Slide 2. Power point… Slavery differed in the North and the South
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POWER POINT 7
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- Timeline of US slavery
- Counting and Trading slaves
- The price of slaves
- The effects of the 1808 trade ban
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SLIDE 22. 1 POWER POINT… Slavery differed in the North and the South -It grew quickly in the South because of the region’s labor-intensive large plantations. -New England did not have large plantations. -Here, more common to have few enslaved people working for a household, or small farm. -Widespread use of indentured servitude in New England: a form of labor in which a person is contracted to work without salary for a specific number of years to repay a debt or extinguish a crime -Way for Europeans to reach colonies: signed an indenture in return for a costly passage. Timeline of US slavery 1775–83: American Revolution by which 13 of Great Britain’s North American colonies won political independence and went on to form the United States of America. -During the Revolution and in the following years, all Northern states took steps towards abolishing slavery. Not in the South! - In 1790, close to 20% of the US population, 700,000 people, were slaves. Slavery was not secondary to the economy of the colonies and the early independent US. - In 1860: almost 4 million by 1860 (out of a population of c. 31millions). - Madison, Hamilton and Washington, as well as many others, were intent on building a stronger federal state in order to strengthen the governance of the new country and for defense. - They had to convince the Southern state elites to come on board, which meant acceptance of slavery and the doctrine of states’ rights, which left anything not specified in the Constitution to the states, thus empowering state elites, especially in the South. -Slavery was a contentious issue in the writing and approval of the Constitution of the U.S. The words "slave" and "slavery" did not appear in the Constitution. Until the adoption of the 13th Amendment in 1865, the Constitution did not prohibit slavery. Counting and Trading slaves The Three-fifths Compromise of the 1787: agreement over the counting of slaves in determining a state’s total population. This count would determine the number of seats in the House of Representatives and how much each state would pay in taxes. - The compromise counted 3/5 of each state’s slave population toward that state’s total population for the purpose of apportioning the House of Representatives. -Even though slaves were denied voting rights, this gave Southern states a third more Representatives and a third more presidential electoral votes than if slaves had not been counted. -The United States Constitution, adopted in 1787, prevented Congress from completely banning the importation of slaves until 1808. -During and after the Revolution, the states individually passed laws against importing slaves. By contrast, the states of Georgia and South Carolina reopened their trade due to demand by their upland planters -The Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves of 1807: adopted by Congress and signed into law by President Thomas Jefferson, went into effect on January 1, 1808, importation of slaves was prohibited under the Constitution. The price of slaves The price of slaves was determined by the law of supply and demand. Prices reflected: 1. The characteristics of the slave such as sex, age, nature, and height: -Over the life cycle, the price of enslaved women was higher than their male counterparts up to puberty age, as they would likely bear children who their masters could sell as slaves and could be used as slave laborers. -Men around the age of 25 were the most valued, as they were productive and still young. - If slaves had a history of fights or escapes, their price was lowered reflecting what planters believed was risk of repeating such behavior. - a large number of injuries would be seen as evidence of laziness or rebelliousness, rather than the previous master's brutality, and would lower the slave's price. -Taller male slaves were priced at a higher level, as height was viewed as a proxy for fitness and productivity. 2. Demand for the products produced by slaves also affected the price of slaves: -The price of slaves fell when the price of cotton fell in 1840. -Anticipation of slavery’s abolition also influenced prices. During the Civil War the price for slave men in New Orleans dropped from $1,381 in 1861 to $1,116 by 1862. 3. Supply of slaves also affected their price • What was the effect of the trade ban of 1808? The effects of the 1808 trade ban -Following bans on the import of slaves the prices for slaves increased. -American slave owners encouraged high fertility. -Virginia and Maryland’s need for slaves was mostly for replacements for decedents. -Normal reproduction more than supplied these: Virginia and Mary land had surpluses of slaves. Their climate was not suitable for cotton or sugar cane. The surplus was even greater because slaves were encouraged to reproduce (though they could not marry). -The white supremacist Virginian Thomas Roderick Dew wrote in 1832 that Virginia was a "negro-raising state"; i.e., Virginia "produced" slaves. -According to him, in 1832 Virginia exported "upwards of 6,000 slaves "per year," a source of wealth to Virginia". Demand for slaves was the strongest in what was the southwest of the country: Alabama, Mississippi, -and Louisiana, and, later, Texas, Arkansas and Missouri. The most valuable crop that could be grown on a plantation in that climate was cotton. -That crop was labor-intensive, and the least-costly laborers were slaves. -Demand for slaves exceeded the supply in the southwest; therefore, slaves went for a higher price. Download 0.83 Mb. Share with your friends:
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