AHIS 100
Slavery as Industry
Dr. Kane
mkane2@albany.edu
Office Hrs: W 10:30-11:30 & F 11:30-12:30
Social Science 60S
maevekane.net/ahis100/lecture-slides
November 11
coming up
- Midterm II Monday November 23 in class
- paper #5 pushed back to Monday November 16
to recap
- how is/was race defined in the US?
- multiple ways of defining race
- are Mexicans white?
- are Asians white?
- what about mixed race or multi-racial people?
- political consequences of race
today
- slavery as industry
- multiple modes of resistance
- economic growth and violence
- the myth of slavery's decline
- turning the tide of public opinion
- legacies in the present
why did sale "downriver" increasingly threaten enslaved peoples' families and lives?
(more than one right answer)
- A. the 1808 ban of international slave trade meant that American plantations had to purchase enslaved people from other American plantations
- B. the growth of industrial-scale cotton plantations in new territories meant that more labor was needed
- C. hostile Native American groups in recently acquired territories threatened the safety of new plantations
- D. enslaved children under 14 were more valued as workers on cotton plantations
Nat Turner's Rebellion August 22-23 1831
- educated lay preacher
- 50 enslaved men, approx. 60 white casualties
- targeted plantation owners with aim of freeing slaves, passed over poor white homes
- 56 enslaved people hung - second largest mass execution in US history
- 200-300 enslaved and free black people killed in mob violence
- illegal to educate African Americans or have church gatherings without supervision of a licensed white minister
- required curfews, travel passes and limits on public gatherings
African Methodist Episcopal Church of Zion
- split from Methodist Episcopal Church over segregated congregations and non-recognition of black preachers
- MEC went along with laws enacted after Nat Turner's Rebellion
- AME Zion fostered network of abolitionists and underground railroad
- Rapp Road settlement in Albany
multiple kinds of resistance
- contraception
- having a family life
- religion and education
- running away
- work stoppage or slowage
how did Southern plantations increase average cotton production per acre 1800-1860?
- A. plantation owners sought out new kinds of cotton plants with higher yields
- B. plantation owners invested in new kinds of technology which allowed more cotton to be harvested
- C. plantation owners forced enslaved people to work longer, more grueling hours
- D. plantation owners provided better food and healthcare to enslaved people during harvest times to encourage them to work harder
the myth of declining slavery
- 1850s political parties are not the same as modern political parties!
- Republican: slavery should be gradually phased out because it is economically burdensome and free labor is economically and morally more superior
- Democratic: slavery is a property rights issue and part of the benevolent culture of the South
- modern: slave owners would not have been so violent because it would have harmed their own property and economic interests (Fall 2014!)
Frederick Douglass & Sojourner Truth
- members AME Zion
- network of safe houses through NY and Pennsylvania en route to Canada - Burned Over District
- public relations & direct action
Uncle Tom's Cabin 1852
- written in response to Fugitive Slave Act of 1850
- based on portions of escaped enslaved peoples' narratives
- only book besides Harry Potter to outsell the Bible
- emotional impact + imposition of Fugitive Slave Act turns tide of public opinion
