The history of slavery in Mississippi began when the region was still Mississippi Territory and continued until abolition in 1865. The U.S. state of Mississippi had one of the largest populations of enslaved people in the Confederacy, third behind Virginia and Georgia. [1] There were very few free people of color in Mississippi the year before the American Civil War: the ratio was one freedman for every 575 slaves. [2]
When the United States took over Mississippi as a consequence of the Pinckney Treaty of 1795, importing slaves from other regions was initially prohibited under territorial law. However, wealthy planters argued "we need more slaves" and the federal government relented, and before long any prohibition on interregional trading was all but forgotten. [3] The first decades of the 19th century in Mississippi were defined by a continuous rolling action of Indian removal—in which Choctaw and Chickasaw people were forcibly removed from their traditional lands. [3] And then, as Walter Johnson puts it, "African-American slaves were brought in to cultivate the land expropriated from Native Americans." [4]
The Mississippi slave code, first passed into law by the Mississippi Legislature in 1823, prohibited groups of five or more enslaved people gathering as unlawful assembly, and leaving a plantation without a handwritten slave pass was prohibited, even to attend religious services. [3] Under antebellum Mississippi law, the standard penalty for a slave convicted of carrying a gun, petty larceny, or attending a class where reading or writing were taught, was 39 lashes. [2]
Land in Mississippi was river bottomland rich in organic matter— "the Mississippi and Yazoo, the Tombigbee, Big Black, and the Pearl covered an area of over one-sixth of the entire state and offered unrivalled soil" [5] —and this land was primarily used to grow the highly valuable cash crop cotton produced with the labor of hundreds of thousands of enslaved American laborers of African descent. According to David Walker Howe in What Hath God Wrought, overseas cotton sales in 1836 exceeded US$71,000,000(equivalent to $1,892,042,424 in 2022), and by 1840, the cotton crop was 59 percent of the total value of U.S. exports. [6] Mississippi cotton was a strain produced by crossing a large-bolled variety from Mexico with a green-seed variety from Tennessee that "grew better on piedmont and interior lands" than sea island cotton. [3] The land clearance and plowing necessary to create thousands of acres of monocrop cotton plantations was ultimately debilitating to the soil, the river, and the native ecosystem. [7]
Population growth in Mississippi in the years 1830–1860 was overwhelmingly due to the interstate slave trade. Enslaved people were imported from the slave states of the upper south and sold at Mississippi slave markets including the Forks of the Road at Natchez, at Vicksburg, and at a number of other smaller trading sites. [8]
In Issaquena County, 92.5 percent of population in 1860 were slaves, the highest concentration anywhere in the United States. [9] [10] The U.S. census that year showed 7,244 slaves in Issaquena County, and of 115 slave owners, 39 held 77 or more. [11] Stephen Duncan of Issaquena County held 858 slaves, second only to Joshua John Ward of South Carolina. [12] This large "value of slave property" made Issaquena County the second richest county in the United States, with "mean total wealth per freeman" at $26,800 in 1860 (equivalent to $715,000in 2022). [13] By 1880—15 years after the abolition of slavery—the county had developed "a strong year-round market for wage labor", and Issaquena was the only county in Mississippi to report "no sharecropping or sharerenting whatsoever". [13]
Slavery was common and divisive in all of the Thirteen Colonies, but the numbers were fewer in the North because African-American labor was less needed. Therefore, the gradual abolition of slavery in the North did not require much sacrifices. Differently, in Mississippi, slavery played a significant role in the state's agricultural development and was the basis of the economy and society, so it was defended and insisted by many Mississippian slaveholders. [14]
Mississippians defended slavery in speech and through the press, arguing that slavery improved the physical and moral conditions of the enslaved people, who were otherwise "ignorant". In 1846, a writer in Columbus, Mississippi, wrote that "habits of industry, improves the physical man, tames wild propensities and passions." Additionally, a planter reasoned how enslaved people are "peculiarly fitted for his station in life." [14] He said that enslaved peoples' skin allows them to bask in a semi-tropical sun, and unlike other people, they are content when they in an enslaved situation unless mistreated. [14]
The slaveholders of Mississippi also tried to portray slavery as a positive and progressive force for the country. They emphasized the economic, social, and military advantages of slavery for the nation, especially for the South. They argued that slavery enabled the exploitation of large tracts of fertile land, which would otherwise go to waste, since no white man could endure the labor in the marshes and ponds. They also claimed that slavery produced valuable crops, such as cotton, which enriched the country and even Europe. They also said that slavery added security and strength to the South in case of war, since the enslaved people would be loyal and obedient to their masters. [14]
There were laws that regulated slavery in Mississippi from the colonial era to the Civil War, but the laws were inconsistent and often violated by the slaveholders. The laws granted limited rights and protection to enslaved people in Mississippi, including the right to an impartial trial by jury, the prohibition of killing enslaved people, and the duty of the slaveholders to treat enslaved people with humanity and provide them with basic needs, such as clothing. In 1846, a wealthy man fled the country to avoid trial for murdering one of his enslaved people. [14]
However, enslaved people also faced harsh and extreme punishments for various offenses, such as using abusive language, lifting a hand in opposition to a white person, or stealing from a white person. The punishments were discretionary and depended on the owner’s or the judge's decision. The treatment of enslaved people and white people for the same crimes were also very different. For instance, an enslaved person was whipped and released for stealing money, while a white man was sent to jail for the same crime. [14]
Slavery in Mississippi during the antebellum era was deeply intertwined with agriculture, and in particular cotton production. Agricultural slaves in Mississippi also produced corn and vegetables for plantations, but for most of the time they focused on cotton production since cotton made the most money. [15]
Cotton production introduced a gang system of labor, where enslaved people worked in groups, with less autonomy than traditional task systems. These groups were assigned specific tasks, with white overseers monitoring the progress of the gangs. Work pace was often enforced through public whippings, which introduced an element of cruelty to the gang labor system. [15]
Cotton production also involved year-round labor for seed removal from lint, which lead to resistance and gin fires during harvesting and ginning seasons. However, from the 1830s, the cotton gin became normalized as plantation equipment, and resistance lessened. [15]
The French, who settled in Mississippi in 1699, fought with the Natchez (Native American people who lived in the Natchez Bluffs) over control of the land near modern-day Natchez for their agriculture interests. In the Natchez War of 1729–33, the French enslaved many Natchez, most of whom had been captured by the Choctaw, another group of indigenous people, and sold them to the West Indies. French colonists continued to buy Indian enslaved people from the Southwest and Missouri Country even after the slaving wars in the Southeast came to an end. [16]
Even after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, slavery remained in Mississippi. The proclamation said that all enslaved people in the rebel states "shall then, thenceforward, and forever free,” [17] [18] but it did not include the Confederate territories ruled by the Union, including Mississippi. Additionally, the proclamation depended on the Union’s victory to be enforced, and Mississippi remained a stronghold of the Confederacy until the end of the war. [19] [18] As a result, the proclamation did not end slavery in Mississippi, and many enslaved people remained in slavery until the Thirteenth Amendment. [18]
Slavery was abolished in Mississippi by the Thirteenth Amendment, an Amendment ratified in December 1865 to abolish slavery. Mississippi was the only state in the Lower Mississippi Valley that did not abolish slavery during the Civil War. [18] However, the state did not officially notify the U.S. archivist of its ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment until 2013. [20]
Issaquena County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 Census, its population was 1,338, making it the least populous county in the United States east of the Mississippi River. Its county seat is Mayersville. With a per-capita income of $18,598, Issaquena County is, by that measure, one of the poorest counties in the United States.
The legal institution of human chattel slavery, comprising the enslavement primarily of Africans and African Americans, was prevalent in the United States of America from its founding in 1776 until 1865, predominantly in the South. Slavery was established throughout European colonization in the Americas. From 1526, during the early colonial period, it was practiced in what became Britain's colonies, including the Thirteen Colonies that formed the United States. Under the law, an enslaved person was treated as property that could be bought, sold, or given away. Slavery lasted in about half of U.S. states until abolition in 1865, and issues concerning slavery seeped into every aspect of national politics, economics, and social custom. In the decades after the end of Reconstruction in 1877, many of slavery's economic and social functions were continued through segregation, sharecropping, and convict leasing.
The Antebellum South Period era was during the historical timeline of the Southern United States, which extended from the conclusion of the War of 1812 to the start of the American Civil War in 1861. This era in the South's history was marked by the prevalent practice of slavery and the associated societal norms it cultivated. Over the course of this period, Southern leaders underwent a transformation in their perspective on slavery. Initially regarded as an awkward and temporary institution, it gradually evolved into a defended concept, with proponents arguing for its positive merits, while simultaneously vehemently opposing the burgeoning abolitionist movement.
The plantations of Leon County were numerous and vast. Leon County, in the U.S. state of Florida, was a true cotton kingdom. From the 1820s through 1850s Leon County attracted cotton planters from Georgia, Virginia, Maryland, North and South Carolina, plus other states and abroad to its fertile red clay soils and long growing season.
The history of slavery in Texas began slowly at first during the first few phases in Texas' history. Texas was a colonial territory, then part of Mexico, later Republic in 1836, and U.S. state in 1845. The use of slavery expanded in the mid-nineteenth century as White American settlers, primarily from the Southeastern United States, crossed the Sabine River and brought enslaved people with them. Slavery was present in Spanish America and Mexico prior to the arrival of American settlers, but it was not highly developed, and the Spanish did not rely on it for labor during their years in Spanish Texas.
The institution of slavery in North America existed from the earliest years of the colonial history of the United States until 1865 when the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery throughout the United States except as punishment for a crime. It was also abolished among the sovereign Indian tribes in Indian Territory by new peace treaties which the US required after the Civil War.
The history of slavery in Kentucky dates from the earliest permanent European settlements in the state, until the end of the Civil War. Kentucky was classified as the Upper South or a border state, and enslaved African Americans represented 24 percent by 1830, but declined to 19.5 percent by 1860 on the eve of the Civil War. The majority of enslaved people in Kentucky were concentrated in the cities of Louisville and Lexington, in the fertile Bluegrass Region as well the Jackson Purchase, both the largest hemp- and tobacco-producing areas in the state. In addition, many enslaved people lived in the Ohio River counties where they were most often used in skilled trades or as house servants. Few people lived in slavery in the mountainous regions of eastern and southeastern Kentucky. Those that did that were held in eastern and southeastern Kentucky served primarily as artisans and service workers in towns.
The Cotton Belt is a region of the Southern United States where cotton was the predominant cash crop from the late 18th century into the 20th century.
The African slave trade was first brought to Alabama when the region was part of the French Louisiana Colony.
Slave breeding was the practice in slave states of the United States of slave owners to systematically force the reproduction of slaves to increase their profits. It included coerced sexual relations between male slaves and women or girls, forced pregnancies of female slaves, and favoring women or young girls who could produce a relatively large number of children. The objective was to increase the number of slaves without incurring the cost of purchase, and to fill labor shortages caused by the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade.
Slavery in Maryland lasted over 200 years, from its beginnings in 1642 when the first Africans were brought as slaves to St. Mary's City, to its end after the Civil War. While Maryland developed similarly to neighboring Virginia, slavery declined in Maryland as an institution earlier, and it had the largest free black population by 1860 of any state. The early settlements and population centers of the province tended to cluster around the rivers and other waterways that empty into the Chesapeake Bay. Maryland planters cultivated tobacco as the chief commodity crop, as the market for cash crops was strong in Europe. Tobacco was labor-intensive in both cultivation and processing, and planters struggled to manage workers as tobacco prices declined in the late 17th century, even as farms became larger and more efficient. At first, indentured servants from England supplied much of the necessary labor but, as England's economy improved, fewer came to the colonies. Maryland colonists turned to importing indentured and enslaved Africans to satisfy the labor demand.
Slavery played the central role during the American Civil War. The primary catalyst for secession was slavery, especially Southern political leaders' resistance to attempts by Northern antislavery political forces to block the expansion of slavery into the western territories. Slave life went through great changes, as the South saw Union Armies take control of broad areas of land. During and before the war, enslaved people played an active role in their own emancipation, and thousands of enslaved people escaped from bondage during the war.
Plantation complexes were common on agricultural plantations in the Southern United States from the 17th into the 20th century. The complex included everything from the main residence down to the pens for livestock. Until the abolition of slavery, such plantations were generally self-sufficient settlements that relied on the forced labor of enslaved people.
The role of African Americans in the agricultural history of the United States includes roles as the main work force when they were enslaved on cotton and tobacco plantations in the Antebellum South. After the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863-1865 most stayed in farming as very poor sharecroppers, who rarely owned land. They began the Great Migration to cities in the mid-20th century. About 40,000 are farmers today.
Stephen Duncan was an American planter and banker in Mississippi during the 19th century. He was born and studied medicine in Pennsylvania, but moved to Natchez District, Mississippi Territory in 1808 and became the wealthiest cotton planter and the second-largest slave owner in the United States with over 2,200 slaves. He owned 15 cotton and sugar plantations, served as President of the Bank of Mississippi, and held major investments in railroads and lumber.
David Hunt was an American planter based in the Natchez District of Mississippi. He controlled 25 plantations, thousands of acres, and enslaved about 1,700 people in the antebellum era. From New Jersey, he joined his uncle in Mississippi business. He became a major philanthropist in the South, contributing to educational institutions in Mississippi, as well as the American Colonization Society and Mississippi Colonization Society, the latter of which he was a founding member.
Following Robert Cavelier de La Salle establishing the French claim to the territory and the introduction of the name Louisiana, the first settlements in the southernmost portion of Louisiana were developed at present-day Biloxi (1699), Mobile (1702), Natchitoches (1714), and New Orleans (1718). Slavery was then established by European colonists.
Homewood Plantation was a historic plantation with a mansion of the same name located on it in Natchez, Adams County, Mississippi. Built in 1860 as a wedding present for the Southern belle Catherine Hunt, the daughter of millionaire planter David Hunt, the mansion remained unscathed during the American Civil War of 1861-1865. By the early twentieth century, it was used as a shooting location for 1915 classic film The Birth of a Nation. The author Stark Young used Homewood as the setting of a wedding in his 1934 novel So Red the Rose. The mansion burnt down in 1940.
Slavery was legally practiced in the Province of North Carolina and the state of North Carolina until January 1, 1863, when President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Prior to statehood, there were 41,000 enslaved African-Americans in the Province of North Carolina in 1767. By 1860, the number of slaves in the state of North Carolina was 331,059, about one third of the total population of the state. In 1860, there were nineteen counties in North Carolina where the number of slaves was larger than the free white population. During the antebellum period the state of North Carolina passed several laws to protect the rights of slave owners while disenfranchising the rights of slaves. There was a constant fear amongst white slave owners in North Carolina of slave revolts from the time of the American Revolution. Despite their circumstances, some North Carolina slaves and freed slaves distinguished themselves as artisans, soldiers during the Revolution, religious leaders, and writers.
The history of slavery in Arkansas began in the 1790s, before the Louisiana Purchase made the land territory of the United States. Arkansas was a slave state from its establishment in 1836 until the Thirteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution was ratified in 1865. Slaveholders were initially clustered in the eastern and southern sections of Arkansas Territory closer to the Mississippi River Delta. Topography was more varied in the north and west, so there were fewer slaves in those sections.