King Cotton and the Rise of Plantation Capitalism with Dr. Kate Masur

In today’s episode, I am delighted to have Dr. Kate Masur back with us for an honest and insightful discussion on the impact of slave labor. This impact was seen within the economy of the United States, but what impact did it have on those enslaved and those who were doing the enslaving? There is so much to unpack here and, thanks to our guest, we can have a better understanding of why cotton became the driver of American economic development and how slavery became the violent method of increasing productivity and profits.

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Again, our guest today is Dr. Kate Masur. Kate is a history professor at Northwestern University. Most of her research investigates how Americans, north and south, grappled with the end of slavery and associated questions of racial equality. Her most recent book is Until Justice Be Done: America’s First Civil Rights Movement, from the Revolution to Reconstruction, which will be published in March of 2021.

We begin today with the relationship between the US’s capacity to grow cotton through slave labor and the rise of England’s mass production of textiles. But, through our discussion, we end with the morality of violence, abuse, and torture. It is a hard topic to think about, but it is part of our true story.

Questions for Clergy and Group Leaders

How did plantation economics create wealth in both the South and North so that Northern Democrats formed a coalition with Southern planters?
How did the massive expansion of the British Empire in the 19th century contribute to the expansion of slavery in the United States?
Describe the economics of cotton planting from the planter’s perspective. Why did slavery expand in the Deep South but in other regions?
Who provided the financing for theKing Cotton's acquisition of land and enslaved labor?
How did mid-Atlantic enslavers convert slave assets to Deep South land assets or cash? How did the death of plantation owners commonly affect their enslaved persons?
Describe how the 'whipping machine' drove improvements in cotton plantation productivity.
How does our dehumanizing behavior entrench a perverted morality?

Show Notes

[2:07] - In the previous episode, we ended with the image of a slave coffle. Craig describes where we left off with about 100 slaves being transported to new states in the Southwest territory.
[2:56] - Kate explains the relationship between the US’s capacity to grow cotton through slave labor and the rise of England’s mass production of fabric and textiles.
[4:25] - Craig shares how this relationship between the US and Great Britain was not part of his early education. Although they were portrayed as enemies, in fact they were both competing and collaborating with cotton being at the center of production.
[5:27] - The British were investing in the American economy in many different ways. Kate gives examples and describes the phenomenon of seemingly wealthy plantation owners on the verge of bankruptcy.
[6:45] - Kate says, “Another factor of this which we often don’t think about is the familiarity of a lot of the financial instruments that people relied on at that time.” During this time, planters had insurance policies on slaves that are similar to financial systems used to this day.
[9:16] - One of the aspects of the economic development of the American South is the question of banking and the availability of credit in the South.
[9:56] - Planters needed to deal with banks and middlemen to receive loans to buy seeds and slaves. Kate reminds us of the seasonality of the cotton enterprise.
[11:07] - Kate describes the complex nature of this financial system and how the planters were financially sophisticated. They were on the cutting edge of finances and agricultural technology of the time.
[12:13] - Craig shares that this aspect of the time period fascinated him as he revisited this topic as an adult.
[13:43] - Law had to be created for specific scenarios involving slaves, including what happens to them if the slave owner died and the status of a child born to a slave.
[14:37] - Maryland and Virginia became very self-sufficient in the sale of slaves and developed a very sophisticated slave trade market. Craig compares the system to that of selling and managing livestock.
[16:10] - There is a lot of evidence that slave owners did not understand slaves to be the same as livestock. Kate references a book called Soul by Soul by Walter Johnson that shows the human connection in this commodification.
[18:01] - The process of commodification is never complete. People simply do not comply with that and they’re always showing signs of their humanity and desires that they do not accept what is happening.
[19:05] - Eventually, cotton prices plummet and planters turn to their records and see their slaves as commodities to sell. Families were coldly split apart during this time.
[20:07] - Planters were invested in slaves and when the cost of feeding and clothing the enslaved people on their plantation exceeded the profit they were able to make off their labor, they sold them.
[21:29] - Another instance when slaves were put up for auction was when a slave owner died. Kate describes how this worked and how the sale of human beings became a way to pay off the debt of a deceased plantation owner.
[22:37] - Craig references the movie 12 Years a Slave and the sexual exploitation and code language in the female slave market.
[24:01] - There was a huge rise in cotton productivity that Craig explains was not due to agricultural technology, but instead through the use of extreme intimidation, cruelty, torture, and humiliation in slave labor.
[26:19] - Craig also shares a story and quotes the author about a slave owner who kept record of the productivity as a result of his torturing those who picked the cotton.
[28:02] - Slavery was founded on violence. Kate explains how you cannot own people and use them in the way they were being used without the use of violence.
[29:23] - Kate addresses the impact of this violence, not only on those who were enslaved, but on the owners as well. It was perverting of their morality and worldview.
[30:08] - Kate compares this system of violence as a volcano that slave owners were sitting on. They had tremendous power, but they were also afraid and vulnerable.
[31:07] - The abuser debases himself as he debases another person. This is applicable to present day, as Craig explains that our morality is perverted any time we treat another person as something beneath us.
[33:40] - It is hard to think about how white people used violence and torture of other human beings to increase productivity and profit. But since it is part of our true story, we need to learn to deal with it.
[34:51] - In next week’s episode we will continue our discussion, but will pivot to the conversation about our quest for justice as experienced in the Northern states, also with our guest Dr. Kate Masur.

Links and Resources

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