Blog #5

Blog #5

Nick Mitterando

The first reading talks about James Henry Hammond and his time as a plantation owner. Hammond started out as a plantation owner who mainly grew and sold cotton. In 1831 Hammond quickly became one of the wealthiest men in the state owning over $90,000 in assets. However, his yield over the next four years would be only $775. He would try many things to fix this, but things only got worse as cotton prices dropped even lower in the coming years. Cotton was only worth about 6-7 cents per pound during this time which made profit close to impossible for Hammond. This was until he discovered the use of fertilizer. He went through many tests and experiments for his fertilizer and ended up with up to 50% more yield from cotton. With cottons prices staying low in 1845 he made the switch to corn as his main crop. As cotton prices rose again, he made the switch back to cotton. Hammond ended his career of making the plantation as efficient as a factory by purchasing a ton of swamp land for a very good deal. Here he would continue to experiment and grow corn and cotton. He had to first clear the 170 acres to make the land farmable, but it would prove to be worth it in profits.

The second reading talks about the business aspect of slavery and the rise of capitalism. The reading says how the early American economy was built primarily on slavery. As the economy evolved so did slavery. “Hands that drew bills of exchange, graded and traded commodities, or trimmed the sails of merchant vessels were as important to the process of slaving as hands that picked cotton or those that grabbed hold of whips, grasped the throats, or groped the loins of African-descended captives.” This shows how almost everything in America was based around slave labor. In 1808 enslaved people were the main category of property that were not allowed to be passed through borders. The slave trade was horrible and often deadly for slaves. While slaves were being mistreated and overworked America was getting richer and more evolved. None of this in my opinion is fair and the author sums it up well by saying “The slavery business thrived on intergenerational theft, displacement, humiliation, and misery”.