Table Of ContentGrades 7-12
America’s Civil War
America’s Civil Warprovides a detailed overview of the cultural and ideological landscape
of post-colonial America that set the stage for war,and vividly describes the course of the conflict
that took more American lives than any war in history and altered the course of the nation.
Emphasis is placed on the fierce cultural and economic rivalry between the industrial North and
the agricultural South and the pivotal rift concerning slavery that led to this irrepressible and bloody
fight.The lives of common soldiers,the weapons and methods of warfare,the presidency of Abraham
Lincoln,and the role of other significant political and military leaders are among the topics
discussed as well as the abolitionist movement,the underground railroad,and dramatic figures
such as Harriet Beecher Stowe,and John Brown.Challenging review questions encourage
meaningful reflection and historical analysis.Maps,tests,answer key,and extensive
bibliography included.
About the Author:
TIM MCNEESE is an Associate Professor of History at York College.A teacher of middle school,
high school,and college students for the past 25 years,Tim is the author of over three dozen
books.He and his wife,Beverly,live in York,Nebraska with their daughter,Summer.
EMP3473i America’s Civil War
Written by: Tim McNeese
Edited by: Lisa Marty
Illustrated by: Art Kirchhoff
Layout & Design: Jon Davis
Cover Art: Home, Sweet Home
by Winslow Homer
© National Gallery of Art
Copyright © 2003
Milliken Publishing Company
Printed in the USA.All rights reserved.
Permission to reproduce pages extends only to teacher-purchaser for individual classroom use,not to exceed in any event more
than one copy per pupil in a course.The reproduction of any part for an entire school or school system or for commercial use
is strictly prohibited.
America’s Civil War
Table of Contents
A Nation Torn by War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 The Battle of Fair Oaks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53
A Divided People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 The Rise of Robert E. Lee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54
The Slave-Holding South . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 The Battle of Malvern Hill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55
The Expansion of Slavery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 “Stonewall” Jackson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56
Slavery and the Revolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 General Pope Takes Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57
Whitney Changes the Future of Slavery . . . . . . . . . . .6 The Battle of Second Bull Run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58
The Development of a Cotton Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 Lincoln and Slavery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59
Cotton and Slavery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Lee’s Forces Invade Maryland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60
Slave Ownership and Distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 Roads Leading to Antietam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61
Slavery and Its Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 The Battle of Antietam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62
The Missouri Compromise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 Test III . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63
The Early Abolitionist Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 The Emancipation Proclamation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64
Abolitionism and Violence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 The Battle of Fredericksburg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65
Further Actions Against Slavery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 The Battle of Murfreesboro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66
The Proslavery Supporters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 “Fighting Joe” Hooker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67
Slavery and the Power of Congress . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 The Battle of Chancellorsville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68
The Idea of Popular Sovereignty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 Hooker Faces Defeat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69
The Compromise of 1850 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 Life of the Common Soldier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70
Personal Liberty Laws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 Life in the Camps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71
Uncle Tom’s Cabin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 The Art of Deadly War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72
Test I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 Tactics of Battle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73
A Proposal for the West . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 The Weapons of War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74
The Kansas–Nebraska Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 Civil War Medicine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75
Violence Across Kansas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 Civil War Prisons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76
The Election of 1856 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 Lee Takes the War to the North . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77
The Case of Dred Scott . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 The Battle of Gettysburg Begins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78
A House Divided . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27 Gettysburg: The Second Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79
Continuing Kansas Controversy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28 Pickett’s Charge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80
The Lincoln–Douglas Debates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29 Victory at Vicksburg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81
John Brown’s Raid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30 Fort Wagner and the 54th Massachusetts . . . . . . . . .82
The Election of 1860 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31 Test IV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83
The Spread of Secession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32 Bragg and Rosecrans Prepare to Fight . . . . . . . . . . .84
Attack on Fort Sumter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33 The Battle of Chickamauga . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85
A Call to Arms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34 The Battle of Chattanooga . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .86
The Ledger for War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35 The Gettysburg Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87
The Geography of War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36 Lincoln Chooses Grant to Lead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .88
The Strategies of War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37 The Red River Expedition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89
The Armies Take Shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38 Grant Engages Lee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .90
The Battle of Bull Run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39 Spotsylvania and Cold Harbor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .91
A New Commander . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40 Sherman Marches to Atlanta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .92
The Fight for Missouri . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41 Political Problems for Lincoln . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93
Test II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42 Grant Opens Siege . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .94
The Trent Incident . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43 The Election of 1864 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95
Grant’s Early Victories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44 Dark Days for the Confederacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .96
The War at Sea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45 The End of the Petersburg Siege . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .97
The Duel of the Ironclads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46 The Destruction of Richmond . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .98
“On to Richmond” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47 The Surrender at Appomattox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .99
The Battle of Shiloh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48 The Assassination of a President . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .100
Grant Leads to Victory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49 Test V . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .101
War on the Mississippi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50 Answer Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .102
The Battle for New Orleans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51 Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .129
A City in Union Hands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52
© Milliken Publishing Company MP3473America’s Civil War
A Nation Torn by War
T
oday,their monuments adorn the grounds of the states to retain a high degree of power at the
county courthouses,city parks,and historical sites expense of the national government.
across the land—some towering over the In the minds of many,especially southerners,
seemingly endless rows of stone markers in patriotic loyalty was often focused on one’s state or
peaceful military cemeteries. region.The great Confederate general,Robert E.Lee,
Plaques recognize the sacrifices made by led Southern armies because of his personal
soldiers who fought in a bloody struggle that loyalty to his home state of Virginia.For him,his
determined the course of American history.But state came first.
this war was different from all others the United
States had fought.This war,the Civil War,pitted
American against American.
It would be the bloodiest war in American
history and one of the most divisive.In all,the Civil
War witnessed the deaths of 620,000 American
combatants,largely from wounds and disease.(The
breakdown for each side reveals approximately
360,000 Union deaths to 260,000 Confederates
killed.) This staggering number barely falls short of
the 680,000 Americans who died in all other U.S.
wars combined!
In a nation of 30 million people,nearly every
American living during the war knew someone
who died in the conflict.Mothers and fathers lost
sons,wives never saw their husbands return home, The issue of states’rights was central to the
children were forced to grow up fatherless,and war.During the 50 years between the War of 1812
siblings mourned their departed brothers. and the Civil War of the 1860s, America had
The experience of the Civil War deeply become a country of regions,each pursuing its
changed America.Personal responses are found in own political,economic,and social goals.The war
the letters,diaries,and other sources that have was about those differences—industrialization
survived over nearly a century and a half since versus rural farms,modernization versus old
the war. Southern ways,free labor versus slavery.
One soldier changed by four years of war was Yet the war shattered many of these
an infantry captain named Oliver Wendell Holmes. differences.Following Northern victory on the
Writing nearly twenty years after the war,Holmes battlefield,the states were reunited.The question
who was wounded three times during the conflict, of whether America was to continue as a
(who in later life served on the United States collection of powerful states or a true nation,
Supreme Court) stated:“Through our great good forged in the fire of war,had been answered.
fortune,in our youth our hearts were touched with
fire.It was given to us to learn at the outset that Review and Write
life is a profound and passionate thing."
Prior to the Civil War, Americans viewed the In what ways did the Civil War alter the lives of
United States,not as a nation,but as a union of millions of Americans who witnessed the
states.It was a political arrangement that allowed bloody conflict?
MP3473America’s Civil War 1 © Milliken Publishing Company
A Divided People
I
n 1860,the year southern states began seceding country followed its dreams of a settled West.
from the Union, Americans viewed their country as a Northerners were moving into the prairies of
collection of regions.For 50 years,the country had Illinois,Indiana,and Michigan,establishing farms
been spreading west,crossing the Mississippi River, that produced great harvests of corn and wheat.
the Rockies,and ultimately reaching the Pacific. Southerners moved west,taking their slaves and
During these decades,the newer western opening new lands to cotton cultivation.
region of the United States continued to be
dominated by the divided culture of the East—the
older America.Some identified with northern
culture—its commercial and industrial interests,
and prosperous family-owned farms.Others were
inclined to the culture of the South,a largely
agricultural region of small,yeoman farmers as well
as wealthy plantations worked by slaves.
By the 19th century, the line dividing these
distinctly different cultures hardened.Their profound
differences in,as one observer put it,“manners,
habits,customs,principles,and ways of thinking” As slavery expanded,becoming a highly
were deep and longstanding and could be traced profitable labor system,the gap between southern
to colonial times.The people of the North spoke and northern economic production widened,
differently,ate differently,worked differently. creating great friction between the two regions.
Even during the 1780s and 90s,New By the 1850s,the urbanized North had a
Englanders thought of the southern way of life, population 50 percent larger than that of the South.
with its dependence on slavery,as backward,Old Most of the important cities were in the North,as
World,a plantation life that spent the profits well as most of the new transportation systems—
produced by slaves on aristocratic living. canals,railroads,roads,and stagecoach lines.
Southerners in the late 18th century viewed Yet despite these differences,there were
northerners as people ruined by city living, significant similarities.Fifty percent of northerners
dependent on paying low wages to a hard-working still lived in rural areas.Both regions were
underclass of immigrants and the poor. experiencing economic growth and both had
These two views were largely pushed to the participated in the great reform movements of the
side following the War of 1812. During the war 1830s and 40s.
with England,Americans—northerners, Still,the institution of slavery—the harsh labor
southerners,and westerners—saw themselves as a system on which the South increasingly depended—
threatened people,whose existence was being continued to drive a wedge between the regions,
challenged by the most powerful European nation as southerners spread slavery to new lands.
on earth.Patriotism was the order of the day and
the period produced potent symbols of American Review and Write
national pride,including the image of Uncle Sam
and the song destined to become the national During the 1780s and 90s,how did southerners
anthem,“The Star-Spangled Banner.” and northerners view one another? How did
This same sense of nationalism animated the War of 1812 reduce the intensity of those
Americans through the next generation as the views,at least temporarily?
© Milliken Publishing Company 2 MP3473America’s Civil War
The Slave-Holding South
T
he institution of slavery in North America America.At nearly the same moment,slaves were
was nearly two centuries old before the founding introduced to Jamestown.
of the United States.The history of slavery in the The first black workers brought from Africa to
Western Hemisphere,including North,Central,and Jamestown arrived in 1619 on a Dutch ship called
South America,as well as the islands of the the Jesus of Lubeck.(Jamestown was only 12 years
Caribbean,began shortly after the landing of the old at that time.) Twenty Africans were introduced
Italian explorer,Christopher Columbus,in the New to the colonial mix,including three black women.
World in 1492.(In fact,the Portuguese had been These first black arrivals,however,were not exactly
enslaving Africans for a half century before the slaves.The institution of slavery did not officially
European discovery of the Americas.) exist in the British colonies yet,and throughout the
Records reveal that the first black slaves first half of the 17th century,the number of black
brought to the New World by Europeans were workers in America remained low.As late as 1650,
introduced by the Spanish in 1502.Over the only about 300 blacks lived in the English colonies
following three and a half centuries,Europeans of North America.In colonial Virginia,in 1671,
imported nearly 10 million slaves to their colonies blacks comprised only one person out of every
in the Western Hemisphere.The vast majority of twenty of the non-Indian population.
them,close to 40 percent,were shipped to Some blacks worked as indentured servants,
Portuguese Brazil where they were worked to death workers bound to serve a master for a certain
on sugar plantations and in underground mines. number of years,typically seven,then released and
Other Europeans—most notably,the English, freed.Some owned their own land and even had
French,and Spanish—imported approximately 5 their own black workers.Between the 1620s and
million slaves into their New World colonies,with the 1670s,black and white workers labored in the
the exclusion of the British colonies of North same tobacco fields,lived in the same housing,and
America,the lands which would one day become were relatively equal.
the United States.In that region,the English A large number of available indentured
imported just over 500,000 slaves. servants—poor,young,white workers—provided an
Nearly all the slaves imported to the New adequate work force without a significant reliance on
World from Africa,about 80 percent of the total, black workers.However,by the latter decades of the
were brought across the Atlantic in the three 17th century,the pool of indentured servants was
centuries before 1810.The vast majority of the dwindling.In place of these laborers,British colonists
slaves,then,who were forced to work in the turned increasingly to black slavery.
Americas during the slavery era did not raise In 1662,in Virginia,the law stipulated that the
cotton,but sugar.Since the British colonies of children of black female servants would be held as
North America did not produce much sugar,the servants for their entire lives.Developing along
history of slavery in that region was different from parallel lines was a strong conviction that blacks
other New World colonies. were inferior to whites.American slavery and
While the slave economy of North America racism were firmly in place two centuries before
was never based on sugar,the need for a lucrative, the Civil War.
cash crop was necessary to make slavery a
profitable institution.In colonial America,that crop Review and Write
was tobacco.Tobacco was introduced in the small
outpost of Fort James,later known as Jamestown, What changes in colonial America brought
the first permanent English settlement in North about the creation of British colonial slavery?
MP3473America’s Civil War 3 © Milliken Publishing Company
The Expansion of Slavery
B
y the 1700s,three distinct slave regions had revolt in 1739,called the Stono Rebellion,which
taken shape in the British North American colonies: included about 100 South Carolina slaves who
the Chesapeake Bay region,which included Virginia attempted to free themselves and flee south to
and Maryland,(the most important of the three in Spanish Florida,worried colonists passed the Negro
terms of number of slaves and their importance to Act of 1740 which further limited black rights and
the Chesapeake economy);the coastal settlements of established the basis for the later slave codes.In
the Carolinas and Georgia (which relied increasingly some southern colonies,black slaves were
on black slaves to work in the rice and indigo fields); becoming a majority.
and the northern colonies where the slave While significant increases in slave importation
population was scattered out across a large area and helped to expand the number of blacks in America,
represented a smaller percentage of the total,non- the slave population was experiencing growth
Indian population of the region than it did in the through another process—natural increase.The first
southern colonies. arrivals in North America were unable to even
Black slaves remained a small portion of the reproduce themselves.Several factors played a role.
colonial population throughout the 1600s.Even as Many more men were imported than women,
late as 1700,only 26,000 black slaves were living in throwing off the balance between the sexes.The
the North American colonies,with 70 percent of horrid Atlantic crossing produced a negative impact
them living in Virginia and Maryland alone. on black female fertility,as well.
But after the turn of the 18th century,the slave But once a second and a third generation of
population boomed in a short period of time. blacks had been produced,accustomed to life in
Between 1700 and 1710,twice as many African slaves America,the slave population grew.This factor is
were imported to the British colonies as had been one that sets British,and later American slavery
brought in during the entire period of the 1600s.By apart from slavery as it was practiced elsewhere in
1720,in South Carolina alone,blacks had increased at the Western Hemisphere.No slave population in the
such a rapid rate that they outnumbered the white New World was even able to maintain itself,much
population there by almost two to one.Between less increase in number through black births.
1740 and 1760,over 100,000 new slaves were While Great Britain imported approximately
imported into the colonies,many through Charles 500,000 slaves into its North American colonies in
Town (later called Charleston),South Carolina,a all,by the time of the emancipation of slaves during
major slave-trading port. the Civil War,their number was ten times as large.
Compare this to the slave population of the
Caribbean islands of the West Indies.By the 1860s,
the black population there had been reduced to
about half the number of Africans who had been
originally imported there.Because of the nature of
British-American slavery,the institution was able to
flourish and produce great prosperity for those
southerners invested in the system.
During these decades,the various colonial Review and Write
governments further defined black slavery and
limited the rights and privileges of Africans laboring Compare the growth of American slavery
on American farms and plantations.After a slave before 1700 with the growth that followed.
© Milliken Publishing Company 4 MP3473America’s Civil War
Slavery and the Revolution
T
he black slave population of the British southern states,the number of freed blacks
colonies in North America continued to grow multiplied several times over during the last 25
during the 18th century.In 1775,the year the years of the 18th century.As slaves gained their
American Revolution began,the majority of the freedom,many of them moved to the urban areas
500,000 slaves living in the colonies from New of Boston,New York,Philadelphia,Baltimore,and
England to Georgia were in the South.In all of Richmond.
New England,which included four colonies,
there were only 15,000 slaves.Georgia,alone,had
as many.
But the majority (seven out of every ten) of
the British-American colonial slaves were in three
colonies:Virginia (165,000),North Carolina
(75,000),and South Carolina (110,000).
The American Revolution (1775–1783) ushered
in a new phase in the history of American slavery.
Both the British and the Americans used slaves as
frontline soldiers (although the British did so more
frequently).About one-tenth of all the slaves took
advantage of the revolution and sided with the In other parts of the world—in the French
British,which gave them an opportunity to gain West Indies and in Central and South America—
their freedom during the later years of the war. slavery ended.In 1808,Great Britain agreed to
As the Americans fought the British for their prohibit its citizens from future involvement in the
independence from colonial control,they international slave trade.
embodied their revolutionary goals in the In the United States,the states north of
Declaration of Independence.However,most white Maryland began bringing slavery to an end.
colonials did not feel the need to include freedom Pennsylvania banned slavery in 1780,and New
for their slaves as a political goal.In the late 1780s, Hampshire and Massachusetts followed suit three
as American leaders hammered out a new years later.Rhode Island and Connecticut ended
Constitution,again,they left slavery intact where it slavery the following year,while New York (1799)
already existed.The early Confederation Congress, and New Jersey (1804) were the last northern states
however,passed laws restricting slavery from the to end slavery.
newly acquired lands of the Northwest Territory,a The process of emancipation did not occur
region which includes the modern-day states of overnight.While northern states allowed owners to
Ohio,Indiana,Illinois,Michigan,and Wisconsin. keep their slaves,the children of slaves were to be
Through these years,the institution of slavery freed.Despite the waning of slavery across the
expanded,as the population of slaves continued to North,slavery continued to be integral to the
increase.In 1790,the year the young United States southern way of life.
government took its first census,the slave
population was counted at 650,000. Review and Write
However,in the spirit of the revolution,some
Americans freed their slaves as a symbolic gesture, Describe how slavery was being limited in the
driven by the love of freedom,which had fueled final decades of the 18th century in the newly
the war for independence.Even in the new formed United States.
MP3473America’s Civil War 5 © Milliken Publishing Company
Whitney Changes the Future of Slavery
T
he emancipation of northern slaves continued cotton.This simple,hand-cranked machine changed
for two generations following the American the future of American slavery.
Revolution and the writing of the U.S.Constitution Prior to the cotton gin,American agriculture
in 1787.The results were encouraging.By 1810, produced little cotton.Cotton production was so
three out of every four northern blacks had been rare in America that,in 1784,only one bale of
freed.By 1840,less than one percent of blacks living American cotton was exported to England! (British
in the North were slaves. customs officials,when faced with cotton allegedly
While even some southerners were convinced from America,refused to allow it through customs,
of the immorality of keeping slaves,an added claiming no cotton was produced there,so the bale
incentive among southern slave supporters was remained on a British dock and rotted.)
purely economic.In general,slavery had only During the 1780s,the entire American cotton
existed because it paid.When slavery was no longer crop was produced on the Sea Islands off the coasts
profitable,the institution was doomed. of South Carolina and Georgia.This special cotton
There were those in the last decades of the 18th was a long-fibered variety that flourished on the
century who were convinced that slavery was no islands.But it was not practical for growing on other
longer profitable.Tobacco had always been the American soil.And while the southern climate could
staple,cash crop that had made large-scale slavery easily support short-fibered cotton,it was a
profitable.But tobacco profits were declining.The prohibitively labor-intensive crop.
growing of tobacco was hard on the soil,sapping its In the years before the development of British
nutrients,making tobacco acreage worthless after an textile mills and elaborate spinning machinery,
average of five to seven seasons.Many began to spinning a pound of cotton thread by hand on a
believe,by the 1790s,that slavery would die in just a spinning wheel took longer than making thread from
few more decades at the most. wool,linen,or even silk.One pound might require
As a result,some southern slave masters began between 12 and 14 workdays.
freeing their slaves.As white farmers and plantation The other problem with cotton was its seeds.
owners shifted from tobacco production to Short-fibered cotton contained many sticky seeds
growing corn or wheat—two crops which did not that were difficult to remove by hand.A field laborer
require nine months of intense cultivation— could easily pick 50 pounds of cotton bolls in a day.
owning slaves no longer made sense. But seed removal from that amount of cotton might
take a single worker nearly a month!
This bottleneck in the production of usable
cotton lint to make thread made cotton cultivation
unthinkable—until Eli Whitney’s new invention.
Review and Write
1. What circumstances at the end of the 18th
century were causing even southerners to
consider giving up slavery for the future?
A new technology soon changed everything.
In 1793,a northerner named Eli Whitney invented a 2. What labor problem plagued cotton
small,tabletop device called the “Cotton Gin,”which production in the South prior to Whitney’s
removed the small,sticky seeds found in long staple invention of the cotton gin?
© Milliken Publishing Company 6 MP3473America’s Civil War
The Development of a Cotton Culture
W
hile Eli Whitney’s cotton gin made cotton increased by twenty fold.Although the United
production possible in the South,and made States banned the international slave trade in 1810,
southern slavery economically viable again,other slaves were still bought and sold in the slave
factors also encouraged the development of cotton markets in America.This resulted in the sale of
production in the South.The Industrial Revolution, over 800,000 slaves in America between 1790 and
with its development of new production systems, 1860.Many of these slaves were “sold South,”and
including factories,and the invention of new put to work on the ever-expanding cotton fields.
machines including spinning machines and steam Between 1790 and 1830,slavery was once
engines,helped develop southern cotton,as well. again thriving,a new staple crop (cotton) was
The new spinning and weaving devices of this dominating southern agriculture,a larger number
new industrialized era directly affected the market of southerners became slaveholders,and many
for cotton.In 1765,500,000 pounds of cotton were older,traditional slave owners were moving to the
spun into thread and it was all done by hand.In newly opened lands to the west—Alabama,
1785,early spinning jennies churned out 16 million Mississippi,Louisiana,Texas,Arkansas,and western
pounds of cotton thread,creating new mass Tennessee.Perhaps no fact was more clear in the
markets for American cotton. early decades of the 19th century than that slavery
Across the South,cotton became king.Sea Island was no longer a national institution,but a regional
cotton,with its long seeds,did not work well in the one—an essential part of the southern economy
cotton gin,since its longer fibers clogged up the and the southern way of life.
machine.But upland,or short-fiber cotton could be While Americans envision the average slave
grown across the South,from the Piedmont region owner of this period residing in a stately mansion
across the black earth belt of central Alabama,west featuring immense white pillars,this “Gone With
to the rich soils of the Mississippi Delta country,and the Wind”image is a stereotype of limited
later across the Mississippi into Texas and Arkansas. accuracy.As we shall see,the slave-holding South
By 1860,the South was producing 4 million bales of was never one homogeneous society.
cotton annually.
While the price of cotton did decline early in Review and Write
the 19th century,it remained profitable
throughout the first half of the 1800s.It was still How did cotton cultivation across the South
labor-intensive,since it required regular hoeing to change the nature of southern slavery?
eliminate weeds.Cotton was highly susceptible to
weed infestation.Slaves spoke of “chopping
cotton,”which referred to hoeing the weeds.As late
as 1850,southern agriculture only invested about
six percent of its available farmland in cotton
production.But those acres required 70 percent
more labor to maintain them than did an equal
acreage of corn.
With the development of cotton production in
the South,slavery produced great profits.As a
result,the value of slaves increased dramatically
throughout the early 19th century.Between 1800
and 1860,the value of a prime slave field hand
MP3473America’s Civil War 7 © Milliken Publishing Company
