Cotton and slavery in Southern America

Thèmes abordés

Cotton and slavery, Southern America, tabacco production, profitability, Civil War, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, urban slavery

Résumé du document

The lower/deep south (1850) consisted of South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. This area offered one of the best cotton land of the world. Southerners exploited these advantages by extending slavery to the new territories. Cotton and slavery went hand in hand.

Extraits

[...] As long as slave trade had a return benefit there was no real incentive to invest in an alternative system because slavery brought more money than any other industry. The ultimate result was that the south had 1/3 of the nation's population. They produced only 10% of the manufactoring production. Intellectually, southerners weren't against change or progress but refused to be involved in manufactoring. They feared that any change might endanger the cohesion of the slave system. It would have challenged the question of slavery if agriculture turned into industry. Urban slavery developed in the south. [...]

[...] They lived apart from their masters. They had a large social role : they were able to socialise with other slaves and whites. It declined from 1820 to 1860 from 22% to because of the Civil War. Many were taken to the fields that allowed slave holders to make important profits. It represented a constant danger and a challenge to white society. It was then impossible for the south to get industrialised. They relied on free labour. Free labourers were paid for their work. [...]

[...] Cotton and slavery went hand in hand. Before 1800, slavery was associated with tabacco and rice. However tabacco depleted the soil which became impoverished. After the Declaration of Independence, England imported less tabacco. These 2 factors brought tabacco production to a lower level. Cotton was well-suited for the slave labour because it required fairly continuous work. Slavery was a profitable system. The linkage of cotton and slavery after the war of 1812 was very strong. It was an important aspect of the economic system. [...]