What Are Your Impressions?

2. 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?

3. 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

4. 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”

5. 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)

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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)

11. 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)

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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

21. 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

22. 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

23. 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

24. Steam Conquers the Atlantic • Conditions for poorer passengers poor- crowded and foul • Allowed even the poorest ability to migrate

25. 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

26. 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

27. 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

28. 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)

30. 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

31. 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

32. 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

33. Railroads and Sectional Conflict • Increased production and cheap transportation boosted the Western farmer’s income and standard of living • Changes had their costs • Farmers became dependent on middlemen • Buying a farm required more capital due to higher land costs and cost of machinery • More farmers became laborers and tenant farmers

34. 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

35. 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”)

36. 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

37. 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

38. 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

39. 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

40. 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?