Slavery from (about) 1815-1848

1. Slavery from (about) 1815-1848 By Parker Stallworth and Zara Corzine

2. Background Information Pre-1815 • By the American Revolution, approx. 20% of the population in America was African American • At this time, only 9% of the African American population was free • “According to an agreement that determined the size of a state’s congressional delegation, a slave counted as three-fifths of a free white male” (Brands, 225) • Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and George Washington, three of the founding presidents of the country, were all slave holders • In the American Revolution, African Americans fought on both the British side and the American side

3. Slaves per State

4. Background Information Pre-1815 #2 • In 1800, the first primarily slave army was composed in Virginia by Gabriel Prosser • The Internal Slave Trade was “the largest enterprise in the South outside the plantation itself, and probably the most advanced in its employment of modern transportation, finance, and publicity.”

5. What was slavery in the early 19th century? • The practice of taking a person as legal property and forcing them to comply with one’s wishes (unwillingly) • The economy of the US in the early 1800’s was highly dependent on slavery. • There were approximately 4 million slaves in the US at the peak of slavery, with a market value of around 4 billion dollars • Slaves were used on farms, for cleaning, as servants, and for general housework • Slaves were forced to remain and did not try to run away often due to fear of cruel punishment like shackles, whipping, and other torture contraptions

6. Slaves In the South • There were three distinct types of slaves in the South • Plantation Slaves: “On large plantations in the Cotton Belt, most slaves worked in ”gangs” under an overseer. Cotton cultivation required year-round labor, so there was never a slack season under King Cotton” (Brands 293) ¾ of slaves worked on plantations. 4% of the population were planters. • Task System Slaves: These slaves worked in South Carolina and Georgia and cultivated rice under a task system, which gave them control over the pace of labor. They served as field laborers and did hard manual labor as well • Small Farm Slaves: These slaves were owned by slave owners who owned less than 20 slaves. About 88% of all southern slaveholders held fewer than 20 slaves each, with the majority of these slave-owners only owning about ten. Life was better for these slaves, and they typically lived and worked on the same playing field as their masters. They did both domestic and agrarian chores. • Only about 5 percent of slaves worked in major industries in the south.

7. Slaves In the South #2 • Many Southerners believed in the concept of southern paternalism, which relied of the perception of blacks as childlike and unable to take care of themselves • Because of southern paternalism, slaves adopted a demeanor of submissiveness and acted grateful for the privileges being allotted to them • Slaves lived in poverty, but adopted Christianity, because they were taught it was the right thing to do. They combined elements of Christianity with their African culture to create their own new culture. • 250,000 free blacks (descendants of slaves freed by their owners or freed for having fought in the Revolutionary War) lived in the south • Black Codes were laws that kept freed blacks from owning guns, drinking liquor, or assembling in groups of more than three outside of church. • Mulattos (mixed race individuals) were also looked upon poorly by the majority of slave owners in the South • Not all southerners held slaves! The class composed of Yeoman farmers typically did not hold slaves at all.

8. Slavery and the Southern Economy • “Tobacco, the original plantation crop of the colonial period, continued to be the principal slave-cultivated commodity of the upper tier of southern states during the pre-Civil War era. But markets were often depressed, and profitable tobacco cultivation was hard to sustain for very long in one place because the crop rapidly depleted the soil.” (Brands, 309) • Slaves and crops drove the Southern economy, and the slaves were a vital part of its success. This proved to be the root of southern resistance to abolition.

9. Slavery In the North • It is a common misconception that slaves only existed in the North. Slaves existed in all 13 states. • The north had less slaves only due to the fact that their was not as much farming opportunity in the north as their was in the south. • “The North failed to develop large scale agrarian slavery, such as later arose in the deep south, but that had little to do with morality and much to do with climate and economy.” • In the north, slaves were used for domestic tasks, such as cooking, cleaning and building. • The abolition movement began mainly in the north

10. Missouri Compromise Henry Clay, the great compromiser, negotiated the Missouri Compromise, which: - Admitted Missouri as a slave state • Carved a piece out of Massachusetts- Maine- and admitted Maine as a free state • Drew a line along the 36°30’ parallel across the Louisiana Territory • Established the southern border of Missouri as the northernmost point at which slavery would be allowed in the western territories of the united States, except for Missouri (This violated the Missouri Compromise in itself).

11. The Underground Railroad • The Underground Railroad was a network of hiding places and safe trails for slaves who were trying to escape from the South into New England or Canada to attain freedom • The slaves would leave their farm and travel in groups or alone or by assistance of a “conductor,” who would lead the slaves to “safe homes,” possessed by “stationmasters” where the slaves could spend the night and get food and materials before resuming their journey • The largest of these committees were in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia • To signify which houses were safe houses, the residents of the house would leave a quilt with a specific pattern or a lit lantern as a signal to the houses that were alright to stay at • The slaves would follow the stars (Northern Star, the Drinking Gourd) while traveling at night to get to the North (Northern Star!)

12. The Underground Railroad Part 2 • The South lost about 100,000 slaves between 1810-1850 due to the Underground Railroad • The name came from the emergence of steam engines, which were becoming more and more popular in the United States around 1830 • Slaves would travel by boat and train as well (which were very expensive), with money donated by wealthy Northerners. The Northerners would also give money to buy clothes for the escaping slaves so they wouldn’t look as suspicious. The people donating the money were referred to as “stockholders” • Collaboration: “While black abolitionists continued to endorse self-improvement within their own community, they also turned increasingly to opposing racial discrimination in the free states. White abolitionists joined with them in protests and boycotts that sometimes succeeded in desegregating northern public facilities” (Howe, 653)

13. Follow the Drinking Gourd A Popular Song about The Underground Railroad Follow the drinking gourd,
Follow the drinking gourd,
For the old man is waiting
for to carry you to freedom
If you follow the drinking gourd. The riverbank will make a very good road,
The dead trees show you the way.
Left foot, peg foot traveling on,
Following the drinking gourd.The river ends between two hills,
Follow the drinking gourd,
There's another river on the other side,
Follow the drinking gourd.When the great big river meets the little river,
Follow the drinking gourd.
For the old man is waiting
for to carry you to freedom
If you follow the drinking gourd.

14. Famous Underground Railroaders • Harriet Tubman • “the most famous conductor on the underground railroad and a refugee from slavery herself” (Howe, 654) • Acted as a conductor for many people on the Underground Railroad • She was very determined to free people, even carrying a gun with her to prove her point if needed

15. Famous Members of the Abolition Movement • Frederick Douglass: A freed slave • “In 1847 Frederick Douglass moved from New England to the burned-over district, where he edited a newspaper in Rochester called The North Star, which borrowed its title from the fleeing slave’s nighttime guide…Douglass and Smith associated themselves with the political wing of abolitionism, the Liberty Party” (Howe, 654) • Sojourner Truth: A freed Slave • “Isabella…had developed an active prayer life in childhood under the guidance of her mother, Isabella grew into a fervent Methodist. Once free, she left her husband and became an itinerant preacher. She warned of the Second Coming of Christ and demanded the abolition of slavery throughout the nation. In 1843, she adopted the name Sojourner Truth” (Howe, 51) • William Lloyd Garrison: A white abolitionist • Writer of The Liberator, an abolitionist newspaper, “promised protest until the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment purged slavery from the Constitution” (Howe, 426)

16. Bibliography http://www.innercity.org/holt/chron_1790_1829.html (Nov 9th) http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2944.html (Nov 9th) http://www.songsforteaching.com/folk/followthedrinkinggourd.htm (Nov 11th) http://www.villagequilters.com/events/cquilt.jpg (Nov 11th) http://www.nationalgeographic.com/railroad/j2.html (Nov 10th) http://www.slavenorth.com/ (Nov 11th) http://www.history.org/almanack/people/african/aaintro.cfm (Nov 9th) http://www.innercity.org/holt/chron_1790_1829.html (Nov 10th)