3
Section
The Antebellum
Economy
As you read, look for:
• the workings of the plantation system,
• transportation improvements in antebellum Louisiana,
and
• vocabulary terms exports, factor, canal, internal improvements, and manifest destiny.
Louisiana’s economy grew in spite of the political unrest. The plantation system had already been well established by the Creoles. The American newcomers bought existing plantations or created new ones along the Mississippi River.
These plantations created some of the wealthiest people in America.
Section 3
Below: Antebellum New
Orleans was a bustling port
and came to be called the
“Queen City of the South.”
The Antebellum Economy
285
Lagniappe
The typical plantation had
between ten and twenty-five
slaves. Only the largest sugar
plantations had hundreds of
slaves. The majority of whites
in antebellum Louisiana did
not own slaves.
Below: Houmas House in
Ascension Parish was
the state’s largest sugar
plantation.
The profitable plantation economy relied on the port city of New Orleans.
The only larger United States port was New York, and only three world ports
had a larger export volume. (Exports are goods sent or sold to another country.) New Orleans was the state’s commercial urban center.
Banking
New Orleans also developed as the banking center for Louisiana. The growing economy required investment capital (money that could be put into or
loaned to businesses to help them grow). People needed loans to buy land.
Those who operated businesses or plantations needed to borrow money to pay
expenses.
The factor system developed partly from the planters’ need for quick financial and business assistance. A factor is a commercial agent. The factor represented the planter in the sale of a crop and earned a percentage of the profit.
During the year, the factor might advance money to the planter for various
expenses. Some factors also represented the planter by buying needed goods
and sending them to the plantation. If the planter needed a large loan, the
factor often agreed to repay the loan if the planter could not. The plantation
economy made many factors as wealthy as the planters.
The early banks in Louisiana were sounder than those
in much of the United States, but they could not avoid
the national banking crisis of 1837. Many who had borrowed money to pay for land could not repay their loans.
Louisiana dealt with these banking problems through new
banking laws and provisions in the constitutions of 1845
and 1852. By 1860, Louisiana banks ranked among the
best. Those banks supported the business interests and
the plantation system.
Agriculture
Cotton became a profitable southern crop when Eli
Whitney designed an efficient cotton gin in 1793. The
gin (short for engine) removed the cotton seeds from the
cotton fibers, a time-consuming task when done by hand.
Once cotton could be ginned quickly, more cotton was
grown and more slaves were needed. Long grown in Louisiana, cotton soon became a major cash crop.
The Plantation System
Louisiana wanted a share of this wealth. Both large
plantations and small farms could produce cotton. A
farmer could grow a few acres of cotton, sometimes with
just the help of his family. As profits increased, the farmer
bought more land and planted more cotton.
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Chapter 9 Louisiana’s Antebellum Era: Riches and Repression
Factories in the North and in Great Britain turned the South’s cotton into
cloth. Industrial progress—steam engines, automatic spinning machines, and
power looms—made it easier and cheaper to produce cloth, which increased
the demand for cotton. While not quite spinning gold from straw, growing cotton
created great riches.
The boom in agriculture was not limited to cotton. Sugar plantations made
even more profits than cotton plantations, but they required a larger capital
investment of workers and equipment. The South Louisiana climate was perfect for growing sugar cane. Sugar was the main plantation crop in the West
Indies. Immigrants from that region brought their sugar-producing skills to
Louisiana.
An invention by Norbert Rillieux, a free man of color from New Orleans,
revolutionized sugar production, just as the cotton gin increased cotton production. Rillieux invented a vacuum pan evaporator for refining sugar. This
invention resulted in finer, whiter sugar with a huge reduction in costs and
labor. The device made the crop even more profitable.
One of the richest sugar planters was John Burnside of Houmas House
in Ascension Parish. He owned over 98,000 acres of land and 1,000 slaves. His
Section 3
Above: St. John Plantation
was a sugar plantation in
St. Martin Parish. Note
the factory buildings on
the right.
The Antebellum Economy
287
Spotlight
Rosedown
Plantation
Louisiana’s beautiful plantation homes have long attracted tourists to the state. For many years, the
focus was on the elegance of the house and the
lifestyle of the plantation owners. Today, awareness
grows that plantation life has a history as layered as
the soil that is studied in the archaeological digs
exploring these sites. The contributions and the lives
of the hundreds of slaves who lived on large plantations are being researched through archaeology, historic documents, and living history experiences.
The state of Louisiana has purchased several plantation homes as part of its historic preservation and
tourism program. The latest is Rosedown in St.
Francisville. Rosedown was one of several large cotton plantations along the Mississippi River.
The people who settled in the Feliciana parishes
were mostly Anglos who came from the British colonies. The style of Rosedown shows this connection
with the Atlantic Coast because it resembles the
Carolina Tidewater style. The house was built from
local cypress, but many of the construction materials were imported. Marble for the fireplaces and fine
furniture were brought from Europe especially for
this house.
The gardens were as formal and elegant as the
house, with many exotic imported plants. The last
family members who lived in the house, four sisters
who were descendants of the original owner, loved
these gardens and struggled to maintain the many
acres that had been planted a century earlier.
Today, the gardens and the house have been
restored and are visited by thousands of tourists
every year.
288
Rosedown Plantation in St. Francisville is an
Anglo-style plantation (above). The main house
contains much original furniture (opposite
page, top left). The kitchen has its own vegetable
garden (opposite page, top right).
Chapter 9 Louisiana’s Antebellum Era: Riches and Repression
Section 3
The Antebellum Economy
289
Top: Laura Plantation in
Vacherie is a Creole-style
plantation. Bottom: The four
slave cabins on the grounds
were built in the 1840s.
290
huge plantation made him very wealthy and enabled him to live the lifestyle
usually associated with the plantations. For example, guests were offered portable bathtubs filled with water and blocks of ice to provide relief from the
muggy Louisiana heat. At the time, ice was an expensive luxury that had to be
brought from northern lakes. Steamboats carried the ice, packed in sawdust,
to Burnside’s landing on the Mississippi River.
Chapter 9 Louisiana’s Antebellum Era: Riches and Repression
Slave Labor
Behind this view of luxury was another scene. Slavery supported this lifestyle
and economic structure. Not only did slaves provide the labor in this economy
but it was their status as property that made slave owners wealthy. Slave labor
produced the plantation crops. But slaves also did basic manual labor, worked in
the plantation houses, and performed skilled tasks. Workers such as blacksmiths
Section 3
Above: The dining room at
Laura Plantation. Opposite
page, middle: This bedroom
is less ornate but brightly
decorated.
The Antebellum Economy
291
and coopers (barrel makers) were valuable assets. These skilled slaves were often
hired out; field hands too might be hired out to bring in crops.
Plantation owners hired overseers to supervise work. Some slaves were selected
to be drivers and were held responsible for the work of other slaves. The work
day usually was from “can to can’t,” meaning from daylight (“can see”) to dark
(“can’t see”). A bell or horn started their work day before dawn. Every hour was
structured to produce as much work as possible and to control the slaves. They
were allowed to leave the plantation only with permission and a written pass.
Punishment was used to keep order in this rigid system. Slaves were disciplined when they stole, ran away, or did not work. Documents from the time
show that the punishment varied from fairly mild to extremely cruel. Whipping was the most common form of punishment.
But even under the best conditions, the slave system was paternalistic. A
plantation owner with this attitude felt responsible for the slaves but still controlled all aspects of their lives. A journalist from the North visited Richard
Taylor’s Fashion Plantation in Ascension Parish and said he found the best
conditions he had ever seen for slaves. But he also learned from the carriage
driver that the good treatment did not lessen the slaves’ desire for freedom.
Above: The hardest jobs
were those of the field
hands. Women often worked
the fields. Right: Some
slaves were skilled workers
such as carpenters. Others
worked inside the home,
such as this maid. Opposite
page, above: These preserved
slave cabins from a Louisiana
plantation are exhibits at the
LSU Rural Life Museum.
Opposite page, below: Slaves
were considered property and
were bought and sold at
auctions, as seen in this
engraving of the Rotunda in
New Orleans.
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Chapter 9 Louisiana’s Antebellum Era: Riches and Repression
Farmers
Slave-holding plantations dominated Louisiana’s antebellum economy. But more than 71 percent of the white population did not own slaves.
These people included merchants, skilled crafters,
professionals, laborers, and small farmers.
While the planters’ goal was profit, the small
farmers were mainly concerned with feeding their
families. Generally, the small farmers owned just
enough land to raise crops for their own use.
Sometimes the farmers had excess crops that they
could sell for cash. The farmers and their families provided the labor.
Farmers also raised cattle and hogs. The animals were branded or had their ears notched for
identification and were allowed to roam the nearby woods. The corn crop helped
feed these animals as well as the farm families. In fact, the basic farm diet was
often described as “hog and hominy” (hominy was a dish made from corn).
The small farms were basically self-sufficient. But peddlers traveled to isolated farms, bringing goods the farm could not provide. Coffee and sugar were
two of the prized items purchased from these traveling salesmen.
Section 3
The Antebellum Economy
293
Above: Steamboat travel was
the main method of transport along the Mississippi
until the coming of the
railroads in the late 1870s.
Lagniappe
By the 1850s, about three
thousand steamboats docked
at New Orleans each year.
294
Transportation
Imagine a ten-mile trip taking six days. This was not uncommon on the
roads of antebellum Louisiana. Wagons pulled by teams of oxen often had to
struggle through deep, muddy ruts on the wilderness roads. Rural residents
urged the state government to improve roads because they needed the access
to markets. But rainfall and the Louisiana soil made road-building difficult. In
1827, the first road-improvement bill funded the road from Covington through
Washington Parish to Mississippi.
Water travel was always easier than trying to build a road. The coming of
the steamboat in the early nineteenth century made water travel faster.
Water Travel
The steamboat became the main transportation in Louisiana. Not only did
the steamboats travel the state’s rivers, but they also transported freight through
canals, manmade waterways that connected Louisiana’s rivers and bayous.
The first canals were dug by private investors (people who risked their own
money on a project) who charged users a fee. Later, banks and the government
funded canals in New Orleans and outside the city. In 1831, a special bank was
organized to build the New Basin Canal in New Orleans.
Water-filled Louisiana required another major improvement. A levee system
was needed to protect the plantation economy. From the time of the French
colony, the government had required landowners to build and maintain their
Chapter 9 Louisiana’s Antebellum Era: Riches and Repression
own levees. Now, the demand for governmentfunded levees became a major political issue.
In 1832, the state created the Board of Public
Works, which gave special attention to waterways,
including levees. In 1856, the board developed a
system of levee districts to maintain the levee by
sections. These districts made some efforts, but not
as much as was needed. The Civil War, however,
halted further efforts for flood control.
Railroads
The political and economic focus on internal
improvements (roads, bridges, canals, and other
transportation needs) increased with the coming of the railroad. The Pontchartrain Railroad was
the first railroad west of the Alleghenies. Begun
in 1831, the six-mile-long track ran between New
Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain.
Passengers on the earliest railroads in Louisiana paid a 25-cent fare for an exciting but not always pleasant ride. The train
often slipped off the unstable tracks. Getting the train going again required
the passengers’ help. Other obstacles were common. One traveler described in
graphic detail the cow that was run over by the train.
Building and improving the railroads cost huge sums of money, but New
Orleans needed those railroads to compete with the North. As the demand for
the railroads increased, the state and the city of New Orleans helped finance
the railroad building. By the 1850s, three major railroad lines had been funded
in this way. One line was planned to link New Orleans with Nashville, another
was to run westward from New Orleans to Texas, and the third line was to connect Shreveport and Vicksburg. The building of these railroads was slowed by
the Panic of 1837 and completely stopped when the Civil War started.
Check for Understanding
✓
1. What was the only port larger than New Orleans in the
antebellum United States?
2. What were the duties of a factor?
3. What effect did Norbert Rillieux have on Louisiana
agriculture?
4. What was the major means of transportation in antebellum
Louisiana?
Section 3
Map 31
Transportation
in Antebellum
Louisiana
Map Skill: How might a
traveler get from Shreveport
to Vicksburg?
Lagniappe
Passengers jokingly
complained about the
Pontchartrain Railroad
by calling it the
“Smoky Mary.”
The Antebellum Economy
295
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Americans believed the entire continent waited for
their arrival. This idea was labeled manifest destiny, from a column by journalist John L. O’Sullivan.
He wrote of “the fulfillment of our manifest destiny
to overspread the continent allotted by Providence
for the free development of our yearly multiplying
millions.” This attitude led the United States into
war with Mexico.
Mexico had gained its independence from Spain
in 1821. Texas, then a colony of Mexico, was a vast,
296
Above: The Battle of Chapultepec Castle was the last
battle of the Mexican War.
unpopulated area. The Mexican government offered
Texas land to Americans willing to become Mexican
citizens and Catholics. The plan backfired when the
Americans in Texas decided they too wanted their
independence.
The Texas Revolution was fought in 1835-1836,
and Louisiana volunteers joined that fight. After
Chapter 9 Louisiana’s Antebellum Era: Riches and Repression
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gaining its independence, Texas declared
itself a republic but hoped to join the United
States. Southerners supported Texas’s admission—as a slave state. But those who opposed slavery opposed admitting Texas to
the Union.
The issue became part of the presidential election of 1844. Democrat James K.
Polk was elected on a platform stressing
manifest destiny. His victory convinced Congress that the country wanted Texas annexed.
Texas officially became a state on December 29, 1845. Because of the annexation,
Mexico broke off diplomatic relations with
the United States.
Relations were also strained because the
boundary between Mexico and Texas was
disputed. Was it south to the Rio Grande
River, as the United States claimed, or was
it 150 miles farther north at the Nueces
River, which was Mexico’s claim? Louisianian John Slidell went to Mexico to negotiate this conflict and to try to buy Califor-
Above: “News from the Mexican War Front” shows how
interested people were in the war. Left: General
Zachary Taylor won major victories at Monterrey and
Buena Vista. In the war, New Orleans was a center
of much activity as General Taylor assembled many of
his forces there.
nia and New Mexico. When Slidell’s efforts failed,
President Polk ordered General Zachary Taylor to move
the American army from the Nueces River to the Rio
Grande. The United States would either force negotiations or force war.
Mexico considered Taylor’s move an act of war, and
Mexican troops fired on Taylor’s army. The war began in April 1846. Sixteen months later, the war
ended with an American victory. Zachary Taylor became a national hero and was later elected president. His victorious army included many future Civil
War generals on both sides, including Ulysses S. Grant
and Robert E. Lee.
Section 3
The Antebellum Economy
297