The First American Frontier: Transition to Capitalism in Southern Appalachia, 1700-1860 (The Fred W. Morrison Series in Southern Studies)

993 Pages·1996·5.12 MB·English

by  Wilma A. Dunaway

The First American Frontier : Transition to
Capitalism in Southern Appalachia, 1700-
title:
1860 Fred W. Morrison Series in Southern
Studies
author: Dunaway, Wilma A.
publisher: University of North Carolina Press
isbn10 | asin: 0807822361
print isbn13: 9780807822364
ebook isbn13: 9780807861172
language: English
Capitalism--Appalachian Region--History,
Capitalism--Southern States--History,
subject
Appalachian Region--Economic conditions,
Southern States--Economic conditions.
publication date: 1996
lcc: HC107.A127D86 1996eb
ddc: 330.974
Capitalism--Appalachian Region--History,
Capitalism--Southern States--History,
subject:
Appalachian Region--Economic conditions,
Southern States--Economic conditions.
Page ii
The First American Frontier
Transition to Capitalism in Southern Appalachia, 1700-
1860
Wilma A. Dunaway
The Fred W. Morrison Series in Southern Studies
The University of North Carolina Press
Chapel Hill & London
Page iv
© 1996 The University of North Carolina Press
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and
durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book
Longevity of the Council on Library Resources.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Dunaway, Wilma A.
The first American frontier: transition to capitalism in southern
Appalachia, 1700-1860 / Wilma A. Dunaway.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8078-2236-I (cloth).
ISBN 0-8078-4540-x (pbk.)
1. CapitalismAppalachian RegionHistory.
2. CapitalismSouthern StatesHistory.
3. Appalachian RegionEconomic conditions.
4. Southern StatesEconomic conditions. I. Title.
HC107.A127D86 1996 95-2790
330.974dc20 CIP
00 99 98 97 96 5 4 3 2 1
Publication of this book has been supported by a generous grant from
the L. J. Skaggs and Mary C. Skaggs Foundation.
Page v
To Donald Armour Clelland
professor extraordinaire
It is no small thing to have given
your life to liberation of the world
through the vehicle of teaching and
inspiring those who go forth.
Page vi
Page vii
Contents
Acknowledgments xv
1. The Transition to Capitalism on American Frontiers: 1
Toward a Paradigm Shift
2. Slaves, Skins, and Wampum: 23
Destruction of Southern Appalachia's Precapitalist Mode
of Production, 1540-1763
3. Settlers, Speculators, and Squatters: 51
Competition for Appalachian Land Resources, 1790-1860
4. The Poor Man Had No Chance: 87
Formation of a Landless Agrarian Semiproletariat
5. Makin' Do or Chasing Profits?: 123
The Agrarian Capitalism of Southern Appalachia
6. Diggers of the Country: 157
Industrial Production for Export
7. The Spatial Organization of External Trade 195
8. The Pervasive Reach of Global Commodity Chains 225
9. Appalachian Communities and Noneconomic 249
Articulation with the Capitalist World System
10. Economic Crisis and Deepening Peripheralization 287
Appendix. Essay on Quantitative Methods 323
Notes 333
Bibliography 387
Index 435
Page ix
Illustrations
Risking indenturement in Chattanooga, Tennessee 112
A large Ohio County, West Virginia, manufacturer 163
Antebellum Wheeling, West Virginia 201
Antebellum Knoxville, Tennessee 203
Steamboating grain down the Tennessee River 211
Export by flatboat down the Tennessee River 213
Southwestern Virginia hog drive headed to Richmond 219
Blue Ridge Virginia cattle drive headed north 220
Antebellum arrest warrant for a delinquent debtor 267
The company town at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia 270
A medium-size spa 307
Queen of mountain spas: West Virginia's White Sulphur 311
Springs
Page xi
Maps and Figures
Maps
1.1. Southern Appalachia 2
2.1. Southern Appalachia's Significance to the 26
International Rivalry for North American Territory, Early
1700s
3.1. The Repeopling of Southern Appalachia, 1740-1840 54
3.2. Disposal of the Lands of Southern Appalachia 55
3.3. Speculative Land Syndicates in Southern Appalachia, 62
1750-1840
4.1. Slaves in the Appalachian Labor Force, 1860 110
5.1. Southern Appalachia's Agricultural Exports, 1860 144
6.1. Southern Appalachia's Industrializing Counties, 1860 159
6.2. Typical Size of Manufacturing Firms, 1860 161
6.3. Salt and Iron Exportation, 1860 167
6.4. Extractive Exports from Southern Appalachia, 1860 168
7.1. Southern Appalachia's External Trade Routes 200
7.2. Southern Appalachian Waterways 210
7.3. Transportation Networks, 1850-1860 216
8.1. Firms Exporting Processed Agricultural 243
Commodities, 1860
10.1 Absentee-Controlled Banking in Southern 301
Appalachia
10.2.Commercialization of Southern Appalachia, 1840 304
10.3.Significance of Travel Capitalism in Southern 306
Appalachia
10.4. Investments by Economic Sectors, 1860 310
Figures
1.1. Theoretical Model of Local Incorporation into the 18
Capitalist World System