Mistakes the southern states made during the antebellum period.

THE FAILURE OF THE SOUTH

Mistakes the southern states made during the antebellum period

The southern states made a lot of mistakes that would ultimately lead to their downfall

A simple organization of them looks like this

Black holes of southern failure

Societal flaws

Bad communication

antagonismLack of

collective security

Societal flawsThe south suffered from many societal flaws. Failure to develop infrastructure and heavy industry being the worst of these. During the civil war, they would pay for this as they lagged behind the north in every category but cotton production. Since there weren’t lots of jobs, immigrants didn’t come and since little industry existed, the infrastructure for transportation was woefully undeveloped.

More societal flaws

On top of that, the soil they used had been farmed for several decades. They weren’t adding new states so they couldn’t keep up with the north. They tried to expand slavery to keep their political power but this caused conflicts with northerners, like the violence in Kansas. Their militancy also put off potential supporters.

AntagonismThe slavery forces also antagonized northerners who might have otherwise supported them.

Slavery took jobs that poor whites would otherwise have had. This led to people in Kansas banning all African Americans from it.

The Fugitive Slave act also enraged and motivated northerners to action. It did a lot to spur the abolitionist movement into becoming unified and organized.

The drift between the sides

was made evident by the

action in Kansas. The

militants on both sides fought

it out and more moderate

people were forced to take

sides.

The south created enemies through its choices

No collectivismThe south showed a depressing ability to consistently fail to work with like minded people.

Splitting Democratiumm

Democratic party

Southern Democrats

Southern idiocy

Thus Lincoln got elected

Result of Lincoln getting elected because the south split Democratium

The Abe-tomic bomb

Northern Democrats

More lack of collectivismEven during the civil war that followed as a direct result of their decisions, the south continued to prove their talent for not banding together.

The southern states refused taxes that were necessary to pay for the war and were hesitant to send troops to help the confederate government, in fear of a slave rebellion. Not sending troops was a serious blow to the confederacy, since they were already outnumbered by the union.

There is a serious problem if they couldn’t band together in the middle of a war for the very institution they fought so long for.

Reserved for governors

Southern case for slavery

Linguistic

A better case for slaverySlavery kept blacks from otherwise dominating the labor market with their cheap labor. It also generated immense national wealth and supported tens of thousands of people in occupations like: north-south delivery, textile mills, and international shipping.

Slavery

Transportation

Textile mills

delivery

An easy way to make the north see how much slavery was needed would be to declare a moratorium on cotton production. How much demand will there be to end slavery when widespread unemployment happens as a result of no raw materials? The textile mill owners would rush to capitol hill to lobby for slavery.

An even better case for slavery

The southern slave system was a naked version of the northern system. The question does have to be asked: are northern factory workers better off than slaves?

Northern factories could pay employees in credits only redeemable at the company store. Thus they have no money and can’t leave because the company hasn’t been compensated for what they bought with money. It’s a catch-22: you get paid in credits and have no money, but in order to leave you have to pay the company money ( which you don’t have)

Wonderful quotes from The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

They were beaten; they had lost the game, they were swept aside. It was not less tragic because it was so sordid, because it had to do with wages and grocery bills and rents. They had dreamed of freedom; of a chance to look about them and learn something; to be decent and clean, to see their child grow up to be strong. And now it was all gone—it would never be! They had played the game and they had lost. Six years more of toil they had to face before they could expect the least respite, the cessation of the payments upon the house; and how cruelly certain it was that they could never stand six years of such a life as they were living! (14.7)

There were the wool-pluckers, whose hands went to pieces even sooner than the hands of the pickle men; for the pelts of the sheep had to be painted with acid to loosen the wool, and then the pluckers had to pull out this wool with their bare hands, till the acid had eaten their fingers off

More quotes from The Jungle

for the other men, who worked in tank rooms full of steam, and in some of which there were open vats near the level of the floor, their peculiar trouble was that they fell into the vats; and when they were fished out, there was never enough of them left to be worth exhibiting,--sometimes they would be overlooked for days, till all but the bones of them had gone out to the world as Durham's Pure Leaf Lard!

"Yes," said the other; she was bending over, lacing her shoes as she spoke. "He was working in an oil factory--at least he was hired by the men to get their beer. He used to carry cans on a long pole; and he'd drink a little out of each can, and one day he drank too much, and fell asleep in a corner, and got locked up in the place all night. When they found him the rats had killed him and eaten him nearly all up."

So, is slavery worse than this?

To sum it up, the south’s mistakes backed them into a corner which could only end in their defeat: give in to northern opinion and end slavery or fight a civil war. They chose the civil war.