Slavery: Perceptions and Reality & The Civil War Chapters 14 and 15 Slavery: Perceptions and Reality & The Civil War

Slavery existed in America for a little over 200 years Indentured servants - were both black and white and many died before their time was up; they were cheaper than buying a slave Slavery – African slaves seemed more resistant to diseases like malaria; used on tobacco farms where they were governed by slave codes for control

Slave Codes Masters had ownership for life Offspring belonged to the master All slaves were property, not human beings with human rights Slaveholders often resorted to violence to keep slaves working

More than 50% worked on large plantations Slavery was strongest in the Chesapeake area (tobacco), then South Carolina (rice & indigo) More than 50% worked on large plantations There were slaves in the North but not as many; they worked on small family farms with rocky soil Controlling slaves in cities was difficult Eventually, the North outlawed slavery Example: Vermont and then others

Even though the North outlawed slavery, they didn’t think blacks should have equal rights or share in the same privileges as whites The North, at this time, didn’t impose abolition on the South However, the importation of slaves was outlawed after 1808

2 factors helped keep slavery in tact: Actually, as tobacco drained the soil of its nutrients, slavery almost died out at the end of the 18th century 2 factors helped keep slavery in tact: British industrial revolution that specialized in textiles; they needed the South’s cotton Eli Whitney’s cotton gin that separated the seed from the fiber without releasing the oil, and made the process easier and quicker

King Cotton With the use of the cotton gin, the production of cotton expanded There were more farms and plantations with slaves producing cotton King Cotton - a labor intensive crop Great Britain was the chief buyer of U.S. cotton

By 1860, the South produced 4.5 million bales of cotton per year

That was valued at $250 million Cotton was the chief export of the South and of the United States This growing wealth of the South and the U.S. was acquired through the tough, back-breaking work of the slaves Slavery to many Americans was economically useful and saw it as a “necessary evil”

Other Americans saw it only as evil and began the Abolition Movement One of the most famous abolitionists was William Lloyd Garrison who founded the Liberator newspaper devoted to the eradication of American slavery His paper was banned in the South, and there was a price on his head

Some southern intellectuals constructed a defense of slavery saying it was a “positive good” rather than a necessary evil Thomas Roderick Dew, a professor of economics at Wm. & Mary, said slavery was a better way of organizing and controlling labor and it was a blessing

George Fitzhugh, a sociologist, said slaves lived a better life than did northern wage earners or European peasants; he also said that someone has to do the work and at least slave owners took care of their slaves; paternalism Others pointed to the Bible as a defense of slavery saying the Hebrews had slaves Greece and Rome had slaves

Slaveholders saw themselves as humanitarians Non-slave holding whites felt slavery had good and bad points Good: it was a useful way to control blacks and a good way to impose discipline Bad: it made a small number of wealthy planters very powerful

The majority of white Americans didn’t like slavery but could live with it for a while longer

Slave Life Worked on plantations or smaller farms as field hands Worked in the house for the master’s family Some worked as blacksmiths or learned some other skill If in a city, they might work on the docks

They were property to be bought, sold, or traded Discipline was usually brutal, even for the pregnant; there were whippings, broken feet, or sexual exploitation Most owners wouldn’t incapacitate them; they wanted them to continue working

Plantation labor was organized in 2 ways: The gang system - consisting of field hands The task system - domestic workers They would work from sun up to sundown - 16 hour days

Slave Culture Family was all-important The law gave neither recognition nor protection to slave families They followed gender roles Women: took care of house, hearth, and children Men: did outdoor work

Masters could sell a slave at will, breaking a family apart One report said 600,000 slave husbands and wives were separated by sale from 1820-1860 Slaves practiced their native religions Some mixed Christianity with their native religions

There were lively religious ceremonies They believed in an afterlife that would be much better than their present lives They believed God would punish their masters Spirituals developed as did other work songs

Resistance Broke tools and machinery, so they could take a break Pretended to be sick or injured Stole goods Killed livestock from their masters and ate the meat Pretended to be slow & ignorant Ran away

Frederick Douglass Born on a plantation in Maryland Was sold to a Baltimore family at age 12 Was taught to read and write by his mistress Worked on the docks Befriended free black sailors who helped him escape to New York

He joined the Abolitionist Movement He spoke out and wrote articles

Slave Rebellions During 200 years of slavery in the U.S., there were only 3 major slave rebellions 1800 - Gabriel Prosser Planned a revolt near Richmond, Virginia The plot was discovered beforehand Prosser and dozens of co-conspiriters were killed

1822 - Denmark Vessey of Charleston, South Carolina Planned a rebellion Plot was discovered ahead of time Vessey and his followers were killed

1831 - Nat Turner of Virginia Felt God told him to lead his fellow black men out of slavery His insurrection resulted in the deaths of 60 white Virginians The uprising was crushed Nat Turner was killed

Issues that led to Civil War Kansas-Nebraska Act A railroad was planned to cross the country Senator Stephen A. Douglas wanted it to go through Chicago, but that meant that the tracks would have to go through unorganized northern Louisiana Purchase Douglas pushed to get it organized as a territory

It would have to come in to the Union as a free state because it was north of the southern border of Missouri Southern states would not vote for it Douglas proposed the official status of free or slave be decided by the people who settled there His Kansas-Nebraska Act passed

Party Splits Discussions over slavery became heated splitting parties in two between northern and southern members Whigs broke in two and joined the Southern Democrats or the new Know Nothing Party Whigs were gone Know Nothings were anti-immigration & anti-catholic

We now had 2 parties -- the Democrats and the Know Nothings The Know Nothings fell apart and were replaced by the Republicans The Democrats appealed to Southerners The Republicans appealed to Northerners and were anti-slavery

Kansas became disputed territory between the North and the South New England Abolitionists felt if Kansas was left to decide its own fate, it would make slavery illegal Just to help out, abolitionist Eli Thayer formed the New England Emigrant Aid Society It financed anti-slavery New Englander who wished to move to Kansas

Within 2 years 2,000 people moved there, stacking the deck Few Southerners were willing to move west and the North had more people anyway The South feared Kansas would not enter as a slave state

Violence erupted Pro-slave groups from western Missouri attacked those who wanted Kansas to be a free state These “Border Ruffians” crossed over into Kansas to vote illegally in elections and to harass northern settlers

Kansas experienced murders, beatings, and robberies 21 May 1856 – Border Ruffians rode into Lawrence, Kansas and set it on fire 24 May 1856 -- An act of revenge took place when fanatic abolitionist John Brown attacked a settlement on Pottawatomie Creek and ordered 5 pro-slavery ( he thought) Kansans executed with a scythe

Violence also spilled over into the Senate Senator Sumner delivered an anti-slavery speech and said nasty things about Andrew Butler of South Carolina Later Butler’s nephew, Preston Brooks, attacked Sumner with a cane

In the election of 1856 Democrat James Buchanan won and immediately had to deal with the Dred Scott decision of the Supreme Court Dred Scott was a slave who had lived in a free territory and sued for his freedom when he lived in Missouri, a slave state In Missouri slaves were property, not people He remained a slave

John Brown John Brown and 22 of his followers were hoping to encourage a slave rebellion by attacking the arsenal at Harper’s Ferry on 16 October 1859Col. Robert E. Lee and the U.S. Marines captured Brown who was tried, convicted, and hanged in December, 1859 Some saw Brown as a martyr

Election of 1860 Before the election, Southerners declared that if the anti-slavery Republicans won the presidency, the southern states would secede from the Union There were 2 Democratic candidates for President - 1 for the North and 1 for the South

The Republicans had Abraham Lincoln Lincoln won 40% of the popular vote and the majority of the electoral votes He was seen as a sectional candidate and did not win a single southern state Lincoln had vowed to stop the expansion of slavery

20 December 1860 - South Carolina seceded January 1861 - 6 other southern states seceded Pp. 430, 431 Map, p.438

The North wanted to work out a compromise with the South, but Lincoln would except no compromise Southern states formed the Confederacy with Jefferson Davis as its President 2 U.S. garrisons were in the South Ft. Sumter in Charleston Harbor in South Carolina was running out of food

The South wouldn’t let supplies in unless it surrendered Supplies were sent from the North Ft. Sumter wouldn’t surrender and the South attacked beginning the Civil War

The Civil War For years the South had wanted to keep slavery, keep their economy and their society the same, and keep their states’ rights. When the war began, CHANGE was the result Their lives were turned upside down Most of the fighting and destruction took place in the South

Everyone thought it would be a short war, but it lasted 4 years Battle of Manassas/ Bull Run 1st major battle 21 July 1861 Both armies were ill-trained The South won

Northern actions after Bull Run Build-up of troops Blockade of Southern ports Ulysses S. Grant won at Shiloh in Tennessee with tremendous casualties on both sides Southerners enacted a draft Fought mainly on their own soil Jefferson Davis wanted the fight to move North

It did at the Battle of Antietam 17 September 1862 Sharpsburg, Maryland Bloodiest single day’s fighting – 24,000 casualties McClellan turned Lee back

After the Battle of Antietam and a northern victory, Lincoln said that on 1 January 1863 he would emancipate all slaves in the states of rebellion It was passed in Congress as the 13th Amendment and called the Emancipation Proclamation

It inspired 150,000 former slaves to fight for the North, the Union There were protests in the North against a draft and against Lincoln (this had to do with substitutes) Some saw Lincoln as a dictator Picture, p. 443 Map, p. 445

There were 2 crucial military defeats for the South in 1863: Fall of Vicksburg – gave the Union control of the Mississippi River Battle of Gettysburg – southern defeat on 3 July 1863; 3-day bloody battle where Lee lost 28,000 soldiers & Union lost 23,000 The South never made another push north

In 1864 Grant was fighting Lee in Virginia General Wm. Tecumseh Sherman was making his “March to the Sea” in Georgia where he destroyed everything in his path It was to show the South that the Confederacy couldn’t protect them

Sherman took Atlanta on 2 September 1864 He took Savannah on 21 December 1864 Sherman then moved on to the Carolinas and took Raleigh-Durham, N. C. on 14 April and Bentonville, N.C. on 19 May 1865

As he went along, slaves joined the fight for the northern side Grant forced Lee to surrender Virginia on 9 April 1865 Troops laid down their arms Troops were released Jefferson Davis was captured

Lincoln had been re-elected in 1864, but didn’t live to see total peace He was shot at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. on 14 April 1865 by John Wilkes Booth He died on 15 April 1865 P. 448

Costs Over 1 million were killed or wounded Farms and cities were destroyed as were roads, railroads, and bridges Financial cost was over $20 billion Now the question was: What kind of life was waiting for the newly freed slaves?