Chapters 14 and 15

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

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

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

9. 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”

10. 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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

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

16. 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

17. 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

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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

21. 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

22. 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

23. 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

25. He joined the Abolitionist Movement • He spoke out and wrote articles

26. 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

27. 1822 - Denmark Vessey of Charleston, South Carolina • Planned a rebellion • Plot was discovered ahead of time • Vessey and his followers were killed

28. 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

29. 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

31. 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

32. 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

33. 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

34. 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

35. 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

36. 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

37. 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

39. 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

40. 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

41. 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

42. 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

43. 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

45. 20 December 1860 - South Carolina seceded • January 1861 - 6 other southern states seceded • Pp. 430, 431 • Map, p.438

46. 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

48. 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

49. 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

50. 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