were also protected by their masters so they won't get hurt. Since slaves were also worth a lot of money.
The south part of the south was the one that had the majority of the slaves.
Slaves were also breaded just like cattle are. They would even free women slaves if they produced ten children

Life under the Lash

Slaves did live in different conditions, depending from region to region. Slaves were mostly just guaranteed the right to live; some states did offer more protection.
But after all it wouldn’t make sense if a Master would beat up the one that is supplying him with his food
Most of the black slaves were concentrated in what came to be called the slave black belt

Most of the slaves were able to keep a family together. Most kids grew up in a stable two-parent household.
Most slaves were also able to keep their religion.

The Burdens of Bondage

Slaves would work as slow as possible, they would sabotage machinery, and they would even poison the food of their masters
Slaves would runaway
But slavery also left a mark in the whites.
Booker T. Washington was a black leader and former slave and he said "Whites could not hold a blacks in a ditch without them getting in there with them"

Early Abolitionism

The peculiar institutions eventually caused the antislavery societies to sprout
In West Africa there was a capital for freed blacks. But most of the blacks didn’t want to go back. They were native born African-American

Radical Abolitionism

William Lloyd Harrison published the first issue of the antislavery newspaper "The Liberator"
Harrison triggered a 30-year war of words that can be known as one of the reasons that the civil war was started.
Wendell Phillips was an abolitionist that would not eat sugar cane or wear cotton cloth.

Frederick Douglas was one of the greatest abolitionists that escaped from bondage in 1838.

Frederick Douglas published his classic autobiography "Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglas"

The South Lashes Back

The south were fearful of the abolitionist because they represented a threat
In reaction the south launched a massive defense of slavery by making it look good.

The Abolitionist Impact in the north

Even though the north didn’t have much slaves they were for abolitionist but it took time for them to realize that and actually do something about it
Since the cotton used in the northern factories was grown in the south by slaves.