Antebellum South

20 December 202306 juillet 2007 by Matt Biscay · Lecture: 6 minutes

This is post 2 of 11 in the series “From the Puritan settlements to the American Civil War (1787-1877)” From the Puritan settlements to the American Civil War (1787-1877)

Introduction

The South had developed a unique society and a sense of Southern nationalism. The conflict with the North and the secession were an attempt to create an independent nation.

Also a contrast, the South had developed a class system whereas the North was characterized by a social structure.

Antebellum South

A Southern ideology – based on aristocracy – justified slavery. Many (crazy) explanations were put forward like: “the African race is biologically inferior” or “physically and mentally under-developed”.

Through slavery, they could adjust to a better kind of life, and be taught new morals and the “true religion”. All that was part of the Southern ideology: “Some people must work and sweat to provide those in charge with leadership”.

Southern society is hedonistic when the North advocates the Puritan ethic (moral – virtue – hard work, according to the Bible).

After 1830, abolitionist societies began violent campaigns against slavery. Garrison was an extremist abolitionist who printed/invented sensational stories about how cruelly black slaves were treated in the South.

Slaveholders were depicted as monsters and, in the North, slavery was seen as a sin against God (move on to the religious ground). Garrison wanted the “purification of the Nation from the guilt of slavery”.

USA: North and South

20 December 202306 juillet 2007 by Matt Biscay · Lecture: 6 minutes

This is post 4 of 11 in the series “From the Puritan settlements to the American Civil War (1787-1877)” From the Puritan settlements to the American Civil War (1787-1877)

The cotton industry

Cotton was the main crop in the South and the first industry in Georgia. Georgia planters exported their cotton to England but it was not treated.

Thanks to Whitney’s invention, the “Cotton Gin” (Cotton Engine – 1793), which separated the seeds from the fibres, a huge increase in the amount of cotton produced was made possible. In 1820, the output was 8,000 times higher than in 1791.

The increase was achieved by bringing in more slaves to pick the cotton. The prosperity of the planters depended more and more on slavery and Southerners broke away from the US.

Slavery is the root of Southern wealth and industry. It is an institution in the South, as well as their peculiar way of life. The “Cotton Gin” brought about slavery and the Civil War.

In 1810, there were 7,2 million people in the USA and among those people 1,2 million black slaves.

Thomas Jefferson, who wrote the Declaration of Independence, owned slaves himself and had a black mistress with whom he had children. Georges Washington, as a land owner, owned slaves too.

Southerners defending the right of slavery asked an unanswerable question: how could they cultivate their fields of tobacco, rice, and cotton without slave workers?

The situation was different in the North: the climate was cooler and the farms were smaller so there was no need for slaves. Many Northerners were abolitionists.

By the 19th century, many Northern states had passed their laws to abolish slavery inside their boundaries. In 1808, they persuaded Congress to make it illegal to bring in new slaves from Africa. Gradually, North and South opposed each other.

The Missouri Compromise

In the 1830s, Northern and Southern politicians kept arguing: is slavery permitted in the new territories being settled in the West? The discussion focused on Missouri, which was part of the Louisiana Purchase.

America: West to the Pacific

20 December 202306 juillet 2007 by Matt Biscay · Lecture: 4 minutes

This is post 10 of 11 in the series “From the Puritan settlements to the American Civil War (1787-1877)” From the Puritan settlements to the American Civil War (1787-1877)

A westward expansion

Expansion is both commercial and territorial. American expansion was always a sort of global attitude involving territorial growth and commercial expansion, exactly like a body that grows. America has always been perceived as a body.

The growth is so huge that nobody can do anything about it: unlimited development, though only extending to the West.

In 1800, the Western Boundary/Border was the Mississippi River. Beyond it, stood great areas of land, not very well known: 600 miles to the Rocky Mountains.

Louisiana was still a French territory (and France was then ruled by Napoleon). Napoleon sold Louisiana to the Americans for 15 million dollars to make war in Europe with Britain. As Louisiana was a huge territory, the American territories doubled over the night. Thanks, Napoleon!

Jefferson had sent explorers to the West to find an easy way to the Pacific. Louis and Clark left in 1804 and set off up the Missouri River. They marched for 10 weeks in the Rocky Mountains and ate their horses.

They finally reached the Columbia River, on which they floated down to the Pacific.

In December 1805, they reached the Pacific, after 4,000 miles. They failed to find an easy way but they showed the journey was possible and indirectly favoured expansion thanks to the useful information they brought back.

Oregon was a territory stretching from Alaska to California and to the Rocky Mountains to Louisiana.

In 1804, it was claimed by 4 countries: the US, Britain, Spain (owning California) and Russia (owning Alaska). The US and Britain had the strongest positions because they had sent people to scout to recognize the land and to settle trading posts.

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