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 Access to History for the IB Diploma United States Civil War: causes, course and effects 1840–77 Alan Farmer The material in this title has been developed independently of the International Baccalaureate®, which in no way endorses it. The Publishers would like to thank the following for permis...

 Access to History for the IB Diploma United States Civil War: causes, course and effects 1840–77 Alan Farmer The material in this title has been developed independently of the International Baccalaureate®, which in no way endorses it. The Publishers would like to thank the following for permission to reproduce copyright material: Photo credits: p21 Getty Images; p37 The Corcoran Gallery of Art/Corbis; p55 Bettmann/Corbis; p58 Corbis; p89 Bettmann/Corbis; p95 Corbis; p112 Corbis; p132 Corbis; p137 Medford Historical Society Collection/Corbis; p148 Bettmann/Corbis; p155 Bettmann/Corbis; p157 Getty Images; p158 Corbis; p168 The Corcoran Gallery of Art/Corbis; p184 Private Collection/The Bridgeman Art Library; p186 Getty Images; p213 Bettmann/Corbis; p228 Getty Images; p239 Bettmann/Corbis; p250 Corbis. 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Lines are open 9.00–5.00, Monday to Saturday, with a 24-hour message answering service. Visit our website at www.hoddereducation.co.uk © Alan Farmer 2012 First published in 2012 by Hodder Education, An Hachette UK Company 338 Euston Road London NW1 3BH Impression number 5 4 3 2 1 Year 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 All rights reserved. Apart from any use permitted under UK copyright law, no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or held within any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher or under licence from the Copyright Licensing Agency Limited. Further details of such licences (for reprographic reproduction) may be obtained from the Copyright Licensing Agency Limited, Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Cover photo: Abraham Lincoln at the Gettysburg Address by Jean Gerome Ferris, © Bettmann/Corbis Illustrations by Gray Publishing Typeset in 10/13pt Palatino and produced by Gray Publishing, Tunbridge Wells Printed in Dubai A catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library ISBN: 978 1444 156508 Contents Introduction 2 1 What you will study 2 2 How you will be assessed 3 3 About this book 6 Chapter 1 The American Civil War 9 1 The success of the ‘great experiment’ 9 2 Civil war? 10 3 North versus South 11 4 Southern guilt? 11 Chapter 2 The cotton economy and slavery 13 1 The ‘great experiment’ 13 2 The peculiar institution 17 3 Key debate: Was slavery in the USA a system of ruthless exploitation or a paternalistic arrangement? 27 Examination advice and practice 30 Chapter 3 The origins of the Civil War 33 1 The problem of states’ rights 33 2 Sectionalism 40 3 Key debate: Was slavery profitable? 45 Examination advice and practice 48 Chapter 4 The abolitionist debate 51 1 Militant abolitionism 51 2 Missouri, Texas and Mexico 59 3 The impact of the Mexican War 1846–50 65 4 The 1850 Compromise 70 Examination advice and practice 79 Chapter 5 The coming of war 82 1 The Kansas–Nebraska problem 82 2 The rise of the Republican Party 86 3 The presidency of James Buchanan 91 4 The 1860 election and secession 98 5 The outbreak of civil war 106 6 Key debate: Why did civil war break out in 1861? 114 Examination advice and practice 116 Chapter 6 Union versus Confederacy: the war 1861–5 119 1 Union and Confederate strengths 119 2 The nature of the war 123 3 The Confederate war effort 135 4 The Union war effort 145 5 Military leadership 154 Examination advice and practice 160 Chapter 7 The battles 1861–5 163 1 The situation in 1861–2 163 2 The war 1862–3 170 3 Union victory 180 4 Britain and the Civil War 190 5 Key debate: Did the Confederacy defeat itself or was it defeated? 195 Examination advice and practice 199 Chapter 8 Reconstruction 202 1 Emancipation 202 2 Lincoln and Reconstruction 1861–5 208 3 Andrew Johnson and Reconstruction 212 4 Congressional Reconstruction 1866–8 216 5 Reconstruction in the South 1867–77 220 6 The impact of the Civil War 231 Examination advice and practice 235 Chapter 9 African Americans in the Civil War and the New South 238 1 The African American war effort 238 2 Reconstruction 1865–77 243 3 The South redeemed 247 4 Key debate: Was Reconstruction a tragic failure? 252 Examination advice and practice 254 Timeline 257 Glossary 258 Further reading 261 Internal assessment 265 Index 266  : Dedication Dedication Keith Randell (1943–2002) The original Access to History series was conceived and developed by Keith, who created a series to ‘cater for students as they are, not as we might wish them to be’. He leaves a living legacy of a series that for over 20 years has provided a trusted, stimulating and well-loved accompaniment to post-16 study. Our aim with these new editions for the IB is to continue to offer students the best possible support for their studies. 1  Introduction This book has been written to support your study of HL option 3: Aspects of the history of the Americas: United States Civil War: causes, course and effects 1840–77 of the IB History Diploma Route 2. This first chapter gives you an overview of: the content you will study for United States Civil War: causes, course and effects 1840–77 how you will be assessed for Paper 3 the different features of this book and how these will aid your learning. 1 What you will study The United States Civil War altered the course of American history. The difficult question of slavery was settled once and for all, the country turned towards developing the vast interior, and the economy became increasingly industrial. The Civil War also marked the bloodiest conflict in the history of the country, often pitting brother against brother, and state against state. What led to this war, its course, and what followed remain contentious issues even today so it is no wonder that more books have been written about the war than any other event in the history of the nation. This book covers the history of the United States in the period during the lead up to the Civil War, its course and Reconstruction after the war. It will: l begin by examining the nature of the Civil War (Chapter 1) l look at the significance of the cotton economy and slavery and how this caused the North and South to grow apart (Chapter 2) l explore the origins of the Civil War by looking at differences between the North and South (Chapter 3) l examine the abolitionist debate and explain why it became such a powerful force (Chapter 4) l consider the factors that led to succession and the outbreak of war (Chapter 5) l explain the course of the war and consider the effectiveness of the leadership of both sides (Chapter 6) l look at the key battles and explore why the war lasted so long (Chapter 7) l examine the process and impact of reconstruction (Chapter 8) l conclude by looking at the position of African Americans during and after Reconstruction (Chapter 9). 2  Introduction 2 How you will be assessed The IB History Diploma Higher Level has three papers in total: Papers 1 and 2 for Standard Level and a further Paper 3 for Higher Level. It also has an internal assessment which all students must do. l For Paper 1 you need to answer four source-based questions on a prescribed subject. This counts for 20 per cent of your overall marks. l For Paper 2 you need to answer two essay questions on two different topics. This counts for 25 per cent of your overall marks. l For Paper 3 you need to answer three essay questions on two or three sections. This counts for 35 per cent of your overall marks. For the internal assessment you need to carry out a historical investigation. This counts for 20 per cent of your overall marks HL option 3: Aspects of the history of the Americas is assessed through Paper 3. You must study three sections out of a choice of twelve, one of which could be United States Civil War: causes, course and effects 1840–77. These sections are assessed through Paper 3 of the IB History diploma which has 24 essay questions – two for each of the twelve sections. In other words, there will be two specific questions that you can answer based on the Civil War. Examination questions For Paper 3 you need to answer three of the 24 questions. You could either answer two on one of the sections you have studied and one on another section, or one from each of the three sections you have studied. So, assuming the United States Civil War is one of the sections you have studied, you may choose to answer one or two questions on it. The questions are not divided up by section but just run 1–24 and are usually arranged chronologically. In the case of the questions on the United States Civil War, you should expect numbers five and six to be on this particular section. When the exam begins, you will have five minutes in which to read the questions. You are not allowed to use a pen or highlighter during the reading period. Scan the list of question but focus on the ones relating to the sections you have studied. Remember you are to write on the history of the Americas. If a question such as, ‘Discuss the impact of the Second World War on the society of one country of the region’, is asked do not write about Germany or Japan. You will receive no credit for this answer. Command terms When choosing the three questions, keep in mind that you must answer the question asked, not one you might have hoped for. A key to success is understanding the demands of the question. IB History diploma questions 3  use key terms and phrases known as command terms. The more common command terms are listed in the table below, with a brief definition of each. More are listed in the appendix of the IB History Guide. Examples of questions using some of the more common command terms and specific strategies to answer them are included at the end of Chapters 2–9. Command term Description Where exemplified in this book Analyse Investigate the various components of a given Pages 30–2 issue. Assess Very similar to ‘evaluate’. Raise the various Page 254 sides to an argument but clearly state which are more important and why. Compare and Discuss both similarities and differences of Pages 48–50 contrast two events, people, etc. Evaluate Make a judgement while looking at two or Pages 79–81 more sides of an issue. Explain Describe clearly reasons for an event, Pages 116–18 development or a process. In what ways Be sure to include both ways and effects in Pages 199–200 and with what your answer – that is how an event took place effects and what the repercussions were. To what extent Discuss the various merits of a given Pages 160–2 argument or opinion. Why Explain the reasons for something that took Pages 235–7 place. Provide several reasons. Answering the questions You have two and a half hours to answer the three questions, or 50 minutes each. Try to budget your time wisely. In other words, do not spend 75 minutes on one answer. Before you begin each essay, take five to seven minutes and compose an outline of the major points you will raise in your essay. These you can check off as you write the essay itself. This is not a waste of time and will bring organisation and coherency to what you write. Well-organised essays that include an introduction, several well-supported arguments and a concluding statement are much more likely to score highly than essays which jump from point to point without structure. The three essays you write for Paper 3 will be read by a trained examiner. The examiner will read your essays and check what you write against the IB mark scheme. This mark scheme offers guidance to the examiner but is not comprehensive. You may well write an essay that includes analysis and evidence not included in the mark scheme and that is fine. It is also worth remembering that the examiner who will mark your essay is looking to 4  Introduction reward well-defended and argued positions, not to deduct marks for misinformation. Each of your essays will be marked on a 0–20 scale, for a total of 60 points. The total score will be weighted as 35 per cent of your final IB History. Do bear in mind that you are not expected to score 60/60 to earn a 7: 37–39/60 will equal a 7. Another way of putting this is that if you write three essays that each score 13, you will receive a 7. Writing essays In order to attain the highest mark band (18–20), your essays should: l be clearly focused l address all implications of the question l demonstrate extensive historical knowledge l demonstrate knowledge of historical processes such as continuity and change l integrate your analysis l be well structured l have well-developed synthesis. Your essay should include an introduction in which you set out your main points. Do not waste time copying the question but define the key terms stated in the question. The best essays probe the demands of the question. In other words, there are often different ways of interpreting the question. Next, you should write an in-depth analysis of your main points in several paragraphs. Here you will provide evidence that supports your argument. Each paragraph should focus on one of your main points and relate directly to the question. More sophisticated responses include counter-arguments. Finally, you should end with a concluding statement. In the roughly 45 minutes you spend on one essay, you should be able to write three to six pages. While there is no set minimum, you do need explore the issues and provide sufficient evidence to support what you write. In history essays, do not use the words ‘I’ or ‘you’. It is better to create a more neutral and dispassionate argument. Bringing supporting evidence to bear on answering the question will be how your essay will be marked. At the end of Chapters 2–9, you will find IB-style questions with guidance on how best to answer them. Each question focuses on a different command term. It goes without saying that the more practice you have writing essays, the better your results will be. The appearance of the examination paper Cover The cover of the examination paper states the date of the examination and the length of time you have to complete it: 2 hours 30 minutes. Please note 5  that there are two routes in history. Make sure your paper says Route 2 on it. Instructions are limited and simply state that you should not open it until told to do so and that three questions must be answered. Questions You will have five minutes in which to read through the questions. It is very important to choose the three questions you can answer most fully. It is quite possible that two of the three questions may be on the United States Civil War, especially after mastering the material in this book. That is certainly permissible. After the five minutes’ reading time is over, you can take out your pen and mark up the exam booklet: l Circle the three you have decided to answer. l Identify the command terms and important points. For example, if a question asked, ‘To what extent was the defeat of the South in the United States Civil War due to its inferior industrial resources and smaller population?’ underline To what extent and inferior industrial resources and smaller population. This will help you to focus on the demands of the question. For each essay take five to seven minutes to write an outline and approximately 43–45 minutes to write the essay. 3 About this book Coverage of the course content This book addresses the key areas listed in the IB History Guide for Route 2: HL option 3: Aspects of the history of the Americas: United States Civil War: causes, course and effects 1840–77. Chapters start with an introduction outlining key questions they address. They are then divided into a series of sections and topics covering the course content. Throughout the chapters you will find the following features to aid your study of the course content. Key and leading questions Each section heading in the chapter has a related key question which gives a focus to your reading and understanding of the section. These are also listed in the chapter introduction. You should be able to answer the questions after completing the relevant section. Topics within the sections have leading questions which are designed to help you to focus on the key points within a topic and give you more practice in answering questions. 6  Introduction Key terms Key terms are the important terms you need to know to gain an understanding of the period. These are emboldened in the text the first time they appear in the book and are defined in the margin. They also appear in the glossary at the end of the book. Profiles Some of the chapters contain profiles of important individuals. These include a brief biography and information about the importance and impact of the individual. This information can be very useful in understanding certain events and providing supporting evidence to your arguments. Sources Throughout the book are several written and visual sources. Historical sources are important components in understanding more fully why specific decisions were taken or on what contemporary writers and politicians based their actions. The sources are accompanied by questions to help you to dig more deeply into the history of the Civil War. Key debates Historians often disagree on historical events and this historical debate is referred to as historiography. Knowledge of historiography is helpful in reaching the upper mark bands when you take your IB History examinations. You should not merely drop the names of historians in your essay. You need to understand the different points of view for a given historiographical debate. These you can bring up in your essay. There are a number of key debates throughout the book to develop your understanding of historiography. Theory of Knowledge (TOK) questions Understanding that different historians see history differently is an important element in understanding the connection between the IB History Diploma and Theory of Knowledge. Alongside many of the debates is a Theory of Knowledge style question which makes that link. Summary diagrams At the end of each section or chapter is a summary diagram which gives a visual summary of the content of the section. It is intended as an aid for revision. Chapter summaries At the end of each chapter is a short summary of the content of that chapter. This is intended to help you to revise and consolidate your knowledge and understanding of the content. 7  Skills development At the end of each chapter is the following: l Examination guidance on how to answer questions. This advice focuses on different command terms and gives guidance on how to approach an answer to example questions. l Examination practice in the form of Paper 3 style questions. End of the book The book concludes with the following sections: Timeline This gives a timeline of the major events covered in the book, which is helpful for quick reference or as a revision tool. Glossary All key terms in the book are defined in the glossary. Further reading This contains a list of books and websites which may help you with further independent research and presentations. It may also be helpful when further information is required for internal assessments and extended essays in history. You may wish to share the contents of this area with your school or local librarian. Internal assessment All IB History diploma students are required to write a historical investigation which is internally assessed. The investigation is an opportunity for you to dig more deeply into a subject that interests you. 8  Chapter 1 Chapter 1: The American Civil War The American Civil War In April 1861, Confederate guns opened fire on Fort Sumter, situated on an island in Charleston harbour. These were the first shots of the American Civil War. Americans have tended to regard the Civil War as the great topic in American history – an event that helped to define modern America. Writer Shelby Foote saw the war as a watershed: before the war, he thought that the collection of ‘United’ States were an ‘are’; after the war the USA became an ‘is’. (Foote might have added that had the Confederates won, the USA would have become a ‘was’.) No other topic in American history has had so much written about it. In this introductory chapter you will consider: How successful was the ‘Great Experiment’ pre-1861? Should the war be called a ‘civil war’? Was the Civil War irrepressible? To what extent was the South to blame for the Civil War? 1 The success of the ‘great experiment’ Key question: How successful was the ‘great experiment’ pre-1861? Before 1861, the history of the United States had been in many ways a remarkable success story. The small, predominantly English settlements of the early seventeenth century had expanded rapidly, so much so that by the KEY T ER M end of the eighteenth century they had been able to win independence from Republican A form of Britain. The United States, which in 1776 had controlled only a narrow strip government without a of land along the Atlantic seaboard, expanded westwards. In 1802–3, the monarch (or someone who United States doubled in size when it purchased the Louisiana territory from supports such a France (see map, page 14). By 1860, the original 13 states had increased to 33 government). and the nation extended from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Federal A government in By 1860, white Americans enjoyed a better standard of living than any other which several states, while largely independent in home people on earth. Prosperity and the rapidly expanding economy attracted affairs, combine for national large-scale immigration. In 1860, the USA had a population of 31 million purposes. people (slightly more than Britain); 4 million were foreign-born. Democratic A form of The USA’s political system – republican, federal and democratic – was the government in which pride of most Americans and the envy of most British and European radicals. ultimate power is vested in By the mid-nineteenth century, many Americans considered themselves to the people and their elected be the world’s most civilised and fortunate people. representatives. 9  What were the failings American failure of the ‘great Not everyone benefited from the ‘great experiment’: experiment’? l During the 250 years that had elapsed since the coming of the first English settlers, Native Americans had lost a huge amount of land. l The other major ethnic group that might have questioned the notion of a ‘great experiment’ were African Americans, whose ancestors had been transported to America as slaves. The fact that slavery continued in the KE Y T E R M American South was a great anomaly in a country based on the ‘Great experiment’ Declaration of Independence’s assertion ‘that all men are created equal’. Americans saw themselves as In the opinion of many Northerners, the fact that slavery still existed was the doing things differently from, major failing of the ‘great experiment’. and more successfully than, the rest of the world. The If slavery was the USA’s main failing pre-1861, the Civil War (1861–5) USA was thus an example for remains the greatest failure in US history. Some 620,000 Americans were to other countries to follow. die in the conflict, as many as in almost all America’s subsequent wars put Declaration of together. Independence Thirteen American colonies declared independence from Britain on 4 July 1776. 2 Civil war? Confederate Supporter of the Southern states that Key question: Should the war be called a ‘civil war’? seceded from the Union in 1861. Since 1861, scholars have argued over a name for the conflict. Most called it a civil war at the time. And it was a civil war in states like Missouri and Kentucky where brother sometimes did fight brother. However, this was not the norm. In general, the war was waged by two separate regions: most Northerners were on the Union (or Federal) side and most Southerners on the Confederate (or rebel) side. Moreover, the term civil war implies that two different groups were fighting for control of a single government. In reality the Confederacy was seeking to exist independently. After 1865, Southerners frequently called the conflict ‘The War Between the States’. This title was not quite correct: the contest was waged not by states but by two organised governments: the Union and the Confederacy. Northerners sometimes referred to the conflict as ‘The War of the Rebellion’. However, the struggle, fought by two governments respecting the rules of war, was more than a rebellion. Other names occasionally used to describe the conflict include ‘The War for Southern Independence’, ‘The Confederate War’ and ‘The War for Secession’. It should be said that virtually everyone now calls the conflict the Civil War. This book will be no exception. 10  Chapter 1: The American Civil War 3 North versus South Key question: Was the Civil War irrepressible? By withdrawing from the Union in 1860–1, the Southern states were embarking on a course of nation-making. Southerners came to believe that the South possessed a character quite distinct from that of the North, distinct enough to qualify their region (or section) for separate nationhood. However, it may be that the Civil War had more to do with developing Southern nationalism than Southern nationalism had to do with bringing about the Civil War. Arguably there was more uniting than dividing North and South in 1861. White Northerners and Southerners spoke the same language, had the same religion and shared the same legal system, political culture and pride in their common heritage. Most also held similar, racist, views, accepting without question that blacks were inferior to whites. Common economic interest seemed to bind the two together. ‘In brief and in short’, said Senator Thomas Hart Benson of Missouri, ‘the two halves of the Union were made for each other, as much as Adam and Eve’. In the mid-twentieth century, some historians were convinced that, given these similarities, civil war was far from ‘irrepressible’ or inevitable. KEY TERM Historians, like James Randall and Avery Craven, blamed a small minority of extremists – Northern abolitionists and Southern ‘fire-eaters’ – for raising Abolitionist Someone who tensions in the years before 1861, and blamed blundering politicians for wanted to end slavery in the failing to find a solution to the ‘impending crisis’. USA. ‘Fire-eaters’ Southerners Most historians today tend to absolve the politicians. They stress that who wanted to leave the Northerners and Southerners were deeply divided. In particular, they held Union. irreconcilable views about slavery – especially the desirability of its expansion. Thus, the Civil War was – to a large extent – ‘irrepressible’. Secede To leave or quit. 4 Southern guilt? Key question: To what extent was the South to blame for the Civil War? With hindsight, it was Southern, rather than Northern, politicians who blundered into war in 1861. After Lincoln’s election success in 1860 many Southerners determined to secede from the Union, embarking on a course of action that was always likely to lead to war – and a war that they were always likely to lose. This was apparent to some Southerners and most Northerners in 1861. It is thus fair to point the finger of blame at Southern leaders and the Southern electorate. 11  There are many similarities between Southern actions in 1861 and Japanese actions in 1941. Both Southerners and Japanese felt that they had been pushed into a corner from which there was no honourable escape. Ignoring the likely outcome of their actions, both fired the first shots: Southerners at Fort Sumter in 1861, the Japanese at Pearl Harbor in 1941. By so doing they succeeded in provoking conflict and uniting against them the whole of the United States in 1941 and what remained of the United States in 1861. Winston Churchill commented that the Japanese, by attacking Britain and the USA, had embarked on ‘a very considerable undertaking’. The same could be said of the South’s decision to risk war in 1861. As a result, one in four white male Southerners of military age died, and slavery – the institution that Southerners had gone to war to defend – ended. Why the South acted as impulsively as it did is a central issue of this book. Why it was defeated is another. And what happened as a result of that defeat is a third. Immigration Democracy Success of the great experiment Prosperity Expansion Native Americans Failure Slavery The war between The war for Civil War the states? secession? The war for Southern The independence? Confederate war? Differences between Similarities between Irrepressible? North and South North and South Summary diagram Southern guilt? The American Civil War 12  Chapter 2 Chapter 2: The cotton economy and slavery The cotton economy and slavery By the mid-nineteenth century, most Americans were proud of the achievements of their country and optimistic about its future. However, there was a threatening cloud on the horizon. This was the fact that Northern and Southern states were growing apart, economically, socially, culturally and politically. The main reason for this was the ‘peculiar institution’ of slavery. This chapter examines the following key questions: How successful was the USA in the early nineteenth century? What was the nature of the peculiar institution? Was slavery in the USA a system of ruthless exploitation or a paternalistic arrangement? 1 The ‘great experiment’ Key question: How successful was the USA in the early nineteenth century? ‘A people of plenty’? To what extent were Historian David Potter described mid-nineteenth-century Americans as a mid-nineteenth- ‘people of plenty’. Prosperity and growth seem to be the two words that best century Americans a ‘people of plenty’? describe America’s economic development in the early nineteenth century. The country had enormous reserves of almost every commodity – fertile land, timber, minerals – and an excellent network of navigable rivers. In the period 1800–50 the USA’s gross national product increased seven-fold and per capita income doubled. Population growth The USA’s population grew rapidly, doubling every 25 years or so. In 1840 it stood at 17 million; by 1860 it had reached 31 million. Most of the growth came from natural increase: plenty of children were born and Americans lived longer than most people in the world. Population growth was also the result of immigration, especially from Ireland and Germany. The population was mobile. Some Americans moved to find work in the towns. Others moved westwards to settle new land. Western expansion In the early nineteenth century Americans populated the area between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River. Between 1815 and 1850, the population west of the Appalachians grew three times as quickly as the population of the original thirteen states. By 1850, one in two Americans lived west of the Appalachians. Many moved west – and west again. Abraham Lincoln’s family was typical. Abraham’s father was born in Virginia 13 14 Lake VERMONT MAINE Lake Lake Lake Superior Hudson 1791 1820 Erie Ontario OREGON 1818 British claims NEW 1818–46 Joint relinquished HAMPSHIRE NEW Lake Michigan US–British occupation M iss MASS. YORK RHODE Is. iss MICHIGAN ipp THE LOUISIANA 1837 CONN. i PURCHASE NO PENNSYLVANIA NEW JERSEY Mis TH WEST TERRITORY R souri OHIO DELAWARE 181 NA ILLINOIS 1803 MARYLAND IA 6 1818 IND Arkan VIRGINIA sas KENTUCKY MISSOURI Appalachian 1792 1821 NORTH Mountains 1819 from EE CAROLINA US to Spain TENNESS ARKANSAS 1796 SOUTH CAROLINA 0 200 mls Pacific Red MISSISSIPPI Ocean SPANISH 1836 ALABAMA GEORGIA 0 400 km (Mexican after 1823) 1817 1819 1812 Atlantic Ocean The United States 1783 LOUISIANA N FL States admitted to the Union 1784–1836 OR Ri Acquired by US 1818–19 ID o A 1819 to US Gr The Louisiana Purchase 1803 Gulf of 1819 from an from Spain Spain by Treaty de Mexico US–Spanish frontier according to the Treaty of 1819 The expanding frontier 1783–1840  Chapter 2: The cotton economy and slavery in 1778: in 1782 he was taken to Kentucky, where Abraham was born in 1809. In 1816, the Lincoln family moved to Indiana. In 1831 Abraham moved to Illinois. In the 1840s, Americans began crossing the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains to settle in California and the Oregon Territory on the Pacific coast. Agriculture Most Americans were farmers. Small family farms still characterised agriculture, north and south, east and west. Between 1840 and 1860, food production increased four-fold. This was mainly due to the opening up of new tracts of land in the west. The development of more scientific techniques – fertilisation, crop rotation, the use of new machinery – also helped. Transport Massive changes in transport help to explain the agricultural – and industrial – changes that were underway. The development of steamboats revolutionised travel on the great rivers. By 1850, there were over 700 steamships operating on the Mississippi and its tributaries. The country also developed an impressive canal system. However, by 1850 canals were facing competition from railways. In 1840, the USA had over 3,000 miles of track. By 1860 this had increased to over 30,000 miles – more track than the rest of the world combined. KEY TERM Industrialisation America’s industrial revolution mirrored that of Britain. There were Feudal hierarchy A system important technological developments in textiles, coal, iron and steel, and in of social organisation prevalent in Western Europe the use of steam power. New machines were introduced and constantly in the Middle Ages. People improved. The USA, fortunate in its enormous mineral wealth, could also held a range of positions count on British investment. within a rigid class system. Urbanisation American Dream The Fewer than one in ten Americans lived in towns (defined as settlements with idea that the American way more than 2,500 people) in 1820: one in five did so by 1860. Some cities of life offers the prospect of economic and social success experienced spectacular growth. Chicago, with only 40 people in 1830, had to every individual. 109,000 by 1860. New York had over 800,000 inhabitants by 1860. A society of equals? To what extent was the USA ‘a society of In the 1830s, a perceptive Frenchman, Alexis de Tocqueville, visited the USA equals’? and wrote a book recounting his experiences. What struck him was the fact that the country was far more equal than societies in Europe. He noted that there was no feudal hierarchy: no sovereign, no established aristocracy or Church leaders. Instead there were opportunities for men of talent and ambition to rise to the top. Historians today are suspicious of this early notion of the American Dream. Black slaves, Native Americans and women were far from equal. Moreover, 15  there were great inequalities of wealth among white males. In 1860, the top 5 per cent of free adult males owned 53 per cent of the wealth. The bottom 50 per cent owned only one per cent. Family standing and inherited wealth were vital assets in terms of individual advancement in America, as in most European societies. Rags to riches De Tocqueville’s claim did have some basis. Compared with Europe, there was rapid social mobility in the USA and opportunities for those with luck and ability. Men like Cornelius Vanderbilt (who made his fortune in transport) and Cyrus McCormick (associated with farm machinery) did rise from ‘rags to riches’. The American dream attracted millions of immigrants to the USA in the nineteenth century. By no means all prospered. But enough did so to keep the dream alive. Women’s status Mid-nineteenth-century America assigned distinctly unequal roles to men and women. Women were seen, and saw themselves, as home-makers. Only a quarter of white women worked outside the home pre-marriage and fewer than 5 per cent did so while they were married. The notion that women’s place was in the home was disseminated by both the Church and the KE Y T E R M growing media industry. ‘Cult of domesticity’ Today, historians debate the extent to which the ‘cult of domesticity’ was a The notion that women’s setback for women. Many would claim it was. Women were denied the same place was in the home. social and political rights as men. They could not vote. In many states wives Abolitionism The desire to could not even own property. end slavery. However, some historians have argued that the cult of domesticity actually Temperance Opposition gave women some power. They had responsibility for their children. (By 1850 to the drinking of alcohol. the average white woman had five children.) Often seen as the guardians of morality, women tended to set family values and were greater church-goers than men. Middle-class women participated in many of the reform movements that were a feature of mid-nineteenth century American life, for example abolitionism and temperance. The ‘great experiment’ A people of plenty? A society of equals? Population growth The American dream Western expansion Rags to riches Agriculture Women’s status Transport Slavery Industry Summary diagram Urbanisation The ‘great experiment’ 16  Chapter 2: The cotton economy and slavery 2 The peculiar institution Key question: What was the nature of the peculiar institution? The settlement of North America was an African as well as a European enterprise. In 1619, a year before the Pilgrim Fathers set sail in the Mayflower, John Rolfe in Virginia reported ‘about the last of August came in a Dutch man-of-war that sold us 20 negars’. As Rolfe makes clear, the score of Africans in 1619 had not crossed the Atlantic by choice. They came as slaves. This was the experience of virtually all Africans who were shipped to America in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In 1808, the USA declared the African slave trade illegal. But by then there were about 1 million slaves already in the USA and the slave population continued to expand naturally. Slavery divided Americans, North and South. It continues to divide historians. Indeed, perhaps no issue in American history has generated as much controversy. Cotton and slavery Why were cotton and slavery interlinked? Slavery pre-1800 In 1776, slavery existed in all the thirteen colonies. However, it was of major importance only in the South, largely because the Northern climate was not KEY TERM suited to plantation agriculture. In the last decades of the eighteenth century radical Protestants, especially Quakers, condemned slavery as a Plantation agriculture moral evil. Other Americans thought it inconsistent with enlightened ideas Sugar, rice, tobacco and that stressed liberty, equality and free enterprise. After 1776, Northern states cotton were grown on large abolished slavery, some at a stroke, others gradually. In 1787, Congress Southern estates. passed an ordinance that kept slavery out of the North West Territory. Even Ordinance A regulation or some Southerners regarded slavery as an evil. A few, like George law. Washington, freed their slaves (even if posthumously). ‘King Cotton’ Cotton was so important to the American The importance of cotton economy that it became ‘King Cotton’ ensured that slavery survived and throve. In 1790, only 9,000 known as ‘King Cotton’. ‘No bales of cotton were produced in the USA. Eli Whitney’s invention of a power on earth dares to cotton engine (or ‘gin’) in 1793 revolutionised Southern agriculture. It make war on cotton’, enabled short-fibre cotton (the only cotton which easily grew in the South) declared Senator James to be quickly separated from its seed. Suddenly, it became highly profitable Hammond in 1858. ‘Cotton to grow cotton and Southern farmers cashed in. By the 1830s, the South was is king.’ producing 2 million bales per year. Cotton soon outstripped all other plantation crops in economic importance. From 1815 to 1860, cotton represented more than 50 per cent of all US exports. Such was the demand (mainly from textile manufacturers in Britain), and such were the profits, that the cotton belt spread westwards – to Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas and Texas. Cotton 17  production needed a large amount of unskilled labour. Slave labour was ideal. Cotton and slavery, therefore, were interlinked. Southerners migrating westwards either took their slaves with them or purchased surplus ‘stock’, mainly from the upper South. In the 50 years before 1860, perhaps 1 million slaves relocated from the upper South to the lower South and from south- eastern to south-western slave states. Gang labour KE Y T E R M Gang labour quickly became the defining feature of the cotton plantation Peculiar institution system. Slaves were organised into groups based on their physical abilities. White Southerners referred The groups were supervised by an overseer (usually white) and a driver to slavery as their ‘peculiar’ (usually black) who were prepared to use the whip if workers fell behind institution. By this they meant the pace. that it was special to – and characteristic of – their Southern commitment to slavery region. Most Southerners were committed to their peculiar institution. The Founding Fathers The Founding Fathers had realised that they could not tamper with slavery in men who drew up the the South. While they had avoided using the word ‘slave’, they Constitution in 1787. acknowledged slavery’s existence. Slaves were accepted, for representation and taxation purposes, as three-fifths of a free person. Events in Haiti in the 1790s and early 1800s, where slaves had won their freedom, massacring much of the white population in the process, convinced Southerners that slavery must be maintained as a means of social control. How harsh was The conditions of enslavement American slavery? Historians continue to debate the nature of the peculiar institution. They have a considerable number of sources with which to work – plantation records, census returns, newspapers, diaries, travellers’ accounts and political speeches. Unfortunately, there is limited evidence from the slaves themselves, few of whom were literate. The best accounts of what it was like to experience slavery were written by fugitive slaves, some of whom became leading abolitionists. Such men and women were not typical slaves. While there are large numbers of reminiscences resulting from interviews with ex-slaves, conducted in the 1930s, these accounts are flawed by the fact that those who provided their recollections had only experienced slavery as children and their memories may well have been faulty. One problem facing historians is that slavery changed over time: it was not necessarily the same in the 1850s as it was in the 1810s. It also varied considerably from place to place, depending in part on the nature of the local economy. Slavery in Delaware, where only one family in 30 owned a slave, for example, was different from slavery in South Carolina, where one family in two owned a slave. Moreover, a slave’s experience, whether in Delaware or South Carolina, very much depended on the slaveholder. Consequently, generalisations are difficult to make and exceptions can be found to almost every rule. Perhaps the only thing that can be said with certainty is that slavery was a system of many systems. 18  Chapter 2: The cotton economy and slavery Statistical evidence The census returns of 1850 and 1860 provide a starting point for trying to understand the nature of slavery: l In 1850, there were about 3.2 million slaves (compared to 6.2 million whites) in the fifteen Southern states. By 1860 there were nearly 4 million slaves (compared to 8 million whites). l Slaves were concentrated mainly in the lower South. Slaves outnumbered whites in South Carolina. l In 1850, one in three white Southern families owned slaves. By 1860, as a result of the rising cost of slaves, one family in four were slave owners. l In 1860, 88 per cent of slaveholders owned fewer than twenty slaves and 50 per cent owned no more than five slaves. However, over 50 per cent of slaves lived on plantations with over twenty slaves. Thus the ‘typical’ slaveholder did not own the ‘typical’ slave. l Most slaves were held by about 10,000 families; 3,000 families had over 100 slaves. l Fifty-five per cent of slaves worked in cotton production, 10 per cent in tobacco and 10 per cent in sugar, rice and hemp, while 15 per cent were domestic servants. l In 1860, about 10 per cent of slaves lived in towns or worked in a variety of industries. l Slaves were sometimes hired out to other employers for parts of the year. In towns, some slaves, with particular skills, hired themselves out. Slave codes All slave states had codes – laws which emphasised that slaves were property and which greatly restricted their behaviour. The codes varied from state to state but usually laid down that slaves could not: l leave plantations without authorisation l carry weapons l strike a white person. To enforce the codes, militia-like patrols were set up. Free white men served for one-, three- or six-month periods, policing their local areas. Free blacks Not all African Americans were slaves. By 1860 there were about 260,000 free blacks in the South: l Some had made enough money to purchase their freedom. l Many were of mixed race and had been given their freedom by their white fathers. Southern free blacks had to carry documentation proving their freedom at all times or risk the danger of being enslaved. They had no political rights and their legal status was precarious. Job opportunities were also limited. Nevertheless a few prospered. In Charleston in 1860 there were 360 19  ‘coloured’ taxpayers and 130 of these owned 390 slaves. In New Orleans, free blacks owned over $15 million worth of property. Two hundred thousand blacks, some of whom had escaped from slavery in the South, lived in the North. Many Northern whites were as racially KE Y T E R M prejudiced as Southerners. Thus Northern blacks usually had the worst jobs Segregation The system and segregation was common in most aspects of life. Only three states whereby blacks and whites allowed blacks to vote on terms of parity with whites in 1860. Some are separated from each Northern states tried to exclude blacks altogether. However, a number of other (for example in politicians in the decades before the Civil War worked to expand black rights. schools) on grounds of race. By 1861, Northern blacks had more rights than at any time in the previous 30 years. SOURCE A Population distribution in 1860 Look at Source A. Which three states were most likely Border slaveholding states to be committed to defending slavery? White Slave Free black Total Delaware 90,589 (80.7%) 1,798 (1.6%) 19,829 (17.7%) 112,216 Kentucky 919,484 (79.6%) 225,483 (19.5%) 10,684 (0.9%) 1,155,651 Maryland 515,918 (75.1%) 87,189 (12.7%) 83,942 (12.2%) 687,049 Missouri 1,063,489 (90.0%) 114,931 (9.7%) 3,572 (0.3%) 1,181,992 Total 2,589,480 (82.5%) 429,401 (13.7%) 118,027 (3.8%) 3,136,908 Eleven future Confederate states Alabama 526,271 (54.6%) 435,080 (45.1%) 2,690 (0.3%) 964,041 Arkansas 324,143 (74.4%) 111,115 (25.5%) 114 (0.1%) 435,402 Florida 77,747 (55.4%) 61,745 (44.0%) 932 (0.7%) 140,424 Georgia 591,550 (56.0%) 462,198 (43.7%) 3,500 (0.3%) 1,057,248 Louisiana 357,456 (50.5%) 331,726 (46.9%) 18,647 (2.6%) 707,829 Mississippi 353,899 (44.7%) 436,631 (55.2%) 773 (0.1%) 791,303 North 629,942 (63.5%) 331,059 (33.4%) 30,463 (3.1%) 991,464 Carolina South 291,300 (41.4%) 402,406 (57.2%) 9,914 (1.4%) 703,620 Carolina Tennessee 826,722 (74.5%) 275,719 (24.9%) 7,300 (0.7%) 1,109,741 Texas 420,891 (69.7%) 182,566 (30.2%) 355 (0.1%) 603,812 Virginia 1,047,299 (65.5%) 490,865 (30.8%) 58,042 (3.6%) 1,596,206 Total 5,447,220 (59.9%) 3,521,110 (38.7%) 132,760 (1.5%) 9,101,090 20  Chapter 2: The cotton economy and slavery SOURCE B Notice of Slave Sale, 1852 What does Source B tell us about: a) the nature of slavery and b) Christopher J. Whaley? Slavery comparisons How did slavery in the USA compare with Historians and sociologists have tried to compare slavery in the USA with slavery elsewhere? slavery elsewhere. Attempts to compare nineteenth-century American slavery with slavery in Ancient Rome are unconvincing: the two societies were so different economically, socially, ideologically and culturally. There is more mileage in comparing American slavery with slavery in places such as Brazil and Cuba in the same period. 21  It has often been claimed that slavery in Latin America was less severe than slavery in the USA: l Slaves seem to have had more legal protection in Spanish and Portuguese law, which at least recognised the essential humanity of the slave (unlike American law). l The Roman Catholic Church may have offered more protection to slaves than Protestant Churches in the USA. KE Y T E R M l In Latin America slaves could legally marry. Manumission The granting l Manumission was easier in Brazil and Cuba. of freedom to slaves. l Some historians have claimed that there was less race consciousness in Latin America. The fact that integration between the races was more common may have led to slavery being less harsh. Blacks in Latin America were not necessarily viewed as members of an inferior, servile race. However, it is now generally accepted that American slaves were better off than their counterparts in Brazil and Cuba: l They enjoyed better material conditions. l They lived longer. The natural increase in the USA’s slave population was unique. In all other slave societies of the Western hemisphere, the slave population failed to reproduce itself and was sustained only by the injection of new slaves. l In Latin America the system tended to be one of ruthless exploitation of the slaves to the point of exhaustion, sickness and death, and then the replacement by fresh ‘stock’. l Although slaves in Brazil and Cuba appeared to have had more in the way of legal rights, in reality this meant very little. l The Catholic Church did little to protect the lot of slaves. It had a worse record than Protestant Churches in terms of condemning slavery as an institution. l There is plenty of evidence to suggest that racism was as prevalent in Brazil and Cuba as it was in the USA. How did African Adaptation to slavery Americans adapt to slavery? Conditioning In Slavery: A Problem in American Institutional and Intellectual Life (1959), Stanley M. Elkins claimed that the ‘closed’ system of American slavery had ‘noticeable effects upon the slave’s very personality’. He argued that, as a result of the repressive system, most American slaves displayed ‘Sambo’-like traits: they were ‘docile and irresponsible, loyal but lazy, humble but chronically given to lying and stealing … full of infantile silliness’. Elkins went further. He claimed that inmates of Nazi concentration camps displayed similar characteristics. Child-like conformity was the only way that both concentration camp inmates and Southern slaves could hope to survive. Absolute power, in Elkins’s opinion, resulted in absolute dependency. 22  Chapter 2: The cotton economy and slavery Elkins’s thesis brought a critical response. Critics pointed out that the analogy between concentration camps and the peculiar institution was not apt. However bad slavery was, it did not compare with conditions in the Nazi death camps. Plantations were profit-making enterprises, not places of extermination. Nor, from the point of view of the slave, was the American South a totally ‘closed’ society. There were massive variations from place to place. Many slaves, for example, had little contact with whites. In consequence, they only occasionally had to act out the ritual of deference. In short, the peculiar institution allowed slaves a wider opportunity for development of personality than Elkins recognised. Elkins came to regret his concentration camp analogy, accepting that ‘something less than absolute power produces something less than absolute dependency’. Instead, he argued that a better analogy might have been the effects that prison, boarding school and hospital often have on inmates’ characters. A more trenchant criticism of Elkins has been the claim that most slaves did not display ‘Sambo’-like traits. Historian John W. Blassingame thought the typical field hand was ‘sullenly disobedient and hostilely submissive’. He suggested that there were at least three stereotype slave characters. While accepting that ‘Sambo’-type slaves did exist, Blassingame thought there were rebellious ‘Nats’ and uncooperative but generally deferential ‘Jacks’ (perhaps the majority). These traits, in Blassingame’s view, did not necessarily reflect the slaves’ real personalities. It was simply that side of their personality they presented to whites. ‘Ritual deference’ to whites was natural enough behaviour when slaves could be punished for showing disrespect. Slave domains Historians Eugene D. Genovese and Blassingame both showed that slaves, far from being ‘conditioned’ by their owners, were active participants in their own development. They had their own ‘domains’ – or ‘space’ – free from white interference. The slave family Despite the threat of forced sale, most slaves lived in two-parent family groups and slave marriages were surprisingly stable and long-lasting. (Many slave owners made efforts to keep slave families together.) The family, as Blassingame has pointed out, was a ‘zone of safety’. By giving slaves love, individual identity and a sense of personal worth, it helped to mitigate some of the severity of slavery. The realities of slavery, moreover, forced the creation of an extended family which helped to protect children, in particular, if and when a family member was sold. Most slave children had aunts, uncles and cousins who might or might not be real kin but who were prepared to assume family roles should a child be orphaned by the workings of the slave trade. Slave culture The family, with its extended kinship networks, was one of the most powerful transmitters of slave culture. Slave music – a means of expression, 23  communication and protest – permeated many aspects of slave life, as did dance. Black folktales also helped to foster a sense of community. The folktales, usually involving animals, often taught survival strategies. Weak animals overcame more powerful and threatening opponents by using wit and guile. (Many of these stories have come down to us as ‘Br’er Rabbit’ tales.) Slave religion Religion, which played an important part in the life of many slaves, may also have been a vital cultural transmitter. Some historians think that the first African slaves brought many of their traditional beliefs, values and rituals with them to America and that these were grafted on to Christianity with the result that slaves evolved their own distinctive style of worship. Black Churches and black ministers were not uncommon by the 1850s. However, other historians think that slaves, most of whom attended white churches before the Civil War (sitting in segregated pews) simply copied white practices. The style of preaching and active congregational participation that became typical of black Churches was typical of Churches generally in the ante-bellum South. Indeed, it can be claimed that the Church was the most important institution for the Americanisation of the slaves: arguably in no other aspect of black cultural life did the values and practices of whites so deeply penetrate. The slave community Working in the fields led to a strong sense of camaraderie, cohesion and community. Members of the slave community were also bound together in helping and protecting one another and a sense of shared grievance. How much resistance Resistance to slavery was there to slavery? Slave revolts If slave conditions were really so bad, then serious slave revolts ought to have occurred. However, slave revolts were infrequent. l Gabriel Prosser, a slave in Virginia, plotted outright rebellion in 1800. His plan included seizing Richmond and taking its governor hostage. Informed of Prosser’s intentions, Virginian authorities arrested scores of slaves. Prosser and over 30 of his followers were executed. l In 1811, a slave revolt – the German Coast Uprising – occurred east of the Mississippi River, in what is now the state of Louisiana. The 200 or so rebels destroyed five plantations and killed two white men. The rebellion was quickly put down by local militia forces. Some 95 blacks were killed in the fighting or executed as a result of the revolt. l Denmark Vesey purchased his freedom in 1800 (after winning a lottery). His plan, discovered in 1822, seems to have been to collect weapons, attack the white population of Charleston, seize ships and make for Santo Domingo (then part of Haiti). Details of the plot were leaked and 24  Chapter 2: The cotton economy and slavery 35 blacks, including Vesey, were executed. Not all historians are convinced that Vesey did plan a mass insurrection. It may be that the incident had less to do with insurrection than with white hysteria, which fabricated a plot from rumours and the testimony of frightened slaves, desperate to save their own skins by incriminating others. l The only serious revolt to actually occur was that of Nat Turner in Virginia in 1831. A well-educated and deeply religious slave, Turner managed to win the support of about 70 slaves and killed 55 whites (mainly women and children) before being captured and executed (along with 17 other slaves). Scores of slaves were killed in the process of putting down the rebellion. l John Brown’s attempt to stir up a slave revolt in 1859 failed miserably (see page 97). There was not even a slave rebellion during the Civil War. However, the fact that there were no major slave revolts is not proof that slaves were content with their lot. It is simply testimony to most slaves’ realism. A great slave revolt was impossible to organise. Whites had far too much power. Slaves were a minority in most Southern states. They were also scattered across a huge area. They were not allowed to own firearms. Nor were they allowed to congregate in large groups. A curfew system was often imposed at night. White patrols policed many districts, ensuring that slaves were securely in their quarters. Slaves suspected of plotting rebellion faced almost certain death. A slave uprising at any time, even during the Civil War, would have been tantamount to mass suicide. Escape: the underground railroad Individual slaves found it difficult to escape from slavery and it was virtually impossible for a large family group to make it to freedom. Ninety per cent of runaways were male and 75 per cent were under 35. Most were caught and severely punished. The so-called ‘underground railroad’, despite abolitionist propaganda and Southern fears, was far from extensive or well organised. It had nothing to do with railroads or trains: it was simply a system of safe houses from which fugitive slaves made their way as they fled north. Safe houses provided money, food, clothes and advice. It is difficult to know exactly how many slaves escaped, but it seems unlikely that more than a few hundred slaves a year succeeded in escaping to the North or to Canada. Most escapees came from the upper South: it was far harder to escape from the lower South. Levi Coffin, a successful white Quaker merchant, is sometimes called ‘the President of the Underground Railroad’. For two decades, he and his wife Catharine used their strategic location in southern Indiana to help fugitives to escape. 25  A few intrepid blacks ventured back into the South to help slaves to escape. The most celebrated was Harriet Tubman. Escaping from slavery in 1849, she returned south on nineteen occasions, helping scores of slaves to escape, including her sister, her nieces and her parents. Despite a huge reward on her head, she was never caught. Daily resistance Many slaves resisted slavery on a daily basis: l Some feigned illness to avoid work. l Some harmed themselves so they were unable to work. l Many deliberately worked slowly or inefficiently. l A few killed their owners. To what extent was Conclusion slavery a system of many systems? The term slavery covered a multitude of sins in the ante-bellum South. In some places it did mean a large plantation and gangs of cotton-picking slaves – the stereotype immortalised in Gone with the Wind. But it also encompassed a host of other experiences. This meant that the life of slaves KE Y T E R M varied immensely. On big plantations, the slave owner was usually a remote Ante-bellum The time figure as far as most slaves were concerned. By contrast, on small farms, before the war. slaves often had a close relationship with their owner – for good and bad. In Gone with the Wind This historian Kenneth Stampp’s view, ‘The only generalisation that can be made novel, written by Margaret with relative confidence is that some masters were harsh and frugal; others Mitchell (a Southerner), was were mild and generous and the rest ran the whole gamut in between.’ published in 1936. It sold over 10 million copies and As well as differences between slave owners, there was also considerable was made into a successful diversity of work experience. Slaves who laboured in the rice-growing areas film. Both book and film of the Deep South probably endured the worst conditions. Household suggested that the ante- servants generally had an easier life than field hands. Historian Paul Escott bellum South was a civilised suggests that slaves on small farms had a worse lot than those on big society. plantations, if only because they spent much more time under their owner’s supervision and had no sense of belonging to a sizeable slave community. Whether slave women had an easier – or harder – lot than slave men is a subject of some debate. It has been claimed that slave women had a more dominant role than women in white society and were ‘mistresses of their cabins’. However, most scholars think that slave society echoed free society and that men usually had the primary role. Domestic chores within slave families were usually done by women on top of their heavy work for their owners. 26  Chapter 2: The cotton economy and slavery Slavery pre-1800 Southern commitment The importance Expansion of to slavery of cotton slavery Statistical The nature How harsh evidence of slavery was slavery? How did What effect did US slavery slavery have Resistance compare with on slaves? to slavery slavery elsewhere? Summary diagram The peculiar institution 3 Key debate Key question: Was slavery in the USA a system of ruthless exploitation or a paternalistic arrangement? Over the last two centuries there have been major debates about whether slavery American-style was a system of ruthless exploitation or whether it KEY T ER M was a paternalistic type of welfare state, offering protection for the slaves Paternalistic A system akin from cradle to grave. to that of a family, whereby a father looks after and cares The debate for his children. In the early twentieth century Ulrich B. Phillips, a white Southern historian, wrote two influential books on slavery: American Negro Slavery (1918) and Life and Labour in the Old South (1929). Phillips argued that slavery was as benign and benevolent an institution as slaveholders had always claimed it to be. Most slaves, thought Phillips, were content with their lot. Relationships between slaves and owners were marked by ‘gentleness, kind-hearted friendship and mutual loyalty’. In 1956, Kenneth Stampp, a white Northerner, published The Peculiar Institution, in which he put forward a very different interpretation. While accepting that there were massive variations, Stampp held that slavery was harsh rather than benign. He saw little in the way of good relationships between owner and owned. In his view, the typical plantation was an area of persistent conflict between master and slaves. 27  Stampp’s thesis, which has been supported by a host of other historians, remains the prevailing view. However, in 1974 Robert W. Fogel and Stanley L. Engerman produced Time on the Cross. After feeding a vast amount of source material into computers, they came up with statistics which, they claimed, displayed precisely what slavery was like. Their conclusions, KE Y T E R M at least with regard to slave conditions, were similar to those of Phillips. Planters Men who owned In Fogel and Engerman’s view, planters were a ‘rational’ and humane plantations with twenty or capitalist class and slavery was a mild and efficient system of labour. Slaves, more slaves. said Fogel and Engerman, were controlled with minimal force and enjoyed a standard of living comparable to that of Northern industrial workers. The response to Time on the Cross was overwhelmingly critical. Many historians attacked Fogel and Engerman’s techniques and insisted that their conclusions did not possess the ‘scientific’ status that the authors claimed. Their findings, according to two critics, Richard Sutch and Herbert G. Gutman, were ‘confused, circular and so unsubtle as to be naïve. Some of their conclusions can be disproved, while others remain unsupported conjectures, in some cases fanciful speculations.’ The benign view Those, like Phillips, Fogel and Engerman, who have argued that slavery was benign, have made the following points: l Slaves did not necessarily work much harder or longer than most mid- nineteenth-century Americans. Most did not work on Sundays, sometimes had half a day to themselves on Saturdays, and received a fair number of holidays. Much of their work was seasonal or dependent on clement weather. l Floggings were rare, if only beca