Becoming Southerners 8.21.06...BECOMING SOUTHERNERS Between the Revolution and the Civil War,slavery...

BECOMING SOUTHERNERS

Conestoga Wagon

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BECOMING SOUTHERNERS

Between the Revolution and the Civil War, slavery mostly died out in theNorth but expanded in the South because of increased cultivation of cot-ton. As northerners attacked slavery, Virginians increasingly identifiedwith the other slave states as southerners. The stagnation of Virginia’sagricultural economy led a million Virginians to move west.Whether slav-ery would be allowed in the West became a raging sectional issue.

STANDARDS OF LEARNING

K.1–K.7, 1.1, 1.4–1.9, 2.2, 2.5, 2.7–2.9,2.12, 3.3,3.7, 3.9, 3.11, 3.12,VS.1,VS.2,VS.6, US1.1–US1.4, US1.8,VUS.1,VUS.6

KEY POINTS

• Virginia’s agricultural base collapsed after 1800 because of two centuries of poor farming practices.

• Between the Revolution and the Civil War, more than one million Virginians left for the Deep South or Midwest.

• The nation expanded westward with the Louisiana Purchase and the acquisition of Florida,Texas, Oregon, and California.

• Virginians took their culture with them, including slavery.Whether slavery would be allowedin the West became a sectional issue of the 1850s.

• Slavery died out in the North but expanded in the South because of the invention of the cotton gin.The country polarized into regions—one slave and one free.

• As northerners attacked slavery, many Virginians came to see their interests as alligned withother Southerners.

BECOMING SOUTHERNERS • 57

BECOMING SOUTHERNERSIn the wake of the Revolution,Virginians and other Americans began to tap the tremendous nat-ural resources of the interior of the continent.The movement of people reflected the belief thatthe new nation’s future lay to the west.The first migration had been into the Shenandoah Valley,but after the Revolution large numbers of Virginians moved westward across the Valley andAppalachian Mountains into the Midwest and Deep South.

The early settlers had depended on the growth of tobacco for economic survival. Tobaccorequired continuous and intensive labor. For this reason, Africans were brought to Virginia andenslaved as a stable labor source. Because tobacco exhausted the soil and because few farmersknew the value of crop rotation and fertilization,Virginia by the late eighteenth century was nolonger able to produce the crop that had been its mainstay.

A long agricultural depression caused one million Virginians to migrate between the Revolutionand the Civil War in search of more productive lands. Because many Virginians took their slaveswith them, whether slavery would be allowed in the West became a raging issue. An issue thatpolarized the nation, largely along sectional lines.

By 1850, the census recorded 334,000 native white Virginians in other states.The largest num-bers of former Virginians were in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky,Tennessee, and Missouri. A few slaveowners such as Edward Coles of Albermarle County objected to the institution of slavery andgave their slaves freedom and land in the new territories or states. But most Virginia slaves stooda 30 percent chance of being sold out of the state into the cotton culture of the Deep South.

Edward Coles Emancipating HisSlaves, by William L. Wells(Courtesy of Southern IllinoisUniversity, Edwardsville)

58 • BECOMING SOUTHERNERS

In the Classroom

The Westward Movement

• Discuss how tobacco is grown.• Learn about farming methods and the tools used between the American Revolution and the

Civil War.• Contrast the life on a farm for the small landowner with the life of a large plantation owner.• How did the failure of growing tobacco in Virginia contribute to the movement of peoples to

the west?• How have agricultural depressions contributed to other migrations throughout history?

Activities

Virginians in the West

• Use the map above to study the migration of Virginians to other areas.Why did they leave? Where did they go? What did they take? Include the settle-ment of California and Texas.

• Research the story of the African American cowboys who settled in the West.

• Research some famous former Virginians who went west such as Henry Clay, James Beckwourth, Bigfoot Wallace, Sam Houston, and Caleb Bingham.What for-mer Virginians became political leaders in their adoptedstates or territories? (Some 230 men born in Virginia before 1810 became members of Congress from other states; 73 native Virginians became governors of other states and territories between 1779 and 1861.)

Right: Michael Miley photograph of William “Bigfoot” Wallace (1817–1899)


In the Classroom

Slavery

Use the 1790 and the 1860 maps (below) to illustrate how slavery spread into new areas of theUnited States. Research how this population movement made slavery a national issue. How did thedispute over slavery lead to the Civil War?

Critical Thinking

The Cotton Gin and Slavery

How was it possible for the invention of the cotton gin to solidify pro-slavery attitudes in theSouth? Are there other examples in history that suggest how economics and technology can dictatethe position a group takes on major issues?

An illustration of the cotton gin, patented in 1794 by Eli Whitney, from The Growth of Industrial Art (1888)


In the Museum

Explore a Nineteenth-century Smokehouse

Within this gallery is an authentic smokehouse that was used to cure hams in Powhatan County inthe nineteenth century.The work and crafts of women of this period are featured within the build-ing, and examples of the crafts and skills of men are displayed near the smokehouse.

Photograph Courtesy of the Richmond Times-Dispatch

WWoommeenn’’ss WWoorrkk

Inside the smokehouse identify and explain the use of the:

1. Loom from the Shenandoah Valley (c. 1850)2. Dough bowl from Nelson County (1790–1800)3. Pie Safe from Grayson County (1840–60)

MMeenn’’ss WWoorrkk

Outside the smokehouse:

1. Locate farm tools and explain how they were used.2. Identify the items made by craftsmen from iron and

wood.3. How are these same items made today?


HOW DID THEY GET THERE?The Conestoga Wagon

In the Becoming Southerners gallery, you will find a Conestoga-style wagon that was probablymade in Virginia. Look for the maker’s name and address stenciled on the wagon’s rear door.

The name “Conestoga” reflects the origins ofthis type of wagon in the Conestoga Valley ofPennsylvania in the 1700s. Most Conestogawagons were used to haul freight locally.Whenthey were used by families moving west, thewagon carried the household goods, while thepeople rode or walked alongside. These wag-ons also provided some shelter for peoplesleeping beneath them at night.

The curved wagon bed was designed for trav-el up and down steep slopes. Contents wouldsettle in the middle of the wagon rather thanshifting abruptly from end to end. In contrast,the prairie schooner, used for travel across theplains, did not have this feature.


Activity

Find the supplies needed to make a trip West

CONESTOGA FLOUR COFFEE

OXEN BACON SEEDS

WAGON SUGAR SALT

B F L O U R Q W W

X C U X S U G A R

C O N E S T O G A

D F O N W A J O P

R F B A C O N N W

W E C P S E E D S

R E S A L T N A S


Primary Source

The Journal of Elizabeth Ann Cooley McClure

SSuunnddaayy 1111 oo’’cclloocckk FFeebb tthhee 2200tthh,, 11884422.. I shall endeavor to tell where and what all of the family is and whatthey are doing, or as near as I can. Martin I suppose to be roaming over the world to and fro I know notwhither. William is living in the Missourie Independence, Jackson City, & Nancy about 10 miles from there andRebecca is living at the cross roads and Jesse is a candidate for the clerkship and A J C and J D C and Julian isliving here. James went to Worrels this morning to take some linsy and all the rests at home. I have been read-ing some today I have been going to school 2 weeks to E. D.

SSuunnddaayy MMaarrcchh tthhee 1133tthh,, 55 OO’’cclloocckk.. I have went to school all the last week. I feel tolerably smart but weary ofdoing nothing. Saturday the 26th of March which is the last day of E. Davis’es school. I have been spelling forthree days. I have learnt a little grammar, but I fear it will do no good with out more.

SSuunnddaayy tthhee 2244tthh ooff AApprriill.. It is a beautiful day.The Lilacks is in full bloom. I feel tolerable well and I expect nevercomplete happiness in this troublesome world. Some two or three weeks I have been almost to busy to write.Week fore last we sheared sheep. I have been weaving table cloths and a little cotton and a heep such things.

SSuunnddaayy tthhee 2244tthh ooff JJuullyy.. Last Thursday I was 17 years old. I have received a letter from Parthena for the firstone that was ever directed to me. I have been spinning wool.Amanda has been weaving some jeans forRebecca and has got the counter panes began to weave.

SSeepptt tthhee 44tthh.. For sometime I have not wrote any. During that time I have seen but little for I have not wentanywhere much—though I went to meeting last Sunday—and nobody has been here. I feel like a isolated beingliving alone and neglected by all but those I live with. I have been busy spinning and weaving.

JJaann.. 2222nndd,, 11884433.. I came home last Saturday from J.P.W.’s where I had spent six of the last weeks.The timepassed rapidly on. I worked and nursed and talked or was gone somewhere.While I was gone I seen severalyoung men I never had seen before but loved none of them, but highly respected them for their honest andindustrious qualities.

JJaann.. 2299tthh.. Last Monday we received a letter from Brother Martin. He is in Charleston South Carolina andexpects to go to Missouri in the spring, and also received one from William stating that they were all enjoyinggood health. I wish I was there, or had the chance to go to see some of the wide and broad world more thanI ever have seen for I live in seclusion and I reckon a moderate portion of happiness.

MMaayy tthhee 1144tthh,, 11884433.. For the last week we sheared sheep and Monday washed wool.We trimmed out 44sheep and two more to shear.We was all weighed, I weighed 121.

TTuueessddaayy,, JJuunnee 1122tthh.. I have been needle working a handkerchief.Alford Crawford killed some hogs here andNathan Davis shod the horses and robbed two stands of bees. James is gone to Wytheville to get some watchglasses and clean Mrs. Chaffin’s clock.

OOccttoobbeerr 2222nndd.. Another week is passed, another Sunday passing and I am still here longing and constantlydesiring something to enlighten my contracted and perplexed mind, for what can I do? My only and bestchance is to hoard up learning sufficient to allow me to teach a school, and I lack so much it perplexes me tothink of it, to get Grammar and Arithmetic and how to govern a school etc. Last week we put away apples forwinter and I wove some and made my cotton dress, quilted. I began my flax stockings.We dipped Candles, 30dozen.

JJuullyy 2211sstt.. 11884444.. This day I am 19 years of age and weigh 117.The garden is full of flowers, the field full ofblackberries, the house full of work, my head full of romance.

MMaarrcchh 1199tthh,, 11884455.. We went with James and James McClure to the love feast.We have cleaned and burned theweeds off the garden. James Mc. commenced a 6 months school.We are all sick today.


MMaarrcchh 3311sstt,, 11884455.. We have cyphered some. James went yesterday to help N. Davis raise a house.Today wewent a fishing again and caught 13 trout, and killed 2 snakes.

NNoovveemmbbeerr 99tthh,, 11884455.. Last Sunday J.W. McClure came here and it was cold and misty, but nevertheless wewent in the garden and stayed about two hours and during that time made a bargain between us that is to lastforever or during life, a confession.A bargain that is to seal our happiness or ruin for life. Our fates hereafterwill inevitably be linked as one.

NNoovveemmbbeerr 3300tthh.. I went to school all last week.To try to study Grammar all day and marrying all night. J.W.McClure came.We talked all our affairs over.The contemplation is for me to go to school till I understandGrammar, then fix and get married about the 25th of February, then prepare and go off from this countryclear away, probably to Texas, leaving all that is near and dear to try our luck in a far off and unknown region.

MMaarrcchh 1155tthh,, 11884466.. WEDDING IS OVER, I AM MARRIED. I cannot give utterance to my feelings.There is nolanguage to describe the overflowing of my heart.The wedding day arrived, it was a cold, chilly day but not ascold as it had been before, misted rain a little in the evening. I was busy all day fixing the house and clothes, allwas busy and active. In the evening the bridegroom and his company—about 12 in number—came. It was allbustle and hurry then, I was not quite dressed.We got ready, and to my notion too, and marched down stairsand stood before the priest and a house full of my best and dearest friends, and in the presence of a great andawful God.Then we went in to supper, and I must say that I enjoyed the evening well. Mc. and I talked and saidwe never had felt as we then did, to know that all our childish glee was almost past, that we were married andhad now to be our agents in all things and probably would move away to Texas and leave all those gay youngfriends we loved so dear. But in the morning we concluded to buy land and stay and enjoy ourselves in thiscountry a few years at least.

SSuunnddaayy 88tthh.. We all went up to Jerry Edwards.A serious time we had, for by this time Mc. had looked at all theland that were for sale, and tired and weary of the pursuit concluded that we would go to Texas.

AApprriill 88tthh,, 11884466.. Preparing my things to get ready to go. Next day took the wagon from Jesse’s. Grand-motherand Mc. went to Hillsville. We arose early the next morning and busily prepared for leaving. Many of ourfriends came there to see us start, and oh, how solemn was the scene.We travelled slowly away from this landand came on, on, in the dark.

AApprriill 1111tthh,, 11884466.. Smyth County, Rivalley, waters of Holston, 55 miles from home.The 9th of April we startedtowards Texas.Went to Grayson Court House purchased feathers. From John Dickenson’s we travelled to theface of the Iron Mountain.About 16 miles, there took up camp for the first time in life, got supper, sung andprayed long, then went to bed in the wagon, slept some, felt awful strange and contented with our lots. In themorning arranged matters and started at 7. Climbed the mountain and then down it. Crossing the waters ofHolston and have come 20 miles today and camped by a shelter, and now are in the wagon and it raining fast.But take it all in all, I am as well contented as ever I was, for we are on Uncle Sam’s land and pay for what weeat and have showers of love.

AApprriill 1133tthh 11884466.. Yesterday it rained all day.The road was torn up to a smash.We came about 20 miles. In theevening we stopped and Mc. gone to the spring, and a large wagon passed our wagon and shivered the axletree; got in company with some slaves and their masters.Went up the hill and camped with them. In themorning the blacksmith came up there and banded the axle tree so it runs. Came through Abingdon, got incompany with Mr. Cook and 8 black persons. Mr. McClure bought me a checked shawl $1.12. Came about 22miles, camped altogether—four wagons, and a fine lively time of it we have. I love to travel.

1155tthh,, 8 o’clock P.M. Hawkins County,Tennessee—6 miles this side of Rogersville. Have come about 23 miles,camped on the waters of Holston.

1199tthh AApprriill.. 21 miles yesterday, pretty country here, the fattest hogs I ever saw—fine cattle. I think a heapabout home.We are now about 210 miles from home. Mc. greasing the wagon.

2211sstt.. Yesterday we traveled 21 miles, crossed Clinch River crossing Cumberland Mountains.We have come


clear through Knoxville and Anderson Counties.All in the burning sun.

2288tthh.. Passed through middle Tennessee, Smyth County—White, Overton, Jackson.Then to Nashville. Mc.VERY SICK. Crossed Harper’s river in a ferry boat—40 cents. Got news of war in Texas.

MMaayy 1133tthh.. Memphis. Sold the wagon and horses for a hundred dollars.Went on the wharf boat, seen steamboats.They loaded and unloaded til 2 o’clock. Come on board, and dirty place, but in company with Texasfolks

SSuunnddaayy 1177tthh.. Arkansas on the right, Mississippi on the left. Passed Vicksburg.Very warm indeed.The old boatgoing rushing, sputtering, blowing, belching along. It is 629 miles from Memphis to Orleans.

MMaayy 1199tthh.. Now in Orleans, thousands of vessels here, grand and noble scenes here on deck.While I do sin-cerely wish I had not started to Texas but gone to Missouri, but Alas!—the dye is cast for it is miserablewhichever way we go. I have a very bad cold. Mc. is sick too.

MMaayy 2222nndd,, SSaattuurrddaayy.. We left Orleans Thursday.We proceeded slowly, and that night the water burs womangathering their own children and running every way in wild confusion.They fastened up the hole allright. I wasdry. But it was an awful scene for a beholder. I can’t hear my own voice for the noise of the engine and per-petual crying of children!

FFrriiddaayy 2299tthh MMaayy.. We got to Shrevesport 25th.Went to bed in the little towing wagon. Next day traveled 10miles. Mc. is very sick.The finest grass and largest oxen I ever saw; the sternest men, the scarest time. I amtired out, wet and dirty. In Harrison City,Texas.A stern, heartless people, no sympathy. I want to go away. Ithink we had better go to Missouri though I dread those sickly rivers with which we have to contend, thoughI fear to stay here I dread the consequences.There are the most young pretty widows here I have ever seenin one place and the fewest girls and most young men.Yesterday I washed down at the spring.The sweat justdropped off my face. I fear to die here and my grave tramped over by strangers. I rue the day we ever thoughtof Texas.

JJuunnee 44tthh,, TThhuurrssddaayy.. Yesterday morning left old cabin. Got to Shrevesport 9 o’clock.Waiting for a boat.Will tryfor Missouri.The love of gold Oh! How cursed. How much happier we might have been had we stayed.A sickhusband here in this old nasty ware house and nastly sickly alligator river.

JJuunnee 88tthh.. We came on board the Yalabusky on the 5th.Again going down Red River, about 40 miles from themouth. My face is all over mosquito bites.

JJuunnee 1100tthh.. Day before yesterday we came aboard the Maria, a large boat, 300 feet long, met some English peo-ple. Had a splendid fight on board, fought about 5 minutes - - whipped one and sent him ashore.

((HHuussbbaanndd’’ss hhaannddwwrriittiinngg)) 1122,, FFrriiddaayy JJuunnee 1188tthh,, 11884466.. Sailing out Orleans, going to Missouri. My poor little wife .. . I am so sorry for her.

JJuunnee 1188tthh.. Dressed in black silk. Been in St. Louis viewing its lofty houses, narrow streets.

JJuunnee 2222nndd.. Almost to Independence.Mc. sick. Passed Lexington and Camden yesterday evening. Seen a fairwide beautiful prarie for the first one; very cool and windy today.

JJuunnee 2244tthh,, MMoonnddaayy eevveenniinngg,, LLeexxiinnggttoonn.. We got to Independence Landing, went to tavern—11 o’clock, went tobed.Tuesday morning William come down there. I was very glad to see him.

AAuugguusstt 1199tthh.. Today Mc.’s school commenced. I have been cyphering and spinning etc.

SSuunnddaayy,, SSeepptt 77tthh,, 11884466.. Have been teaching school two weeks. Small school, sickly children, sometimes feelvery bad, again feel well. I like teaching tolerably well indeed.

WWeeddnneessddaayy nniigghhtt 99 oo’’cclloocckk,, 2233rrdd.. In our room. Mc. gone to bed, has toothache; I have bad cold. Been studyinggrammar very hard. How hard I wish I understood it better. Mc. went to my school this evening. He dismissed


his school until Monday on account of sickness. I really fear to stay here, I fear death. I want once more tovisit my native land before I die if the Lord will. I really crave to see Father!! and Mother!! again. I fear Mr.McClure never will enjoy good health in Missouri.

TThhuurrssddaayy 2255tthh OOccttoobbeerr,, 11884466.. In our room by the fire writing on the box. I have the headache and feel aguish.It is windy and smoky. Friday the fire burned the prairie all up most. It was a sight indeed.

DDeecc.. 2277,, 11884466.. My school is out. I have been here 5 weeks.The children have all been sick and are still sick. Ihave had the scarlet fever. Mc has made up a writing school at the Lone Jack. I expect to go to the geographyschool next week and then to Keeton’s to keep school for 3 months.

AApprriill 99,, 11884477.. Just one year since I left my Father’s house—now in Mo. teaching school. It is Friday. I am glad Idon’t have to teach any more this week. I like to teach better than I have thought I ever would. It is fine prac-tice, it improves my mind much. I long to see my old friends.

AApprriill 2255,, 11884477.. This day got a letter saying my Dear Father is dead. Shocking word. He died 24 March, buried26. I am sorry for poor!! Mother and sisters. Could I relieve them.

TTuueessddaayy 2211 SSeepptt.. Last week I cut out and made Mc. a coat, a shirt. Saturday we went to the blue bottom campmeeting. Sunday was baptized and was happy.Am happy yet, feel pure and clear from sin. Mc. is happy too.

WWeedd.. 11sstt DDeecc.. 11884477.. Just came from school, had 22 scholars, a heap trouble to keep school.

DDeecc.. 2244,, 11884477.. I scarcely know how to describe my feeling. Another death to record.William is dead.

((HHuussbbaanndd’’ss hhaannddwwrriittiinngg)) JJaannuuaarryy 99,, 11884488.. SSuunnddaayy.. Now at Lowe’s by the fire dreading the time of leaving mywife for school. Snow about 6 inches deep.Very cold. I want to teach school awhile.Then myself and wifeteach an Academy and live together in some country where we will not have to take pills all the time and thehealth of the country depend on the skill of physicians. Now teaching school, making some $25 per month.Mc.

FFeebb.. 2277.. Last week I went to Mr. McClure’s school and Friday I taught school while Mc. went to make me aschool. Got it to commence Monday week. Living at St. Clair’s.

MMaarrcchh 1177,, at Mr. Henderson’s. Got the fever bad.

MMaarrcchh 1188,, 11884488 (husband’s handwriting) Elizabeth sick of slow typhoid fever.Took ten small doses of calomel;operated 4 times; gave her 40 drops laudanum. Employed Dr. Gordon. I think she is some better. God ofheaven have mercy on her. Mc.

MMaarrcchh 2299,, 11884488.. This Journal is done! The author being Elizabeth A. McClure died March 28, 1848. She happyin Christ Jesus being the only consolation left me. She was 22 years 7 months and 12 days old.

Printed, in part, in the Missouri Historical Review, LX (January 1966): 162–206.

Elizabeth Ann Cooley McClure was born July 21, 1825, in Grayson County, (now Carroll County),Virginia and died March 29, 1848 at Independence, Missouri. When she began the journal,Elizabeth was seventeen years old and only twenty-two years old when the last page was writ-ten. She married James McClure on February 25, 1846. She was one of eleven children born toJane Dickey and Benjamin Cooley. In addition to holding elected offices, Elizabeth’s father wasan expert clockmaker and an inventor of an engine that made brass wheels for clocks.

Activities

The Journal of Elizabeth Ann Cooley McClureAlthough the following educational activities are suggested for upper grades and advanced students, projects for all ages can be created from thefollowing lesson plans. Many interdisciplinary projects can be organized to include English, history, math, geography, and science.

NNiinneetteeeenntthh--CCeennttuurryy TTiimmeelliinneeUsing the lifetime of Elizabeth Ann Cooley (1825–1848), make a chart of the major events (domesticand foreign) that would have made newspaper headlines at this time.

EExxaammiinniinngg tthhee JJoouurrnnaall ooff EElliizzaabbeetthh AAnnnn CCoooolleeyy MMccCClluurreeUsing the journal as a guide, read and research the daily activities in western Virginia in the 1840s.Discuss the process of shearing sheep and weaving wool.What other activities and responsibilitiesar pointed out in the journal?

NNiinneetteeeenntthh--CCeennttuurryy TTrraannssppoorrttaattiioonnWhat different modes of transportation were used in the early 1800s? Discuss some of the hazardsor dangers encountered when going west at this time? Where were the major western Indian tribeslocated?

GGeeooggrraapphhyy aanndd MMaatthhTrace the travels of Elizabeth and James McClure from Virginia to Texas to Missouri on a map.Locate places mentioned in the journal. Calculate where they would have been at a given time bytraveling twenty miles per day in their wagon.

EEnngglliisshhAssign a journal writing project. Students can write their daily activities using the Cooley journal asa guide, or they may want to create their own western journal set in a specific time period.Thiswould involve historical research into the place and events of that time. List the different wordusages, spellings, and grammar within the journal.Why was education so important but so difficult toobtain at this time on the frontier?

SScciieenncceeCreate a unit of study on medicine in the early nineteenth century.What problems and diseases arementioned in the diary? What cures were available? Research both medical knowledge andherbal/medicinal suggested cures of that time period.


AFRICAN AMERICANSSome of the Virginians who went west to search for new land took their slaves with them. Asthey settled into the new territories, the issue of slavery led to local struggles and national com-promises. Gradually slaveholding areas came to identify with the southern states while those set-tled without slaves identified with the northern states. More devastating to Virginia slave commu-nities was the sale out of state of their members.Virginia became the largest exporter of slavesto the Deep South. Between 1800 and 1809, 41,000 slaves were soldsouth; between 1830 and 1860, 300,000 slaves were sold south.

In 1860,Virginia was home to more than 430,000 slaves.This was thelargest number of slaves in any state, in spite of the earlier migrations/sales, and one-third of the population of Virginia.Although conditionswere better for slaves in Virginia than in the Deep South, they receivedonly the barest necessities. Four-fifths of slaves lived in rural areas.Many slaves who lived in or near towns were leased out to iron forges,tobacco warehouses, mines, or other non-farm enterprises. At timesone-quarter of skilled laborers in Richmond were slaves. In their “free” time slaves raised fami-lies, played marbles, built churches, gambled, told stories, played music, danced, or plotted escape.Out of this slave culture emerged proverbs, recipes, dances, songs, gospel music, and the bluestradition that has shaped American popular music.

From the beginning,Virginia had a number of free blacks, and a few even owned plantations andslaves. The free black population was largely composed of skilled craftsmen living in or neartowns. In 1860, there were 58,042 free blacks living in the state.

Richmond was second only to New Orleans as a slave-trading center. In the three decades before the Civil War, more than 300,000 slaves left the OldDominion through sale. Based on his travels in Virginia between September 1859 and June 1860, English artist Lefevre James Cranstone completed hisimpression of a slave auction.


For many do informe meyour coming is not fortrade, but to invade mypeople and possesse mycountrey.

—Powhatan

The Resurrection of Henry Box Brown at Philadelphia, 1850, lithograph by Samuel W. Rowse. In 1848 Henry Brown, a slave from Virginia, had himselfshipped to Philadelphia in a box three feet by two feet. This was a risky method of gaining freedom. What other means were used to escape slavery?

HENRY BOX BROWNHenry Brown was a slave who worked in a Richmond tobacco factory. After his wife and chil-dren were sold south, he resolved to escape. Brown’s plan was to have himself shipped in a box,like a package of goods, by railroad to the north. In March 1849, two friends in Richmond helpedpack him up and put him on the train. Brown was curled up tightly in the box and had to stayvery quiet. On the journey, the box was shifted and he was placed upside down. The bloodrushed to his head, and he almost became unconscious. Luckily, after two hours the box wasturned again. Another time the box was about to be left behind in a railroad station, when Brownheard a man say, “This is the mail, it must go forward.” Finally, after twenty-six hours in the box,Brown was delivered in Philadelphia, where friends opened the lid and he rose up a free man. Atfirst he felt faint from being in the box. After walking a little to clear his head, Brown sang a hymnof thanksgiving.


Critical Thinking

Slavery

By 1860, people had settled in the South and West, taking with them the two major ideas of slaveryand freedom. How could such opposing ideas exist simultaneously?

LIBERIAThe colonization movement, organized by the AmericanColonization Society and supported by many abolitionists andreligious groups, attempted to send free African Americans toWest Africa to an area that became known as Liberia. To somewhites this was a way to be rid of free blacks; to others it fulfilleda moral duty to return these people to their ancestral homelandsso that they would spread the Christian faith. To some blacks, itoffered an escape from racism and the possibility of re-enslave-ment. About 15,000 blacks went to Liberia, many of them fromVirginia. Colonization, however was too expensive to be a solu-tion to Virginia’s race problem.

Two Virginians played a prominent role in the settlement of Liberia.Joseph Jenkins Roberts (above), born in Norfolk in 1809, grew up in aprosperous free black family in Petersburg. In 1829, he sailed to Africaand became the first black governor of Liberia. Lott Cary (left) wasborn a slave in Charles City County and worked as manager of a tobac-co warehouse in Richmond until he could buy his freedom. In 1821, heleft for Liberia, where he practiced medicine and founded a church andseveral schools. In 1826, he was appointed the vice-governor of Liberia.

(Library of Congress)

Map of Liberia, compiled from data on file in the office of the American Colonization Society, inset shows the vicinity of Monrovia, surveyed by J. Ashmun,1825, (Baltimore, Md. : Lith. by E. Weber & Co., 1845) (Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division, Call no. G8880 1845 .C6 ACS 4)


Becoming Southerners 8.21.06...BECOMING SOUTHERNERS Between the Revolution and the Civil War,slavery...

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Transcript of Becoming Southerners 8.21.06...BECOMING SOUTHERNERS Between the Revolution and the Civil War,slavery...