travel west and old south

Travel West and Old South

Themes

• Why and how people traveled to the American West

• Antebellum • Life under slavery • Structure of Southern society

Why Travel?

• Religion - Mormons

• Free Land • Gold

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints(Mormon Church)

• The Church’s Founder: Joseph Smith • Received revelations from an angel in 1820

and published Book of Mormon in 1830• Eventually settles with many followers in

Illinois

Mormon Followers and Persecution

• New revelations in Book of Mormon seemed to undermine the Bible

• Actions appeared to violate separation of church and state

• Accused of odd sexual practices • In 1844 Joseph Smith was murdered in Illinois

and the church was now leaderless

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints(Mormon Church)

• After the death of Smith a new leader emerged:

• Brigham Young • Goal: Freedom from religious persecution • Migration to Utah began in 1847• By 1848, 5,000 settlers had migrated • In 1896 Utah became a state

Trails to the West

Donation Land Claim Act (1850)

• To encourage migration west • Free land in Oregon Country:1. White, male citizens over 18 could receive 320 acres of

land 2. If married, his spouse could receive 320 additional

acres 3. Land had to be occupied four years and improve it • Over 2.5 million acres was given out to over 7,000

people• Only whites were eligible for land

California Gold Rush

• 1848 gold was discovered outside of Sacramento

• News was confirmed by President Polk in 1848• Population explosion:

1848- 14,0001852- 225,000


• Prospectors initially worked alone• 49ers could earn $50/day• By 1850s they might work in groups using a

“Long Tom”• Prospectors came from all over the United

States and the world:Central and South America, Europe, Australia, and Asia


• 95% of Gold Rush migrants were male • Some made fortunes; most did not • Others sold items to prospectors • Levi Strauss a German immigrant who struck it

rich selling pants to prospectors

Travel West; How?

• Some travelled by sea• Ships could travel from East Coast around the tip

of South America to West Coast• If traveling by sea, gold fields were the probable

destination• Most took overland trails -Between 1840-1860 approximately 300,000 made

the journey: 200,000 California, 53,000 Oregon, 43,000 Utah

Travel West (The Journey)

• Length of trip: 4-6 months • Chief expense was transportation; a wagon and gear

might cost $400• Most travelers were of the “middle class” (semi-

successful farmers, merchants, etc)• Walking over 2,000 miles • Travelers feared conflict with Indians; while there was

some conflict, most interaction was positive • Average death rate was less than 5%• “Wagon Train”

Slavery

• Highest slave population located in Southeast• Cotton’s demand for slave labor• Cotton export:

- by 1840: 51.6%- by 1860: 57.5%

• By 1860 slavery spread over entire South • Small-scale cotton farming did not require slave

labor whereas large operations involved many slaves

Slave Life

• A majority of slaves:- lived on large plantations with at least 10 slaves - worked in “gangs” under close supervision

Slave Life

• Slave Narrative: Solomon Northup • Woke before sunrise, ate and then went to

fields • Worked sunrise to sunset • Quota: 200lbs of cotton or whipped • Chores had to be completed at night

Slave Life

• Diet: corn meal and salted pork • Often raised vegetables, fished, and hunted

small animals • Worked six days per week; earned money for

Sunday work • Christmas was celebrate as a holiday (Only

time slaves could eat till they were filled)

Slave Life

• Slaves could be beaten and whipped; even for minor offenses

• Some slaves were forced to wear a torture mask

• To cope:- Slaves developed close family ties, marriages were common and encouraged by slave owners

Slave Life

• Family members were often separated because of internal slave trade (international slave trade abolished)

• Slave owners in Upper South profited by selling slaves to Deep South or Southwest

Slave Life

• Slaves sometimes stole food, faked illness, or worked slowly

• Some ran away - Underground Railroad - Harriet Tubman, former slaves, led others to freedom

Slave Life

• Nat Turner Rebellion 1831• Location: Southampton, VA• A slave named Nat Turner led a rebellion of

slaves and killed over 60 white men, women, and children

• Turner and 16 slaves are captured and executed • Whites went all around the countryside killing

any blacks they encountered and beheaded them

Slave Life

• Slave owners encourage slaves to become Christian

• Slaves identified with:-Promised Land (freedom)- Stories of Jews enslaved by Egyptian Pharaohs

White Southern Society

• Justifications for Slavery (Biblical)• Many argued it was “natural” for people of

African ancestry to be enslaved • The Bible was used:

- “Curse of Ham”: “Cursed be Canaan; lowest of slaves shall he be to his brothers” (Gen 9:20)


• “When a slave owner strikes a male or female slave with a rod and the slave dies immediately, the owner shall be punished. But if the slave survives a day to two, there is no punishment; for the slave is the owner’s property.” (Exodus 21: 20-21)

• “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart, as you obey Christ”(Ephesians 6: 5)


• Historical • Ancient Greeks and Romans owned slaves• U.S. Constitution protected slavery

- 3/5 Compromise • Nation’s founders like Washington and

Jefferson were slave owners

White Southern Society • Social • Paternalism: Slaves were like children (family) in need of

help. Civilization and Christianity were brought to people considered inferior.

• They took care of their slaves by providing food and shelter• George Fitzhugh – Pro-slavery argument - Described Northern factory workers as “wage slaves”- No one looked after factory workers’ needs- Argued slave owners took care of slaves even when slaves

grew old


• According to Virginian Thomas R. Dew, Most slaves declared that, “the slaves of a good master are his warmest, most constant, and most devoted friends”John C. Calhoun, and influential southern politician, declared that in the states where slavery had been abolished, “the condition of the African, instead of being improved, has become worse,” while in the slave states, the Africans, “have improved greatly in every respect.”


• Arguments did not explain slavery fully:- Ignored separation of families - If slavery was so good, why did so many slaves

try to escape?- Victims of slavery faced violence and horrible

living conditions


• Southern women were expected to defer to their husbands

• Women were expected to treat slaves harshly in the household


• Society structure • Great Planters – 1% of pop: 20+ slaves• Small Farmers – 35-45% of pop: 0-3 slaves• Landless Whites – 20-25% of pop• Slaves – 35% of pop


• About 75% of Southern whites did NOT own slaves

• Question: Why would Southern whites fight to protect slavery in the Civil War if they didn’t own slaves?

Small Farmers

• Freeing slaves was not a Union war aim until about two years into the Civil War

• Many in Deep South identified with local communities; not the nation as a whole

• Large plantations were the social center of life in the South

• Large planters lent small farmers a “helping hand” VERY often

Small Farmers

• All Southern whites had one common trait; they weren’t slaves

• If slavery existed, they weren’t on the “bottom” of their society

Review

• How and why did people travel to American West? How did this impact the nation?

• Describe and evaluate life in the Old South

travel west and old south

Documents

travel west

land california gold

slaves slave life

gold fields

acres of land

gold rush migrants

asia california gold

west coastif