American Slavery

Slave auctions

extremely dehumanizing process where slaves were touched, smelled, and looked at by potential buyers; resistance was met with severe punishments; sellers would increase feed and bathe slaves before auction to “polish” them; sellers would also lie about a slave’s agricultural experience

Most valuable slaves

adult males because they could do the most labor in intense conditions; young adult females because of their longer window of pregnancy

Fountain Hughes

101-year-old ex-slave who reported in 1949 how slaves were treated like cattle

Immediate effects and trends

most would never see Africa again; families were broken up; much wealth was given to Europeans for capturing the slaves; inhumane activity was normalized

Response to slavery

Black writers told stories to convey the physical and emotional toll of being sold, seeking to counter claims that slavery was inconsequential

Cotton gin by Eli Whitney

modernized cotton industry, increasing production, profit, and in turn the need for slaves; before this invention slavery was declining as profit was decreasing for rice, tobacco, and indigo

Trail of Tears

made land available for southern cotton production by forcing out Natives

1808 transatlantic slave trade ban

did not stop slavery but shifted cause of growth to birth of slaves

Cotton boom

during early 1800s, many slaves were relocated to more cotton growing lower south

“Second Middle Passage”

marching of hundreds of miles of slaves to deep south; largest forced migration (Great Migration was bigger but voluntary)

“Seasoning”

owners erased slaves’ identities and forced them to learn a new language, customs, and living conditions, lasting 2–3 years

Self-sustaining

more native born slaves by 1750s than imported

Slave codes

state laws that regulated slavery → slave had to have a pass to be in town, could not read or write, could not testify if charged with a crime

Slave types

• field slaves (largest, grew and picked crops)

• house slaves (cooks, cleaners, and got better treatment via clothing and food)

• town slaves (smallest, live inner city and were bricklayers, carpenters, butlers)

Gang system

slaves worked in groups while an overseer watched over them; usually created work songs

Task system

slaves worked individually until they met a daily quota; used for crops like rice and indigo; usually less oversight (allowed some to maintain languages)

Advanced labor

slaves also learned specialized trades and worked as painters, tailors, musicians in North and South

Role of family

even when broken up, slaves lived in family units via marriage/kids and owners even encouraged families to have more free slaves, providing additional resources to them; family was very important

Role of religion

deep faith was a coping mechanism; slaves and whites often attended church together (one of the few shared spaces); in slave quarters, praise meetings occurred

Slavery’s impact on North

North benefited from the economy slaves created by financing the trade

Slavery’s impact today

now there are wealth disparities along U.S. racial lines (slaves couldn't pass down anything)

Walter Burling and cotton yield

Mississippi farmer Burling smuggled seeds of Mexican Petit Gulf Cotton, which grew much faster in hot/humid climates, to the U.S. and increased cotton production/need for slaves

“The Southern Way of Life”

saw the plantation system as integral to their livelihood; was the dream of many white farmers to have many slaves and a good harvest

Social, political, economic effects of slavery

school terms was based on harvest times, large plantation owners had a lot of political and economic power

Natchez, Mississippi

had more millionaires per capita than anywhere else (about 52% of all millionaires in the U.S. in 1850)

Small plantation owners

most plantations had under 50 slaves; supported expansion of slavery; had voting power in politics (helped elect rich plantation owners) and social life

Andrew Jackson

slave owner and proponent of Indian Removal for new agricultural land

James K Polk

actively touted “Manifest Destiny” for expansion of slavery and was a slave owner

Children

most worked on farms and played with their future slaves until 8-9 years old

Women

society believed women did not need education; women harassed slaves, started pro-slavery groups, had sex with slaves (could claim rape if caught)

Reference to slavery

Article 1 and 4 refer to slavery but never say “slave”; instead they used “property”

South Carolina’s 1740 Slave Code

in response to 1738 Stono Rebellion, stated all Black/indigenous people were slaves, slaves couldn't gather/run away/read, slaves could be condemned to death if they defended themselves from a white person

Partus sequitur ventrem

defined a child’s legal status based on the status of its mother; male enslavers did not have to be responsible for the kids they fathered with their slaves

Slaves codes in the North

Black men could not vote (NY, NJ, PA), testify against whites (OH), barred entry (OR)

State v. Mann (1829)

owners could physically discipline slaves (even causing death)

Prudence Crandall's School Case (1833)

white woman Prudence Crandall opened a school for Black kids but was arrested

Prigg v. Pennsylvania (1842)

state authorities cannot interfere with the capture of fugitive slaves by slave owners (Fugitive Slave Act of 1793)

One Drop Rule

classified a person with any degree of African descent as part of a singular, inferior status

Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)

enslaved people were not U.S. citizens