Part 8 chapter 8
The Expansion of Slavery
Cotton remained a labor-intensive crop despite the invention of the cotton gin.
Growers believed that only enslaved people could ensure profitability on farms and plantations.
Enslaved individuals were purchased from regions in the North such as Virginia, Maryland, and Kentucky.
By 1860, nearly one million enslaved people had been transported south via the domestic slave trade.
Economic Boom in the Cotton Growing States
The influx of enslaved people into cotton-growing states led to economic prosperity in the Deep South.
Land prices were lower in the Deep South than in the Eastern states.
Alabama Fever exemplified the migration of planters and farmers seeking fertile land for cotton cultivation.
A planter from North Carolina lamented the exodus of people and described how they were being attracted to cotton-rich territories.
A corn farmer from Mississippi encouraged a friend to sell his farm and join him, highlighting the financial potential from cotton farming in Mississippi.
He claimed that by bringing enslaved individuals to the Mississippi territory, one could make a handsome fortune in ten years through cotton cultivation.
Value of Enslaved People and the Associated Problems
Enslaved individuals became highly valuable assets, leading to theft and violence.
Slave owners employed brutal tactics to control enslaved individuals:
Whipping for punishment.
Sexual assault as a means of exerting power.
Separating children from their mothers to maximize productivity and labor extraction.
Farming Midwest Development
By 1860, over half of the U.S. population resided west of the Appalachian Mountains.
The Midwest (including Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa) attracted farmers due to its fertile flatlands, offering a stark contrast to the rocky terrains of New England and the exhausted soils of Virginia.
Farmers migrated on foot, horseback, wagons, and trains, eager to establish themselves on new lands.
The National Land Law of 1820 aimed to decrease the price of federal land but did not meet all demands:
Preemption rights were sought by squatters, allowing them to claim land before purchasing it officially.
Graduation provided a structured plan for gradually reducing the price of unsold land over time.
Legislative Responses for Land Acquisition
Congress enacted two significant laws:
Preemption Act of 1830: Allowed squatters to purchase up to 160 acres at a minimum price of $1.25 per acre.
Graduation Act of 1854: Stipulated that unsold land prices would be progressively lowered over a 30-year period.
Technological Advancements in Agriculture
Advances in technology significantly increased agricultural productivity:
The transition from wooden to iron plows facilitated easier tilling of soil.
Jethro Wood introduced a replaceable iron plow in 1819, enhancing farming productivity.
John Deere further innovated with a steel plow that could efficiently cut through tough prairie grasses.
By 1845, Massachusetts alone had 73 factories producing over 60,000 plows per year, predominantly sold to Western states, indicating a burgeoning national marketplace for agricultural goods and services.
Mechanical seeders emerged by the 1840s, replacing manual sowing of seeds.
In 1831, Cyrus Hall McCormick invented a rudimentary mechanical reaper, which became crucial for wheat harvests.
This invention was comparable in significance to the cotton gin for the Southern economy, enabling mechanical power to replace muscle power in agriculture.
By 1847, McCormick's plant in Chicago was producing 4,000 machines annually.
The mechanical reaper dramatically increased productivity: Farmers could harvest 12 acres of wheat a day with just two people using a reaper versus half an acre with a handheld sickle.