Abolitionists Flashcards
Who condemned slavery in the late 18th century?
Quakers + some Protestants
- Morally evil
- Contradicted liberty and enlightenment ideologies
When did Congress pass ordinance that kept slavery out of North-west territories?
1787
1790: bales of cotton produced
1830s: bales of cotton produced
9000
2 million bales
Who created the cotton engine (gin) in 1793
Whitney
Where was cotton grown?
- Kentucky
- Tennessee
- Alabama
- Mississippi
- Arkansas
- Texas
Growth of slavery in the south?
- 1787 Founding Fathers realised they couldn’t mess
- Slaves represented as 3/5th person
- Haiti in 1790s revolt. Whites massacred.
Peculiar institution
How southerners referred to slavery
Evangelical
Having passionate belief in Christianity and a desire to share it.
Type of emancipation from 1900-30?
Gradual emancipation
- Slaves should be encouraged to return to Africa
- 1822 USA purchased Liberia (west coast of Africa) as a base to return ex-slaves
How many African Americans had returned to Africa by 1860?
10,000
(Slave population in America increased by 2 million)
Who launched The Liberator in 1831?
William Lloyd Garrison
William Lloyd Garrison
Leading abolitionist from 1831-70s.
No motion of how to abolish slavery.
Critics viewed him as a self-righteous bigot.
National Anti-Slavery Society:
Founded 1833
250,000 members in 1838.
- Wealthy and educated members
- The Liberator + petitions.
Members:
- Frederick Douglass
How did congress combat National Anti-Slavery Society petitions?
‘Gag rule’ 1836
When was slavery abolished in British colonies?
1833
Which division of Protestantism caused the Second Great Awakening?
Evangelical Protestantism
- Slavery as a sin
Frederick Douglass important moments:
- 1841= Gave his first speech at the Anti-Slavery Society in Massachusetts.
- 1845 = Published Narrative of his life
- 1847 = Founded North Star (paper)
- 1859 = Refused to join Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry
‘I appear this evening as a thief and robber. I stole this head, these limbs, this body from my master and ran off with them.’
Why was abolitionism not prominent in the North?
De Tocqueville commented: ‘The prejudice of race appears to be stronger in the states that have abolished slavery than in those where it still exists.’
Proof that North was against Anti-Slavery Society?
Elijah Lovejoy, a Presbyterian minister and newspaper editor, became first abolitionist martyr when he was murdered by a mob in Illinois.
Abolitionist party?
Liberty Party
- 1840 won 7000 votes.
- Couldn’t agree on policy / strategy. This resulted in major schism in the Anti-Slavery Society in 1840.
Nat Turner
Virginian slave with literacy and carpentry skills. Led the bloodiest slave rebellion in US history in 1831. 55 whites (mainly women and children) were killed.
Punishment for circulating ‘incendiary’ literature among slaves in southern states?
Death
Population of slaves in south in 1860 compared to white settlers?
- 4 million slaves
- 8 million whites
Slaves outnumbered whites in South Carolina.
How many people owned slaves in the south?
1850: 1/3 families
1860: 1/4 families due to high prices
Number of slaves owned by slaveholders?
1860: 50% had no more than 5
The other 50% lived on plantations with over 20.
Most slaves owned by 10,000 families (concentrated)
Work of slaves:
55% worked on cotton plantations.
10% worked on tobacco plantations.
10% worked on sugar/rice/hemp plantations
15% domestic servants.
10% worked in towns or industry
No. free black people in South in 1860?
250,000
- Mixed race and given freedom by fathers
Had to carry documentation proving they were free at all times.
No political rights and legal status.
Jobs limited.
No. free black people in north 1960?
200,000
- Had worst jobs and were segregated.
Only 3 states allowed blacks to vote in 1860.
1861 had more rights than at any time in previous 30 years.
Who published ‘The Impending Crisis of the South’?
Hilton Helper 1857
- Argued that slavery was responsible for the south’s economic decline.
- Phillips argues the same
Who argues that slavery was efficient for southern economy?
- Kenneth Stampp
Increase in per capita income in south?
Exceeded elsewhere in the country between 1840 - 60.
Arguments of Fogel and Engerman?
Slavery was 35% more efficient than small-scale farming
Plantation owners were ‘rational’ and using resources
How does Phillips describe relationships between slaves and slave holders?
‘gentleness, kind-hearted friendship and mutual loyalty.’
- Many had half days on saturday
- Floggings were rare
- Slaves who worked were given better clothing / food / holidays.
- 1860 slaves had the same life expectancy as whites
- Slave suicides rare.
Stampp - ‘The Peculiar Institution’
1956: ‘a troublesome property’
Downsides to slavery:
- Sexual exploitation, punishment, separated from families.
- Slaves worked in gangs, overseen by black driver and white overseer. Both used whip.
- Poor food = vitamin deficiencies
- Log cabins overcrowded.
- 1/4 of slave marriages broken by separation.
- Mary Chesnut (South Carolina) = ‘our men live all in one house with their wives and concubines’
- Manumission was rare. 1860 most southern states had restricted this right.
