1. CHAPTER 13 The Slave South, 1820-1860
James L. Roark ● Michael P. Johnson Patricia Cline Cohen ● Sarah Stage Susan M. Hartmann
The American Promise
A History of the United States Fifth Edition
CHAPTER 13
The Slave South,
Copyright © 2012 by Bedford/St. Martin's

2. I. The Growing Distinctiveness of the South
A. Cotton Kingdom, Slave Empire 1. Western migration 2. The cotton kingdom 3. Slave empire B. The South in Black and White 1. Southern demographics 2. African American cultural influence 3. The “intellectual” defense of slavery 4. Claims of black inferiority 5. Unifying around race rather than class
I. The Growing Distinctiveness of the South
A. Cotton Kingdom, Slave Empire
1. Western Migration—In the first half of the nineteenth century, millions of Southerners migrated west; by midcentury, the South encompassed nearly a million square miles, much of it planted in cotton; heavy migration led to statehood for Arkansas, Texas, and Florida.
2. The Cotton Kingdom—The South’s climate and geography were ideally suited for the cultivation of cotton; only needed two hundred frost-free days and plenty of rain; production soared from 300,000 bales in 1830 to nearly 5 million in 1860, when the South produced three-fourths of the world’s supply.
3. Slave Empire—Cotton rested on the backs of slaves; most worked in gangs in fields under the direct supervision of whites; the international slave trade was outlawed, but the domestic trade flourished; slave population grew enormously; by 1860, the South contained 4 million slaves, more than all the other slave societies in the New World combined; increase came from natural reproduction.
B. The South in Black and White
1. Southern Demographics—In 1860, one in every three Southerners was black; there were approximately 4 million blacks and 8 million whites; only one in seventy-six Northerners was black.
2. African American Cultural Influence—Presence of large numbers of African Americans had profound consequences for the development of Southern culture; blacks shaped southern language, food, music, religion, and accents.
3. The “Intellectual” Defense of Slavery—Most direct consequence of the South’s biracialism was southern whites’ commitment to white supremacy; states passed laws called slave codes that required the total submission of all slaves to all whites, not just their masters; intellectuals joined legislators in the campaign to strengthen slavery; they employed every imaginable defense, turning to the law, history, and biblical interpretation as evidence of their claims; argued giving blacks rights would lead to sexual mixing of races, called miscegenation; George Fitzhugh argued that slavery was better than ruthless northern capitalism and claimed that masters protected their slaves.
4. Claims of Black Inferiority—The bedrock of the defense of slavery; argued slavery was necessary and proper because blacks were lesser human beings; argued that slavery lifted blacks to civilization and that slaves and masters were friends; defended the institution as a “positive good” rather than a “necessary evil.”
5. Unifying around Race Rather than Class—The system of slavery encouraged whites to unify around race rather than to divide by class; slavery meant white dominance, white superiority; differences among whites were bridged by membership in the ruling class.

3. 1. How are the rebel slaves portrayed in this woodcut? The whites?
(Answer: The rebels are portrayed as violent and bloodthirsty, willing to attack anyone, even children. Whites, all in fine clothing, are portrayed as innocent victims. A mother shields her three children from an attack. One white man defends himself from two attackers, while another gallantly attempts to protect a woman.)
2. How might an abolitionist have reimagined this scene?
(Answer: The original woodcut pays no attention to the horrors of slavery. A radical abolitionist would not have portrayed the whites as innocent and virtuous. An abolitionist artist may have shown the suffering of blacks and pointed out that they hoped to use violence to escape a violent system. That said, many abolitionists would have agreed with the original artist that the slaves took the violence too far.)

7. 1. Describe the family in the lithograph
1. Describe the family in the lithograph. What kind of lives do these people lead?
(Answer: It is mixed-race and upper class. The white woman appears to be a model of purity. She holds a black baby. The husband and older son are black and wear audacious clothing. A white servant brings them drinks, while another interracial couple arrives for a visit. The family also has a black dog and a white dog that lay together and appear to eat from the same bowl.)
2. How is the image a criticism of abolitionism?
(Answer: The artist attempted to show what would happen if whites and blacks mixed. African Americans would earn economic and social status equal if not superior to that of whites. The husband’s reading of The Emancipator invokes the abolitionist cause. He casually rests his feet on the lap of his white wife. All of the black characters are drawn as caricatures. The paintings on the wall display Shakespeare’s Othello and Desdemona, another interracial marriage, and noted abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison.)

8. I. The Growing Distinctiveness of the South
C. The Plantation Economy 1. Who owned slaves? 2. The cotton plantation and U.S. exports 3. Diverging economies 4. The “backward labor system”
I. The Growing Distinctiveness of the South
C. The Plantation Economy
1. Who Owned Slaves?—Only about one-fourth of the white population lived in slaveholding families; most slaveholders owned fewer than five slaves; those who owned twenty or more slaves were known as planters, who made up only 12 percent of slaveowners but still dominated the southern economy.
2. The Cotton Plantation and U.S. Exports—All major cash crops—tobacco, sugar, rice, and cotton—grew on plantations; tobacco, sugar, and rice were labor intensive and often dangerous to cultivate; cotton took over after the advent of Eli Whitney’s cotton gin; relatively easy to grow and took little capital to get started; planters produced 75 percent of the South’s cotton; plantation slavery benefited the nation; by 1840, cotton accounted for more than 60 percent of American exports; most went to Great Britain, but some of the profits went to northern middlemen who bought, sold, and shipped cotton; provided capital for northern industry, which found a market for its textiles and tools in the South.
3. Diverging Economies—The economies of the North and South steadily diverged; the North developed a mixed economy, with agriculture, commerce, and manufacturing; the South remained overwhelmingly agricultural; the South developed fewer factories and cities, thus it attracted relatively small numbers of European immigrants; some southern critics railed against the excessive commitment to cotton and slaves.
4. The “Backward Labor System”—Northerners claimed slavery was a backward labor system; Southerners invested less of their capital in industry, transportation, and public education; planters’ desire to reinvest in agriculture ensured the momentum of the plantation economy.

12. II. Masters and Mistresses in the Big House
A. Paternalism and Male Honor 1. Overseers 2. “Christian guardianship”/paternalism 3. The economy of paternalism 4. Southern idea of honor 5. Miscegenation
II. Masters and Mistresses in the Big House
A. Paternalism and Male Honor
1. Overseers—Smaller planters supervised the labor of their slaves themselves; larger planters hired overseers who went to the fields with the slaves; left the planter free to concentrate on marketing, finance, and general plantation affairs.
2. “Christian Guardianship”/Paternalism—In the nineteenth century, planters increasingly characterized their mastery in terms of what they called “Christian guardianship,” and what historians have called “paternalism”; paternalism denied the brutality of slavery; said plantations joined master and slave in a relationship that benefited both; in exchange for the slaves’ labor and obedience, masters provided basic care and necessary guidance for a childlike, dependent people.
3. The Economy of Paternalism—Paternalism was part propaganda and part self-delusion, but it was also economically shrewd; masters took care of their slaves so they could work harder and, just as important, reproduce; did lead to a small improvement in slaves’ welfare, but paternalism should not be mistaken for kindness and goodwill; it encouraged better treatment because it made economic sense to provide at least minimal care for valuable slaves.
4. Southern Idea of Honor—Paternalism provided slaveholders with a means of rationalizing their rule, but it also provided some slaves with leverage over the conditions of their lives; slave owners would sometimes negotiate with slaves so they did not earn reputations as cruel tyrants; slaves could get garden plots or a few days off. Social standing, political advancement, and even self-esteem rested on a reputation of honor; defending honor became a male passion, and conflicts over honor often led to dueling.
5. Miscegenation—Planters took no opposition from any of their dependents, black or white; laws prohibited interracial sex, but white men often forced themselves on black slaves; slavery, honor, and male domination dominated southern life.

13. II. Masters and Mistresses in the Big House
B. The Southern Lady and Feminine Virtues 1. Gendered expectations 2. Subordinating slaves and women 3. Grounds for discontent
II. Masters and Mistresses in the Big House
B. The Southern Lady and Feminine Virtues
1. Gendered Expectations—Like their northern counterparts, southern ladies were expected to possess feminine virtues of piety, purity, chastity, and obedience within the context of marriage, motherhood, and domesticity; chivalry—the South’s romantic ideal of male-female relationships—both glorified and subordinated the southern woman; daughters of planters confronted chivalry’s demands at an early age; the educations they received aimed at fitting them to become southern ladies.
2. Subordinating Slaves and Women—Most spokesmen for slavery defended the subordination of women, claiming that slavery freed white women from drudgery; in reality, having servants required the plantation mistress to work long hours managing and supervising; while masters used their status as slaveholders as a springboard into public affairs, the mistress remained on the plantation; mistresses lived privileged lives, but they did not live lives of leisure.
3. Grounds for Discontent—Plantation mistresses also had significant grounds for discontent, including miscegenation; lived alongside the children their husbands fathered with their slaves; still, most accepted slavery.

15. 1. What is happening in this scene?
(Answer: A slave trader looks over paperwork for a sale. A white man reclines in his chair. The furniture, fine china, clothing, and chess set indicate that he is wealthy. The slave, who has light skin, looks off into the distance.)
2. If the white man is selling his mulatto son, what does that tell us about gender in the slave household?
(Answer: Neither white nor black women had a say in anything. The slave mother could do nothing about her son being sold into slavery. The plantation mistress had no recourse to her husband sexually exploiting their slaves. The entire system catered to the male slave master.)

16. III. Slaves in the Quarter
A. Work 1. Field hands 2. House servants 3. Skilled artisans 4. Slave drivers B. Family and Religion 1. Slave culture and family 2. African American Christianity
III. Slaves in the Quarter
A. Work
1. Field Hands—All slaves who were capable of productive labor worked; the overwhelming majority of all plantation slaves in 1860 worked as field hands; they cleared the fields at the beginning of the year, planted and cultivated in spring and summer, and picked in the fall; worked in gangs.
2. House Servants—Only a few slaves (only about one in every ten) became house servants; nine out of ten house servants were women; less physically demanding, but they were constantly on call; bore the brunt of white rage when they could not please constantly.
3. Skilled Artisans—No more than one in twenty slaves worked in a skilled trade; most were blacksmiths and carpenters.
4. Slave Drivers—Rarest of all; no more than one male slave in a hundred; task was driving other slaves to work harder in the fields; normally, slaves worked from what they called “can to can’t”—from “can see” in the morning to “can’t see” at night.
B. Family and Religion
1. Slave Culture and Family—Slaves worked from dawn to dusk; but at night and all day Sundays and usually Saturday afternoons, slaves were left largely to themselves; created a culture of their own; one of the most important consequences of the slaves’ limited autonomy was the preservation and persistence of the family; the black family survived slavery; slave marriages were not legally recognized, but plantation records reveal that marriages were often long-lasting; primary cause of ending marriage was death of a spouse, but the second most frequent cause was the sale of a husband or wife; sales destroyed hundreds of thousands of slave marriages.
2. African American Christianity—Also provided slaves with a refuge and a reason for living; evangelical Baptists and Methodists converted slaves from African beliefs; by mid-nineteenth century, as many as one-quarter of all slaves claimed church membership; planters began promoting Christianity in the quarter because they saw the slaves’ salvation as part of their obligation; also hoped that religion made slaves more obedient; slaves met in their cabins or secretly in the woods and created an African American Christianity that served their needs, not those of the masters’; Christianity did not entirely drive out traditional African beliefs; many still believed in conjurers and witches, and slaves’ Christian music, preaching, and rituals reflected the influence of Africa.

17. III. Slaves in the Quarter
C. Resistance and Rebellion 1. Types of resistance 2. Scarcity of revolt
III. Slaves in the Quarter
C. Resistance and Rebellion
1. Types of Resistance—Slaves understood that accommodation was the price of survival, but they did not suffer slavery passively; engaged in day-to-day resistance against their enslavers; spectrum of slave resistance ranged from mild to extreme: told stories of resistance by the fireside in a slave cabin; broke tools and feigned illness to evade work in the fields; running away was a widespread form of protest, but escape from the Lower South was almost impossible.
2. Scarcity of Revolt—Violent assaults on slavery by large numbers of slaves were very rare; slaves were not content, but they understood they had almost no chance of success; whites outnumbered blacks and were heavily armed.

18. IV. The Plain Folk
A. Plantation Belt Yeomen 1. Small farmers 2. Class politics B. Upcountry Yeomen 1. Geography 2. The family farm 3. Defending slavery
IV. The Plain Folk
A. Plantation Belt Yeomen
1. Small Farmers—Lived within the orbit of the planter class; grew mainly food crops, but also devoted a portion of their land to cotton; farms ran only on family labor; tied to planters because they could not afford cotton gins or baling presses and had no link to urban merchants.
2. Class Politics—A dense network of relationships laced small farmers and planters together in patterns of reciprocity and mutual obligation; planters hired out surplus slaves; yeomen helped police slaves on slave patrols; plantation belt yeomen may have envied, and at times even resented, wealthy slaveholders, but in general, small farmers learned to accommodate; they did not want to overthrow the planter regime; instead, they wanted entry into it.
B. Upcountry Yeomen
1. Geography—Hills and mountains of the South resisted the penetration of slavery and plantations; higher elevation, colder climate, rugged terrain, and poor transportation made it difficult for commercial agriculture; yeomen dominated these isolated areas, making planters and slaves scarce.
2. The Family Farm—At the core of upcountry society was the independent farm family working its own patch of land; raised hogs, cattle, and sheep; sought self-sufficiency and independence; all members of the family worked, but the domestic sphere was subordinated to the will of the father; production for home consumption was more important than production for the market.
3. Defending Slavery—With so few slaves, slaveholders had much less social and economic power in the upcountry; but people in the upcountry did not oppose slavery; as long as upcountry yeomen were free to lead their own lives, they defended slavery and white supremacy just as staunchly as did other white Southerners.

21. IV. The Plain Folk
C. Poor Whites 1. Northern opinion 2. Southern realities 3. Working to become yeomen D. The Culture of the Plain Folk 1. Isolated lives 2. Leisure time 3. Education and religion
IV. The Plain Folk
C. Poor Whites
1. Northern Opinion—Majority of slaveless white Southerners were hardworking, landholding small farmers; most Northerners, however, believed that slavery had condemned most whites to poverty, brutality, and backwardness; called them hillbillies or rednecks; believed that they were ignorant, diseased, and degenerate.
2. Southern Realities—In reality, only one in four nonslaveholding rural whites was landless and very poor; although some earned reputations for violence and mayhem, most lived responsible lives.
3. Working to Become Yeomen—Many poor whites were eager to climb into the yeomanry; but the cotton boom of the 1850s increased land prices and made upward mobility more difficult for poor whites; poor whites shared common cultural traits with yeomen farmers.
D. The Culture of the Plain Folk
1. Isolated Lives—Plain folk lived isolated, local lives on scattered farms and in tiny villages; bad roads and a lack of newspapers meant that everyday life revolved around family, a handful of neighbors, the local church, and perhaps a country store.
2. Leisure Time—Work occupied most of their time, but plain folk also enjoyed music, dancing, tobacco use, fishing, and hunting.
3. Education and Religion—Plain folk did not usually associate “book learning” with the basic needs of life; approximately one southern white man in five was illiterate in 1860; illiteracy rate for women was even higher; spent more hours in revival tents than in classrooms; not all rural whites were religious, but many were; the most characteristic feature of their evangelical Christian faith was the revival; hymns provided guides to right and wrong and assured eternal salvation.

22. V. Black and Free: On the Middle Ground
A. Precarious Freedom 1. Population growth 2. White oppression 3. Denmark Vesey B. Achievement despite Restrictions 1. The advantages of freedom 2. Free black elite
V. Black and Free: On the Middle Ground
A. Precarious Freedom
1. Population Growth—There were few free blacks in the colonial era, but the population swelled after the Revolution; the natural rights philosophy of the Declaration of Independence and the egalitarian message of evangelical Protestantism joined to challenge slavery.
2. White Oppression—In the 1820s and 1830s, state legislatures acted to stem the growth of the free black population and to shrink the liberty of those blacks who had already gained their freedom; new laws denied masters the right to free their slaves; others humiliated and restricted them by subjecting them to special taxes, prohibiting them from interstate travel and increasingly subjecting them to the same laws as slaves; elaborate system of regulations confined most free African Americans to a constricted life of poverty and dependence; typically rural, uneducated, unskilled agricultural laborers and domestic servants.
3. Denmark Vesey—Whites feared free blacks might cherish their race more than their status as free people and would lead slaves in rebellion; in 1822, whites in Charleston accused free black Denmark Vesey of plotting with slaves to slaughter the city’s whites; whites never found any weapons, but officials hanged 35 black men, including Vesey.
B. Achievement despite Restrictions
1. The Advantages of Freedom—Free African Americans made the most of the advantages their status offered; free blacks could legally marry, choose their occupations, and own property, even though most remained propertyless.
2. Free Black Elite—Some free blacks escaped poverty and degradation; particularly in urban areas, a small elite of free blacks developed and even flourished; they were usually light-skinned African Americans who worked at skilled trades as tailors, carpenters, or mechanics; operated schools for their children and traveled out of state; a few free blacks, such as William Ellison of South Carolina, owned slaves in large numbers and exploited them for labor.

23. VI. The Politics of Slavery
A. The Democratization of the Political Arena 1. Political reforms and increased suffrage 2. Increasing partisanship B. Planter Power 1. Southern officeholders and slavery 2. Convincing the common man 3. Protecting slavery
VI. The Politics of Slavery
A. The Democratization of the Political Arena
1. Political Reforms and Increased Suffrage—Reforms that swept the nation in the first half of the nineteenth century reached deeply into the South; southern politics became democratic politics for white men; eliminated wealth and property requirements for voting; white male suffrage ushered in an era of vigorous electoral competition; voter turnout often approached 80 percent.
2. Increasing Partisanship—As politics became more democratic, it also grew more partisan; both Whigs and Democrats tried to portray themselves as a friend to the plain white folk; as in other parts of the nation, Whigs tended to favor government intervention, while Democrats opposed it.
B. Planter Power
1. Southern Officeholders and Slavery—Whether Whig or Democrat, southern officeholders were likely to be slave owners; won elections even as they were in the minority of the population; by 1860, the percentage of slave owners in state legislatures ranged from 41 percent in Missouri to nearly 86 percent in North Carolina; legislators often owned large numbers of slaves.
2. Convincing the Common Man—Upper-class dominance of southern politics reflected the elite’s success in persuading the white majority that what was good for slaveholders was also good for them; reminded common whites that most had farms of their own and that they enjoyed an elevated social status; most slaveholders took pains to win the plain folk’s trust and to nurture their respect; convinced wary plain folk of their democratic convictions and egalitarian sentiments, whether they were genuine or not.
3. Protecting Slavery—Legislatures protected planters’ interests while giving the impression of protecting small farmers’ interests as well; established low tax rates on land to curry favor with yeomen but in reality, the tax on slaves was even lower; powerful whites also dismissed slavery’s critics from college faculties, drove them from the pulpit, and hounded them from public life; people could suggest mild reforms of slavery, but no Southerner could any longer safely call slavery evil or advocate for its destruction; in the antebellum South, the rise of the “common man” occurred alongside the continuing, even growing, power of the planter class, but the politics of slavery helped knit together all of white society.