Introduction to America's Rigged Democratic System and Systemic Racism: (eBook)

Chapter 4

Overarching Structural and
Cultural Factors

This chapter was designed to highlight overarching structural and cultural factors that existed prior to and following the ratification of the Constitution that provided the foundation for slavery and institutional discrimination. Data and information that focused on geographical determinants, tax policies, North-South compromises, constitutional amendments, technological advancements, and Supreme Court rulings were reviewed.

Regional Economies

Distinct economies emerged in the colonies, influencing demands for cheap labor. Settlers took advantage of locations, climates, and natural resources in different regions to produce goods or services for both domestic and foreign markets.

Northeast or New England

The economies of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and other northeastern coastal ports included shipbuilding for England, fishing, and ironworks. For the most part, demand for labor was not nearly as intense as it was in the more southern colonies.

Mid-Atlantic

According to official geological maps, what is now defined as Mid-Atlantic states are the following: Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and portions of New Jersey, New York, and North Carolina. Among mid-Atlantic colonies, cereal crops, including corn, wheat, barley, and oats, proliferated for both domestic and export. Forestry and small manufacturing also emerged as profitable sectors.

Southeast Atlantic Colonies

The southern states that formed the Confederacy had soils and climate perfect for growing different agricultural products detailed as follows: Virginia and Maryland (tobacco); North Carolina (forestry/pine); and South Carolina and Georgia (rice and indigo). The former requires large tracts of cleared land and a huge and reliable supply of water. Growing and harvesting rice was labor-intensive; incidentally, some African slaves had mastered rice production including elaborate irrigation systems back in their homelands. However, there was not a huge demand for rice globally and transporting the perishable product posed insurmountable challenges at the time.

An examination of regional economies prior to the ratification of the U.S. Constitution provided some additional context for conflicts between northern and southern lawmakers. Agricultural enterprises well suited for southern climates and soils required an enormous pool of free or extremely cheap labor to quickly acquire profits and wealth. In comparison, northeastern economies were composed of primarily small industries and agricultural enterprises.

Slaves as Real Estate Property

To fully understand and appreciate the negative impact of the U.S. Constitution on the plight of African slaves and their descendants, Americans must first examine the status afforded them prior to and following the ratification. A PBS series entitled Africans in America chronicled the institutionalization of chattel slavery in the colonies. The Virginia General Assembly in 1705 was credited with passing the model legislation:

“All servants imported and brought into the Country...who were not Christians in their native Country...shall be accounted and be slaves. All Negro, mulatto and Indian slaves within this dominion...shall be held to be real estate.”19

The framers of the U.S. Constitution did not address state laws governing chattel slavery. So, by default, slavery was deemed as a constitutional right of southern plantation owners.

Federal Budget and Slavery

The newly formed federal government was challenged to generate revenue to fund its operations. Several taxation schemes were proposed including the following:

“(1) in proportion to population, (2) according to land value, and (3) according to the value of all property. A motion to apportion state obligations based on all property except household goods and apparel failed. Finally, it was agreed that states’ obligations would be based on the estimated value of lands and improvements. In reality, each state was responsible for a fraction of the federal budget, and they had the freedom to decide how the funds were generated.” 20

Subsequent tax codes varied by state and regions. Some levied taxes on real estate and personal property. In the South, taxes were levied on African slaves. The newly formed Union was desperate for revenue and southerners wanted states’ rights to enslave Africans. Clearly, the need for tax dollars can help explain how such a powerful and majestic social contract could turn a blind eye to literally millions of enslaved Africans.

Familial Wealth and Slavery

A fact that is often evaded or ignored related to motivations of slave owners was that slaves generated more than profit or monetary wealth. Evidence uncovered during the investigation suggested that slaves helped to boost the social status of residents. In the South, familial status, prestige, and wealth were measured in terms of number and quality of slaves owned instead of size of plantations. Ownership of slaves was a status symbol. During the time frame in question if cotton was “white gold,” then slaves were “black gold.”

Legacy of Slave-Based Taxation

An article entitled “A Permanent Wound: How the Slave Tax Warped Alabama’s Finances” described how slave taxes were assessed. In Alabama and Louisiana, taxes were assessed for each slave by age. Those below ten were assessed at twenty-five cents and those older were assessed at one dollar; additionally, in Louisiana their schedule on slaves included age and sex. In comparison, Georgia assessed taxes on slaves equal to the value of one hundred acres of land. 21

The slave tax had both intended and unanticipated consequences. Tax revenues generated by slaves were used to satisfy federal government support obligations and to fund states’ operating budgets. Without slave-based tax revenue, southern states could not adequately fund their militaries.

Fugitive Slave Act of 1793

Clearly, the U.S. government supported and aided chattel slavery in the South. The first Fugitive Slave Act, which made running away or escapes by slaves a criminal offense, was passed by the U.S. Congress in 1793. The law gave slave owners the right to hunt and recapture run-away slaves. Moreover, it made slavery a life sentence in the U.S.

Cotton Processing Technology

Initially, cotton was not the preferred cash-crop in the South because it required enormous manual labor to complete a host of jobs: clearing and cultivating the land; planting seeds; weeding, chopping, picking and cleaning the cotton; removing seeds; storing and shipping bales; and spinning and weaving finished products. Cotton became “king” only after innovations came online including the spinning jenny and water and steam powered processing technologies that made textiles of higher quality at a lower cost. Arguably, those technologies fueled the surge in the global demand for cotton and the importation of slaves to southern states. This was the first time in U.S. history in which the introduction of technology increased the demand for African slaves and their descendants.

Eli Whitney was credited with the design and fabrication of the first mechanical cotton gin in 1794. His invention made processing cotton, which included separating the seeds from the fiber, less labor intensive and time consuming thus increasing its net value exponentially. Historians estimated that a pound of clean cotton (seedless fiber) took about ten hours to process by hand. In comparison, the gin was able to boost production to roughly a thousand pounds of cotton per day.

Southern plantation owners saw the demand for raw and cleaned cotton abroad, which is the equivalent to the global demand for smart phones today. They were willing to do whatever was necessary to meet the seemingly insatiable demand for cotton. The thirst for wealth and riches blinded white southerners’ awareness of them becoming grossly outnumbered by their slaves. Like staffing at overcrowded county jails, at times, the ratio of free white to African slaves was 1 to 50.

Being drastically outnumbered could have facilitated fears and stress/strain among plantation owners and staff. As a result, one possible mode of adaptation was to employ cruel and unusual treatment to increase productivity, deter escapes, and thwart potential slave revolts.

Vertical Integration and Cotton

Slave labor made a lot of folks rich. The range of benefactors was vast, but a majority of the focus has invariably been directed towards plantation owners. Business and economic analysts often provide a graphic showing the vertical integration or sequential development stages in the life of a finished product. In terms of cotton, farmers produced the raw fiber that generated income at each successive stage until products were sold at retail centers.

The cotton industry had a variety of stakeholders. As such, a lot of people’s fortunes were dependent on cotton grown and harvested by slaves. Benefactors or investors resided in both the North and South, free states, and slave states.

Locally, cotton gin equipment suppliers and gin owners supported cotton farmers. Of course, banks flourished as they made loans to farmers and related businesses. Bales...