the author, Edward Baptist, was interviewed on "Against the Grain" recently. Excellent program which is archived on KPFA.. Well worth a listen and very credible guest.
Gene On Oct 5, 2014, at 10:01 AM, Joseph Catron <[email protected]> wrote: > On Sun, Oct 5, 2014 at 7:31 PM, Louis Proyect <[email protected]> wrote: > > Unfortunately, slavery in the Upper South, where > cotton was not an economic staple, is barely discussed, even though as > late as 1860 more slaves lived in Virginia than any other state. > > Unadjusted for population, yes, but that doesn't tell us as much about > slavery's role in local economies. As percentages, the 1860 numbers were: > > South Carolina: 57% > Mississippi: 55% > Alabama: 45% > Florida: 44% > Georgia: 44% > Louisiana: 47% > North Carolina: 33% > Virginia: 31% > etc. > > http://www.civil-war.net/pages/1860_census.html > > After the outbreak of war, these figures were used for "the Census Office's > first attempt to map population density" in 1861. > > https://www.census.gov/history/www/reference/maps/distribution_of_slaves_in_1860.html > > On Sun, Oct 5, 2014 at 7:35 PM, Louis Proyect via Marxism > <[email protected]> wrote: > > 'What would New York be without slavery?'" > > I imagine Foner, if not Baptist, gets into the economic motives - made pretty > explicit at the time - behind New York City's secessionist movement? > > "[M]uch of New York’s wealth came from its close ties to the South, a fact > [secessionist Mayor Fernando] Wood emphasized in his message to the Common > Council: 'With our aggrieved brethren of the Slave States, we have friendly > relations and a common sympathy.' Much of the South’s cotton exports passed > through New York, and the city's merchants took 40 cents of every dollar that > Europeans paid for Southern cotton through warehouse fees, shipping, > insurance and profits. Cotton — and hence slavery — helped build the new > marble-fronted mercantile buildings in lower Manhattan, fill Broadway hotels > and stores with customers, and build block after block of fashionable > brownstones north of 14th Street. If seceding Southern states formed their > own nation, New York merchants could expect to lose much of that lucrative > trade. Southerners threatened to blacklist Northern companies they felt sided > too closely with the Union and to unilaterally cancel debts owed to Northern > merchants. New York's elite — and the city’s economy — would be devastated ... > > "While business leaders tried to force the city government to boost the > chances of an independent city and protect their livelihoods, some New > Yorkers were ready to take bold vigilante actions in support of secession. > Leading businessmen even hatched a plot — never carried out — to capture the > government's military property around the city, including ships, forts and > the vast Brooklyn Navy Yard." > > http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/06/first-south-carolina-then-new-york > > -- > "Hige sceal þe heardra, heorte þe cenre, mod sceal þe mare, þe ure mægen > lytlað." > _______________________________________________ > pen-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
