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History Of The U.s. Southern States History of the U.S. South American Colonial Era (1607-1790) New England, the South was originally settled by English Protestants, later becoming a melting pot of religions as with other parts of the country. While an earlier attempt at colonization had failed on Roanoke Island in 1587, the English established their first permanent colony at the mouth of the James River in Jamestown, Virginia in 1607. Settlement of the Chesapeake Bay was driven by desire to obtain precious metal resources, specifically gold. The colony was also technically still within Spanish territorial claims (and hopefully the gold reportedly within that territory), yet far enough from most Spanish settlements as to avoid colonial clashes. As the "Anchor of the South", the region includes the Delmarva Peninsula and much of coastal Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware. Early in the history of the colony, it became clear that the claims of gold deposits were vastly exaggerated. Referred to as the "Starving Time" of the Jamestown colony, the years from the time of landing in 1607 until 1609 were rife with starvation and instability. However, Native American support in addition to reinforcements from Britain sustained the colony. Due to continued political and economic instability, however, the Colony of Virginia charter was revoked in 1624. Primary in this revocation was the revelation that thousands of settlers were "gone" and presumed starved after investigations following a 1622 attack by Native American tribes led by Opchanacanough. A royal charter was established for Virginia, yet the House of Burgesses, formed in 1619, was allowed to continue as political leadership for the colony in conjunction with a royal governor. Important for the Virginia Colony and Southern political and cultural development was Governor William Berkeley and his rule over Virginia from 1645 until 1675. His desire for an elite immigration to Virginia led to the "Second Sons" policy, which recruited the younger sons of the English planter elite to emigrate to Virginia. Also, Berkeley emphasized the "headright system", giving large tracts of land to those arriving in the colony. Much of this early immigration would lead to the aristocratic nature of the political and social structure of the South. Rise of tobacco culture and slavery in the colonial South See main article Slavery in Colonial America From the 1613 introduction of tobacco, its cultivation began to form the basis of the early Southern economy. Only later technological developments, especially the Whitney Cotton gin of 1794, allowed greater cotton cultivation. However, until that point, most cotton was farmed in large plantations in the Province of Carolina, and small-scale farming of tobacco was the dominant cash crop export of the South throughout the Middle Atlantic States. The earliest form of slavery in the colonies emerged from the first introduction of slaves in 1619 aboard a Dutch slave ship, until approximately the 1660s when slaves became a better economic labor force than indentured servants. During this period, often life expectancy was low and indentured servants came from overpopulated European areas. With the lower price of servants compared to slaves, and the high mortality of the servants, planters often found it much more economical to use servants. Because of this, slavery in the early colonial period differed greatly in the American colonies from that in the Caribbean. Often Caribbean slaves were worked literally to death on large sugar and rice plantations, while American slaves maintained higher life expectancy and attained a level of natural reproduction. This natural reproduction was important for the continuation for slavery after the prohibition on slave importation in 1808 by Congress. Much of the slave trade was conducted on the basis of the "Triangular Trade", an exchange of slaves, rum, and sugar. Southern planters purchased slaves using rum, made in New England from cane sugar, which was in turn grown in the Caribbean. This slave trade was generally able to fulfill labor needs in the South from the cultivation of tobacco after the decline of indentured servants. At approximately the point when tobacco labor needs began to increase, the mortality of the colonies decreased. By the late 1600s and early 1700s, slaves became economically viable sources of labor for the growing tobacco culture. Also, further South than the Mid-Atlantic, Southern settlers grew wealthy by raising and selling rice, indigo, and cotton. These plantations of South Carolina often became modelled on Caribbean plantations, yet never attained similar size. Divergence of the North and South After the late 1600s, the interests of the manufacturing North and the agrarian South began to diverge, especially in coastal areas. The Southern emphasis on export production contrasted sharply with the Northern emphasis on food production, while bearing marked differences between the two in government, education, and religion. Characterized by an elite hierarchical system, the South began to emphasize a rural system of government. By the mid-1700s, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia had formed as colonies of Britain, along with the later Southern state of Louisiana as a colony of France. For the upper colonies, that is, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, and portions of North Carolina, the tobacco culture prevailed. However, in the lower colonies of South Carolina and Georgia, cultivation focused further on cotton and rice. Louisiana, in contrast, centered around the port city of New Orleans, was economically separate from the British colonies. Also, New Orleans produced a large population of "octaroons", or persons defined as having 1/8 black heritage. Often, these people appeared caucasian, yet were relegated to a lower level of society by the hierarchy of the colony. However, it was possible for free blacks to own slaves, and the city of New Orleans contained many black slaveholders compared to the British colonies. The South in the American Revolution ''For main article, see American Revolution: War in the South Whereas New Englanders tended to stress their differences from the British, Southerners tended to emulate them. Much of this derived from the origins of many Southern immigrants. Much of New England had been populated by East Anglia emigrants, while the more rural and aristocratic western England had supplied settlers for the South. Much of the activity of the Revolution in the lower South surrounded the British belief that Loyalist support would emerge in the South, thereby turning the tide of war in the colonies. However, due to interior non-slave owners and farmers, Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia emerged in support of the Patriot cause. In fact, Southerners were prominent among the leaders of the American Revolution and the Continental Congress, and four of the first five Presidents of the United States were from the Southern state of Virginia. Antebellum Era (1781-1860) After the upheaval of the American Revolution effectively ended in 1781 at the Battle of Yorktown, the South became a major political force in the development of the United States. With the ratification of the Articles of Confederation, the South found political stability, with little federal interference in state affairs. However, with this stability came weakness by design, and the inability of the Confederation to maintain economic viability eventually forced the creation of the United States Constitution in Philadelphia in 1787. Importantly, Southerners of 1861 often believed their secessionist efforts and the Civil War paralleled the American Revolution, as a military and ideological "replay" of the latter. Southern interests retained great control during the Constitutional Convention of 1787, forcing the inclusion of the "fugitive slave clause" and the "Three-Fifths Compromise". Importantly, there was no explicit anti-slavery position in the Constitution at the time of its ratification. In spite of this, Congress retained the power to regulate slave importation 20 years after the ratification of the Constitution, and this resulted in an expected prohibition on slave imports by the Congress, effective January 1, 1808. While the two groups, both North and South, initially thought each other in agreement, they also held deeply rooted differences. After the convention, two emerging understandings of American republicanism came to loggerheads. For the North, a Puritanical republicanism predominated, with leaders such as Alexander Hamilton and John Adams. In the South, Agrarian republicanism formed the basis of political culture. While both attempted to preserve their "way of life" in order to preserve the Union, their methods of this preservation were quite different. While Northern republicans aimed to make better people and thus ensure the survival of democracy, Southerners focused on making better conditions. Led by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, the Agrarian republican position is characterized by the epitaph on the grave of Jefferson. While including his "condition bettering" roles in the foundation of the University of Virginia, and the writing of the Declaration of Independence and the Virginia Statutes on Religious Freedom, absent was his role in the federal government as president of the United States. Southern development of political thought thus focused on the ideal of the yeoman farmer; i.e., those who are tied to the land also have a vested interest in the stability and survival of the government. Antebellum slavery ''See also, History of slavery in the United States Although slavery was legal in many Northern states before the advent of "free states" in the decades following the American Revolutionary War, slavery in the South continued. While large plantations with dozens or hundreds of slaves were rare, and usually found in the Deep South, the vast majority of Southerners never owned slaves. Most were independent yeoman farmers much like their counterparts in the North, and slavery was not part of everyday life for ordinary Southern citizens. Though some in the North felt that slavery was a moral issue, many Northerners felt that the abolition of slavery would be detrimental to economic interests; especially in later decades, a decrease of cotton cultivation could damage the emerging Northern textile industry. In spite of this, the slave system representated the basis of the Southern social and economic system, and thus even non-slave owners often virulently defended it against abolitionism or gradual emancipation. Nullification crisis, political representation, and rising sectionalism See also, Nullification and Nullification crisis The election of federalist John Adams in the Election of 1796 came in tandem with escalating tensions with France. In 1798, the XYZ Affair brought these tensions to the fore, and Adams became concerned about French power in America, fearing internal sabotage and malcontent brought on by French agents. Due to this and repeated attacks on Adams by Democratic-Republican publishers, Adams allowed the passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts. Enforcement of the acts resulted in the jailing of "seditious" Republican editors throughout the North and South, and prompted Thomas Jefferson and James Madison to author the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions of 1798, later known as the "Principles of '98" by nullification leaders. These "Principles of '98" called upon state legislatures to act against unlawful acts of the federal Congress by threat of nullification. While primarily a propaganda document with no legal force, South Carolina leaders of the late 1820s used its premise to support actual nullification. This Nullification crisis came as a result of 1828 tariffs passed as protectionary measures for Northern industry. While Congress agreed to lower the tariff of 1828 in 1832, in that same year the legislature of South Carolina nullified the entire "Tariff of Abominations", prompting a stand-off between the state and President Andrew Jackson, only resolved by the actions of Jackson and a Congressional Force Bill. Later of great importance for the development of secessionist thought, the nullification crisis became a watershed moment in Southern political history. As the population in the North grew from an influx of European immigrants, Northern representation in Congress also grew to a number that made Southern political leadership increasingly uncomfortable. Southerners became concerned that they would soon find themselves at the mercy of a federal government in which they no longer had an effective voice. By the late 1840s, Senator Jefferson Davis from Mississippi stated that this new Northern majority in the Congress would make the government of the United States "an engine of Northern aggrandizement" and that Northern leaders had an agenda to "promote the industry of the United States at the expense of the people of the South." An additional factor that led to Southern sectionalism was the proliferation of cultural and literary magazines such as the Southern Literary Messenger and DeBow's Review. Reference:http://www.columbia.edu/~hah15/H_2004_Poetics.pdf Civil War (1860-1865) For details, see main article American Civil War. The American Civil War of 1861 to 1865 devastated the Old South socially and economically. Before the war, the South was the wealthiest part of the United States. After the war, during the Reconstruction period, the South struggled to rise from poverty and worked to establish a successful economy from the ashes. Richmond, Virginia, the former Capital of the Confederacy, grew quickly mostly due to its railroads, canals, and cutting edge electric trolley system, and later its Federal Reserve Bank. Election of 1860, Secession, and Lincoln's response Fears of a Northern Republican presidential victory became reality after the Election of 1860. With the election of Abraham Lincoln by 40% of the popular vote and without the electoral votes of any Southern state, Southerners viewed their political survival in doubt. Indeed, only 2 of the 996 counties of the South voted for Lincoln. Reference:U.S. presidential election, 1860 Members of the South Carolina legislature had previously sworn to secede from the Union if Lincoln was elected, thus prompting the secession of that state on December 20, 1860. Following South Carolina, the Mississippi legislature voted for secession on January 9, 1861, with Florida on the 10th. Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas followed within the next month. The sitting "lame duck" President, James Buchanan, felt himself powerless to act. Throughout the South, authorities occupied federal arsenals and fortifications without resistance. In the four months between Lincoln's election and his inauguration, the South strengthened its position unmolested. Once in office, Lincoln was initially unwilling to compel the Southern states back into the Union, deciding to allow Southern aggression to promote Northern support for forcible compulsion. When a supply ship was dispatched to federal-held Fort Sumter, in Charleston Harbor, secessionists felt obliged to act. To forestall the resupply of the fort, Rebel coastal artillery batteries opened fire at 4:30 a.m. on April 12, 1861, forcing rapid capitulation of the fort. In response to the attack on Fort Sumter, President Lincoln immediately called upon the states to supply 75,000 troops to serve for ninety days against “combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings.” as a result of this call by the widely unsupported Lincoln for troops to invade another Southern state, Virginia, Arkansas, and Tennessee promptly seceded. Formation of the Confederacy The eleven Southern states that left the Union formed a separate nation, the Confederate States of America. The war that broke out was called the American Civil War in the North, but it was called the "War for Southern Independence," "The War Between the States," and "The War of Northern Aggression" in the South. The variations are indicative of the differing perceptions of the war in the South. The war was fought mostly on Southern lands, which prompts many contemporary Southerners to quip, "There was nothing civil about it." During the war, the pro-Union northwestern region of Confederate Virginia seceded to become the new Union state of West Virginia. Several other Southern states also had areas with strong Union sympathies; generally these were upland areas where plantation-style agriculture and hence widespread slavery had never been feasible. Likewise, many Northern states had regions with Southern sympathies, especially in the border states. Out-gunned, out-manned, and out-financed, defeat loomed over the head of the Confederacy after four years of fighting. Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy, advocated resorting to guerrilla warfare to extend the struggle for an even longer time, but his generals, notably Robert E. Lee, felt the honorable thing to do was to end the war and begin reconciliation with the North. Reconstruction (1865-1877) Abolition of slavery At the outbreak of the war, slavery was legal in the Northern States of Delaware, Maryland, and Kentucky. Slavery was also legal in Washington D.C. and remained legal in the new Union State of West Virginia. On January 1, 1863, as the third year of the war approached, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed slaves in US states not under Federal control. This had several effects to include augmenting the ranks of the Union Army with black soldiers, as well as transforming the character of the war into a crusade for freedom. The Emancipation Proclamation was, however, limited in many ways. It applied only to states that had seceded from the Union, leaving slavery untouched in the loyal border states. It also expressly exempted parts of the Confederacy that had already come under Northern control. Most importantly, the freedom it promised depended upon Union military victory. In 1864, a year before the war came to an end, the Southern States of Tennessee, Arkansas, and Louisiana abolished slavery. Contrary to common belief, the end of the war did not equate to the end of slavery. Slavery still existed in some states until the Thirteenth Amendment of the Constitution passed in December 1865, eight months after General Lee's surrender. The abolition of slavery failed to provide Africans with political or economic equality: Southern states, towns, and cities legalized and refined the practice of racial segregation. For a long period thereafter, well into the 20th century, the South enforced regional white supremacy through Jim Crow laws, segregation, sharecropping, and disenfranchisement. Domestic terrorist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan also plagued African-Americans in both the North and the South. Development and evolution of the "New South" (1877-Present) Sometime after World War II, the old agrarian Southern economy evolved into the "New South" – a manufacturing region with strong roots in Northern-style financial capitalism. High-rise buildings now crowd the skylines of Atlanta, Charlotte, Houston, Dallas, Nashville, and Little Rock. In the 20th century, the South saw an impressive regional outpouring of literature by William Faulkner, Thomas Wolfe, Andrew Nelson Lytle, Robert Penn Warren, Katherine Anne Porter, Tennessee Williams, Eudora Welty and Flannery O'Connor, among others. See also References External links *http://www.columbia.edu/~hah15/H_2004_Poetics.pdf
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