What Are Your Impressions?

• How prevalent was slave ownership in the South?

• How were slaves treated?

• How did the demand for slaves impact prices?

• How important was cotton to the American economy?

The South

• Cotton was the most important Southern crop and America’s major export

• South not impacted by immigration, urbanization, or industrialization- primarily agricultural

• Older sections of Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina were shifting from tobacco to wheat

Economics of Slavery

• The increased importance of cotton increased the importance of slavery

• Price of slaves rose until by 1850 a slave was worth as much as $1800

• Crop value per slave rose from $15 to $125

• High prices for slaves in the Deep South caused a shift of slaves from older regions to “down the river”

Economics of Slavery

• A great migration of slaves occurred as they were shipped further west from the seaboard states

• Slave trading became big business- but impacted slave families as husbands, wives, and children were separated (mostly in the Old South)

Economics of Slavery

• Because it was so lucrative, the business of slave trading lost its social stigma and men of high social station engaged in it

• Since slaves were so expensive, holders of slaves became smaller in number

• By the Civil War, only 1 in 4 Southern white farmers owned any slaves at all

Economics of Slavery

• Small farmers grew the staple crops- they might have a slave or two toiling alongside

• “Poor white trash” lived in squalor in the mountains eking out what they could from the poor soil

• Large plantations grew commercial crops and usually had profits of %10 or more

Antebellum Plantation Life

• Plantations were like small villages

• Southern homes were centers of manufacturing- turning out clothing and other textiles

• Wives often ran the plantation

• White children were raised by white family and slaves

• Slave children normally did not begin work until age 6-7

Sociology of Slavery

• Treatment of slaves depended on the master- some did not whip while others whipped at least once a month

• Average of 20 lashes for small offences such as shirking work and 39 or more for running away

• Some slaves were whipped to death but by 1821 laws allowed masters to be charged with murder if a slave died from abuse- conviction resulted in a large fine (one woman was fined $214.28)

Sociology of Slavery

• Most owners provided adequate clothing, food, and housing (slaves were valuable)

• Slave infant mortality was twice that of whites and life expectancy about 5 years less than whites

• The US was only place where slavery grew due to natural increase (only %5 of slaves to the New World went to North America- ½ million grew to 4 million by 1860)

Sociology of Slavery

• Masters generally felt responsible for their slaves and slaves were dependent and often imitative of their masters

• From their close proximity arose every type of human relationship

• Slaves adapted to the system while attempting to resist it

Sociology of Slavery

• Because slaves often appeared happy and were not overtly rebellious, whites persuaded themselves slaves were content with the system

• As Northern opposition to slavery mounted, the system hardened towards slaves

• The fear of revolt caused harsh treatment

Sociology of Slavery

• The 1822 Denmark Vesey Conspiracy resulted in the execution of 37 slaves with another 30+ deported

• After a Louisiana revolt, 16 slaves were decapitated

• The 1831 Nat Turner revolt in Virginia killed 57 whites

• After the Turner revolt, the South made it harder for masters to free slaves

Manufacturing in the South

• Small flour and lumber mills flourished

• Iron and coal were mined

• By 1825 textile manufacturing was on the rise due to water power

• Less than %15 of manufactured goods came from the South

• Almost all goods and services came from the North

Northern Industrial Juggernaut

• In the North – rapid industrial growth• 1859 – Northeast produced $1.27 billion out of

$2 billion• Steam power facilitated by rich coal fields in

Pennsylvania• American society open to innovation• Inventions included vulcanization of rubber,

sewing machine, cylinder press, screw-making machine, friction match, and the lead pencil

Northern Industrial Juggernaut

• Machines substitute for shortage of skilled labor

• By 1850, US led world in manufacture of goods by precision instruments

• Expansion westward uncovered new resources

• Workers open to labor-saving devices (Luddites)

• Society more open to corporations

Northern Industrial Juggernaut

• Immigration stimulated manufacturing

• Gold finds added to supply of capital

• European investors financed American businesses

• Improvements in transportation made goods cheaper

• Middle class = expanding national markets

Nation of Immigrants

• Jobs created by industrial growth attracted immigrants

• Attitudes of “native” population

• Social, racial, and economic rivalries

• Immigrants brought about end of hiring young women (Waltham System)

The Irish

How Wage Earners Lived

• Low wages and crowding increased slums in cities• City services virtually non-existent• Factory towns - small gardens possible• Cities – even grass unusual• All members of poor families had to labor to survive• Unions established with varying results – general

unionization did not arrive until after Civil War • Unionization seemed “un-American” – wage labor looked

down upon

Foreign Commerce

• Increase in both imports and exports

• Exported more raw materials and imported more manufactured goods

• Britain remained biggest trading partner

• Sailing packets facilitated movement of people and freight

• NE made good living through whaling

• Advancements in ships- the clipper ship

Foreign Commerce

• Clipper ships provided swift passage to California gold fields

• Cut transit time from 5-6 months to 3 months

• Speed impacted by weight – did not carry bulky goods – carried specialty goods

Clipper Ship

Steam Conquers the Atlantic

• Oceangoing steamships came later than river ships due to fuel and stability constraints

• Soon eclipsed the clipper ships (average speed versus bursts)

• Construction of iron ships spelled end of dominance of American shipbuilders

• Steamships resulted in drastic decrease in cost of freight and passage

Steam Conquers the Atlantic

• Conditions for poorer passengers poor- crowded and foul

• Allowed even the poorest ability to migrate

Canals & Railroads

• Canal building increased internal and external trade

• By 1840- 3,326 miles of canals

• Traffic on Erie Canal 20 times greater in 1851 than 1836

Canals & Railroads

• First railroad built in England• By 1840- US had 3,328 miles

of RR• Most track lay east of

Appalachian Mts.• Engineering problems with

track and locomotives made growth of RR slow process

• By 1860- US had 30,636 miles of RR

• By 1855- RR connected east with St. Louis and Chicago

Financing the Railroads

• Railroad construction required immense amounts of labor and capital

• Private investors supplied about ¾ of the money used in railroads prior to 1860

• Funds were raised periodically through the use of “calls” – sometimes if a railroad made money that money could be used to complete the project

Financing the Railroads

• Railroads in rich regions had no problem attracting capital- other regions demanded “mixed enterprises” (half the capital coming from state and local government)

• Most often Congress blocked federal aid to railroads but that changed with the Illinois Central which was granted land (200 foot right-of-way with strips of land 1 mile wide and 6 miles deep)

Railroads and the Economy

• Agriculture increased as farmers could now transport crops to market at affordable rates

• Farmers moved into formerly inaccessible territories

• Railroads sold farmland at low rates

• Access to markets caused farmers to become more efficient and increase output

Railroads and the Economy

• New tools were invented to make farming easier such as the steel plowshare and the mechanical reaper by McCormick

• Wheat output rose nearly 75% due to the reaper

• Cities such as Buffalo and Cincinnati prospered but Chicago grew the most due to railroads

Railroads and the Economy

• Railroads stimulated more than just agriculture- such as Investment banking and bar and sheet iron production

• The proliferation of trunk lines and canals led to a sharp drop in freight and passenger rates which helped increase commerce

• Food that fed the factories on the east coast came from the west via railroads

• European demand for American foodstuffs made American farms boom

Railroads and Sectional Conflict

• Increased production and cheap transportation boosted the Western farmer’s income and standard of living

• Changes had their costsFarmers became dependent on middlemenBuying a farm required more capital due to

higher land costs and cost of machineryMore farmers became laborers and tenant

farmers

Railroads and Sectional Conflict

• The West and East became more integrated due to railroads and business

• These economic ties became cultural and many regions became anti-slave

• The South failed to forge links with the Northwest as it had no like transportation system- the South relied on the Mississippi River

The Eve of the Civil War

• The mid-1840s to the mid-1850s was a period of remarkable economic growth due to railroads, canals, and the settlement of new land

• This boom took a turn for the worse after the Crimean War and Europe’s lack of demand for American food- the Panic of 1857

• Demand for Southern cotton remained high and the South believed it was immune to downturns and could be better off out of the Union (“King Cotton”)

Quiz

• This was the major American export in the middle of the 1800’s

• During the middle 1800’s, this was the economics of slavery

• This was the approximate number of white planters/farmers with slaves

• Much of the South’s cotton trade was controlled by them

Quiz

• Generalization about the treatment of slaves is difficult because of this

• Nat Turner became notorious for this

• This was the Southern reaction to the Nat Turner Rebellion

• This most accounted for the lack of cities and industry in the South

Quiz

• Manufacturing in the South can be described as this

• By the 1850’s, the US led in type of manufacturing

• Wage laborers survived in the cities because of this

• Clipper ships were popular for this reason

Quiz

• Railroad growth lagged initially due to this

• Before 1860, ¾ of railroad investment came from her

• This was the first railroad to benefit from federal support

• The steel plowshare and his mechanical reaper helped make US farmers more productive

Quiz

• This competed the most with the railroads

• The decreasing importance of this increased conflict between the South and the other sections

• How would the US economy be described in the 1840’s – 1850’s?