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Common historical fallacies: Difference between revisions

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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
**** note that this movement of people constituted the largest forced migration in U.S. history
**** this movement of people constituted the largest forced migration in U.S. history
**** In the book, "Uncle Tom's Cabin," Harriett Beecher Stowe called it "to be sold down the river"
**** 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
*** note that by 1850 95% of the cotton crop was with by slave-labor
*** 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: