1. The Slaveholders’ Regime
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2. Indenturehood Servitude vs. Slavery
How differed from slavery?
Voluntary
Fixed term
Defined as people
Contractual
Indenturehood = Economic Agreement
Slavery = Legal Property +
Moral absence of freedom
Unrestrained personal control of one group over another
Denial of economic opportunity
Denial of citizenship & basic rights
Denial of cultural self-identification

3. The Global Slave Trade The US imported 7% of the total of 10
million slaves
sent to the
Western Hemisphere
Brazil 36%
Caribbean 40%
South America 17%
Sugar drove the world slave trade
Tobacco drove the US slave market in the 1700s
Cotton drove the US slave market after the invention of the cotton gin (1790s)
1801: ,000 bales
1859: 5,400,000 bales

4. “Cotton is King” in America
The Cotton Kingdom:
Climate & soil perfect for cotton
Steamboats & rivers = cheaper than canals to get cotton to market
Slaves = “solution” to labor needs
More profitable on large Farms
Cheaper to supervise large groups of slaves
Shorter work hours, but greater intensity of work
Yearly returns consistently >10%
Therefore: profitable & economically viable
Could have been MORE profitable but there was A LOT of competition

5. Average Rate of Return on Slaves
Period
Upper South
Lower South
11%
12%
10% -
14%
19%
13%
17%

6. Ye Olde Antebellum South
Rural/Agricultural focus
Few “large” cities
<10% US industrial goods made in the South
Cotton = 57.5% of all US exports (1860)
White population = homogenous
Long-time “natives” vs. immigrants
Economic “colony” of NE
Slavery = largest capital investment
Population ↑ 1.5 million (1820) to 4 million (1860)
Constant fear of rebellion
Nat Turner, et al. → stricter Slave Codes & patrols

7. Ye Ole “Peculiar” Institution
Slaveholders = minority in South
Only 20-25% owned slaves
Less than half owned over 4 slaves
Only 2.7% of owners (1 out of every 200 owners) had 50+ slaves
% of slaveholders decreased between
But large % connected to slave-owning class
Racism (white v. black) trumped class animosity (white v. white)
Plantation slaves = majority in South
60%+ slaves lived with groups of 10+ slaves (1860)
But ~40% of slaves lived with less than 10 slaves…
Slaveholders = politically dominant
Economic stake
>2/3 of office holders owned slaves
Owned 93% of region’s agricultural wealth

8. Rationale for Slavery Historical
Every “superior civilization” had slavery
Freed upper classes for intellectual activity
Scientific
Quack science supported racial differences
Religious
Used Biblical examples to justify
OK if purposed to Christianize African “heathen”
Social
Better life than exploited white factory workers
Kept the “natural” social order intact
Economic
Stability: no threat of strikes
Emancipation &/or colonization economically improbable
Societal Support
Yeomen classes’ “American Dream”
Stopped competition for jobs
Better to “white trash” than a slave
Rationale for Slavery

9. Slavery Studies over Time
Slavery as an Institution, 1880s- 1900
Focus on politics or economic effects of the institution
Social effects on Whites, s
Phillips: Slavery was humane & paternalistic
Stamp: Slavery was based on force
Social effects on Slaves, 1960s-1970s
Elkins: compared slavery to Nazi camps
Genovese: slaves had power to negotiate
Gutman: black family cushioned the effects

10. The New History, 1980s… Focus on Women Autonomy/Agency Resistance
Culture
Resilience
Regional studies

11. Reflection Qs
Why did slavery flourish in the South but not in the North?
Give and explain two rationales for slavery.
Record two things that you will remember in a month.
Cotton fields in the South