Early Slave Revolts & Expansion (1790–1830s)

Cotton Revolution

• 1790s - 1820s 

  • Cotton Gin (1793) → Eli Whitney invention of cleaning cotton faster 

    • Became #1 U.S export & backbone of Southern economy

Expansion of Slave States

• Kentucky (1792)

• Tennessee (1796)

• Louisiana (1812)

• Mississippi (1817)

• Alabama (1819)

• Missouri (1821)

• Arkansas (1836)  

  • International slave trade = 170,000 enslaved people moved from Upper South (VA, MD) to Deep South (cotton frontier) 

    • Constant labor & split families

Emancipation in the North

• 1777 = Vermont bans slavery

• 1780 = Pennsylvania gradual emancipation law

  • Gradual emancipation = only free people born after law was made (1780)

    • Freed adults → no education & entered society as very poor

  • Others remained enslaved for life or served until age 25-38

• 1784 = Rhode Island & Connecticut 

• 1799 = New York

• 1804 = New Jersey

Haitian Revolution

• 1791 - 1804 

  • Slave revolt in Saint-Domingue → 100,000 enslaved people rebel

    • Led by Toussaint Louverture

    • Revolt begins in 1791 → he dies in prison in 1803 → Haiti becomes in independent in 1804

Louisiana Purchase

• President Thomas Jefferson bought Louisiana from France for $15 million 

  • 1803

  • Doubles U.S. size, opens land for cotton & slavery expansion

North (Free Labor Economy)

• Supported protective tariffs 

  • Gradual emancipation completed in PA, NY, NJ

  • Industrial economy, factories growing rapidly

    • Growth of factories & wage labor in Boston, NY, & Philadelphia

  • 1815 - 1860 → 5+ million Europeans immigrate (most in North)

    • Immigrants avoid south = slavery (fewer jobs), planters preferred enslaved labor

South (Slave Economy)

• Opposed tariffs (relied on imports) 

  • Based on plantation agriculture & population growth (mostly natural births, not immigration) 

    • Crops = cotton, tobacco, rice, sugar, hemp

Missouri Compromise

• 1819

  • 11 free states, 11 slave states → Missouri wanted to enter as slave state → crisis

  • Tallmadge Amendment (1819) → James Tallmadge bans slavery in Missouri and frees children of slaves (at 25 yrs) 

  • Compromise (1820) → led by Henry Clay 

    • Missouri = slave state, Maine = free state (1820) → slavery banned north of line

Indian Removal Act

• Law forcing Native Americans off their lands 

  • 1830 

    • Led by Andrew Jackson

    • Affected Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, & Seminole = Five Civilized Tribes

      • Trail of Tears = forced relocation of Native Americans causing great suffering and death

      • 1838 - 1839 = forced removal of Cherokee tribe in order to gain cotton and slavery expansion

Seminoles

• Protected runaway slaves (Black Seminoles lived freely)

  • 1835 - 1842 = 1st Seminole War 

  • 1855 - 1858 = 2nd Seminole War 

    • Osceola = Seminole leader

      • Led resistance against U.S. over being forced to be removed from Florida (2nd Seminole War)

    • John Horse = Black Seminole leader 

      • Led largest mass slave escape from U.S. to Mexico

Gabriel’s Rebellion

• Led by Gabreil Prosser (enslaved blacksmith) in Richmond, Virginia 

  • 1800

    • Plan = recruit 1000 enslaved people, seize Richoment, ally w/ poor whites

    • Outcome = 25+ executed 

    • Effects = curfews (after 9 pm), ban on gatherings, restrictions on hiring out, required passes

  • Virginia Law (1806) = freed slaves must leave state within 12 months

German Coast Uprising

• Large slave revolt in Louisiana

  • 1811

    • Led by Charles Deslondes

    • Enslaved people on plantations began an organized rebellion

      • Armed themselves, marched towards New Orleans, burned plantations

War of 1812

• 1812 - 1815

• Causes = British impressment, trade conflicts, Western expansion 

  • Black participation = 10-20% of Navy (African Americans) 

  • Oliver Hazard Perry (hero of Lake Erie)  & Andrew Jackson (leading forces to New Orleans battle)

  • Battle of New Orleans (1815) = 500 free black soldiers fought 

• Result = even with service voting rights for Black Americans were removed

Denmark Vesey

• Organizer of Denmark Vesey Rebellion 

  • 1799 = won freedom

  • 1882 = executed revolt

    • Plan = seize weapons, free slaves, escape Haiti

    • Outcome = betrayed, 131 arrested & 72 executed 

    • Aftermath = no black education, curfews, AME church destroyed

David Walker’s Appeal

• 1829 

  • Appeal to the Cored CItizens of the World

    • Immediate abolition & encouraged resistance 

  • Influenced = Willaim Lloyd Garrison & shift from colonization to abolition

  • Reactions = Southern states ban pamphlet & offer $10,000 reward

Nat Turner

• Led a major slave rebellion in Virginia 

  • 1831

    • Rebellion = killed 60 whites

    • Aftermath = 100+ Black people killed & no Black preaching, no education, & increased surveillance

American Colonization Society

• Organization promoting colonization (send free Blacks to Africa) in Liberia

  • Founded in 1816 → supported by Henry Clay & James Monroe 

  • Founded Liberia (1821) → Congress funded $100,000 (1819)

  • Colonization = idea of relocating free Black Americans to Africa.

• Freetown (Sierra Leone) = settlement founded for freed enslaved people. 

• Black Opposition = 1816 Philadelphia meeting led by James Forten

  • Colonization attempts to strengthen slavery & remove free Blacks (Blacks will NOT leave U.S.)

Paul Cuffee

• Ship owner who helped finance early resettlement in Sierra Leone 

  • Voyage to Sierra Leone (1815) → failed financially → died (1817)

Martin R. Delany

• Black nationalist leader who support Black independence and migration 

  • Believed in self reliance 

  • Lead Black Emigration Movement (1910-1970)

    • Black self-determination & wanted to create Black nation outside U.S.

Richard Allen & Absalom Jones

• Both born enslaved in Delaware, gained freedom in early 1780s, moved to Philadelphia (free Black community) 

• First Black mutual aid society = Free African Society (1787, Philadelphia)

  • Purpose = financial help during illness, support widows & orphans, burial costs

  • Funded by member dues (pay)  

  • 1794 pamphlet by Allen & Jones = attacked racist arguments for slavery

• AME Church = founded by Richard Allen

  • Opened in 1794, national denomination in 1816, Allen is first bishop in 1816

  • Founded first Black sunday school (1795) → adult night school later on

• Episcopal Church of St. Thomas = founded by Absalom Jones

  • Became ordained (priest) in 1804

Black & White Antislavery Approaches

• White reformers (PAS, NYMS) 

  • Supported = gradual emancipation & moral reform of Black people

  • Avoided =  direct challenge to slavery

• Black activists (1790s onward)

  • Demanded = immediate rights, citizenship protections, & petitioned Congress