Download Worker Worlds in Antebellum America: Farm Life & the Rise of Industrialization - Prof. M. and more Exams Military Strategy and Training in PDF only on Docsity!
CHAPTER 12 WORKER WORLDS IN ANTEBELLUM AMERICA
How was farm life changing in the antebellum North? Before the Civil War, most Americans still lived on small, family-owned farms and followed the agrarian life-style idealized by Thomas Jefferson. But other types of labor were becoming more visible and, as it turned out, more controversial. Whether on the farm, on the factory floor, or under the tyrannical bonds of slavery, the world of work experienced major changes. And some of these changes-mechanization, increased regimentation, and adherence to clock time-eventually reconfigured the face of politics, society, and the economy. A Nation of Farmers Jefferson believed that agriculture and agrarian way of life were not only central to American’s special character but essential t the survival of the Republic. He outspoken agrarianism fit with his times. In 1800, the year of his election as president, rural people outnumbered city people by more than 15 to 1. Although the ratio would narrow to 5. to 1 in 1850 and 4 to 1 in 1860, family farms were still common in all parts of the United States during this period
FARM LIFE Ÿ Farms varied in size and orientation depending on their g geographic location and time of settlement, and the interest, ambition, and good fortune of their owners. In sparsely settled areas along the frontier, the main objective was to build a cabin, clear the land, a plant enough basic crop so that the farmer could ”get by”. Ÿ Northern farm women often supplemented the family income by making palm-leaf hats and other items for local merchants Ÿ
Ÿ Inventors sought to develop improved plows, but not until the late 1830s dud one appear that made a significant difference. First introduced in Illinois by John Deere and several competitors, the new plow replaced the wooden moldboard with one of wrought iron with a hardened steel cutting edge. Ÿ The 1830s and 1840s witnessed other advances in the mechanization of farming, the most notable being the development of horse-drawn reaping machines for harvesting grain Ÿ As important as the innovations of Deere an McCormick were, the mechanization of American farming nonetheless proved to be a long-term process THE PROCESSIN G OF FOOD Ÿ Like the mechanization of farming, the application of scientific knowledge ti agriculture also proceeded slowly. Food processing picked up speed before the Civil War. The fully automated mills that Oliver Evan had developed during the mid- 1780s for grinding grins into flour evolved into large commercial mills that could be found throughout the US in the 1820s. Ÿ In most parts if the country prior to the Civil War long before refrigeration, the meat trade centered on small, locally owned slaughterhouse that served local customer. Ÿ Even small farmers felt the effect of the factory system. Farmers who contracted with large processing firms to deliver livestock, grain, fruits, vegetable and raw milk became enmeshed in a time oriented system as they pressed to meet schedules and avoid late delivery penalties.
The Peculiar Institution In the antebellum years, no region of the US was more oriented toward agriculture then the South. Indeed, agriculture thrived there almost to the exclusion of everything else. Yet owing primarily to the soaring industrial demand for raw cotton, the southern economy prospered during the antebellum period. Southern prosperity rested on the backs of black slaves. In 1850, slaves constituted roughly one third of the South’s 12.3 million population. Some parts of the South had heavier concentrations than others. While slaves could be found in such occupations as domestic servants, skilled craftsmen, and industrial workers, the majority worked as field hands. Large plantations made up the third and most visible type of southern agriculture.
Ÿ Behind the carrot always loomed the stick. Every aspect of slave’s life was circumscribed by rules that dictated when to get up in the morning, when to eat, when to go to work…the most-used method of punishment proved to be the whip. Ÿ Slaves who transgressed the rules could expect to be punished. some masters refused to discipline them with physical force. If slave broke the rules, they were denied certain privileges. Depending on the temperament of the owner and the seriousness of the offense, slave punishment could entail public humiliations or confiscating garden crop and livestock and reducing their rations. Ÿ Floggings, more often than not, were communal affairs intended to intimidate those who witnessed the event as well as punish the person being whipped. The severity of punishment depended on the type of being used. Ÿ Slaves also lives in perpetual fear of being sold and separate from their families and friends. Masters interfered with the lives of their slave in many other ways. Some insisted on naming slave children RELIGION AND FAMILY LIFE OF SLAVES Ÿ The slave quarter was far enough away from “big house” that slaves were able to find some measure of privacy and interact with one another more or less on their own terms. Although some of largest plantations retained white preachers on their staffs, most slaves. The desire to serve God in their own way led to the development of a new religious tradition in the slave community that blended elements of white evangelical Christianity and Africa culture. Ÿ If religion provided hope and consolation, family life provide a fragile buffer against the daily abuses of slavery. Slave housing was crude by any standard. The usual family accommodation consisted of one room log structure measuring sixteen by eighteen feet with an unfinished interior
Ÿ Slaves received annual allocations of clothing consisting of a “winter issue” and a “summer issue”. Although far from excellent by twentieth century standard, the typical slave diet was relatively healthy. SLAVE RESISTANCE Ÿ As slave parents struggled to endure, they did the best they could to raise their children in a loving environment and to pass on certain customs and values that would serve them well in later life. Since the vast majority of slaves could not read or write, children learned mainly through verbal instruction. Ÿ The most common forms of resistance included everyday acts of no cooperation and “silent sabotage”. In addition to trickster tales, plaintive songs, and other form of passive protest, slave found additional ways to resist their masters. Ÿ Despite their servile condition, slaves exercised a degree of leverage over their masters that allowed them some leeway in what they would do and how and when they would do it. The decision to run away permanently took some serious planning. Ÿ Southern whites’ greatest fear was of a massive slave rebellion. Slavery, with its environment of suspicion and fear, was the foundation of antebellum southern society.
