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Common historical fallacies: Difference between revisions
→Slavery was the basis of the colonial and antebellum American economy
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== US History fallacies: slavery == | == US History fallacies: slavery == | ||
=== Slavery was the basis of the colonial and antebellum American economy === | === Slavery was the basis of the colonial, early Republic, and antebellum American economy === | ||
* periods: | |||
** colonial,1609-1775 (or to the end of the Revolution, 1781) | |||
** early Republic, 1775-1815 | |||
** antebelleum ("before the war)"), 1815-1861 (start of the Civil War) | |||
* here we must distinguish between slave and free economies, generally North and South | * here we must distinguish between slave and free economies, generally North and South | ||
* modern historians have argued that slavery was the basis for the entire US economy | * modern historians have argued that slavery was the basis for the entire colonial and antebellum US economy | ||
* this entry will look into evidence for and against that claim | * this entry will look into evidence for and against that claim | ||
==== background notes on colonial slavery ==== | ==== background notes on colonial and antebellum slavery ==== | ||
* by 1790, Virginia and Maryland had by far the highest slave populations (w/ North Carolina following) | * by 1790, Virginia and Maryland had by far the highest slave populations (w/ North Carolina following) | ||
** slavery in the Upper South was focused on tobacco planting and processing | ** slavery in the Upper South was focused on tobacco planting and processing | ||
*** into the late 1700s, African slavery replaced indentured servitude (white immigrants who worked for ocean passage for 5 to 10 years) | |||
** however, with the advent of mass cotton production, demand for slaves grew in the deep South | ** however, with the advent of mass cotton production, demand for slaves grew in the deep South | ||
*** 500,000-800,000 slaves were sold from the Upper to the Lower southern states | *** 500,000-800,000 slaves were sold from the Upper to the Lower southern states | ||
**** | **** this movement of people constituted the largest forced migration in U.S. history | ||
**** In the book, "Uncle Tom's Cabin," Harriett Beecher Stowe | **** In the book, "Uncle Tom's Cabin," Harriett Beecher Stowe describe it as "to be sold down the river" | ||
** this expansion was significant in western portions of the South, principally in the Mississippi River valley that was part of the Louisiana Purchase | ** this expansion was significant in western portions of the South, principally in the Mississippi River valley that was part of the Louisiana Purchase | ||
*** where lands were fertile, available and inexpensive | *** where lands were fertile, available and inexpensive | ||
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**** but most of those who did not produce cotton worked to support the cotton economy | **** but most of those who did not produce cotton worked to support the cotton economy | ||
**** as did poor whites | **** as did poor whites | ||
*** | *** by 1850 95% of the cotton crop was produced with slave-labor | ||
**** (see https://www.jstor.org/stable/40056471 fn 1) | **** (see https://www.jstor.org/stable/40056471 fn 1) | ||
* sources: | * sources: | ||