History 3120 Prof. Holguín And Stockdale Note We’ve Changed

History 3120 Profs. Holguín and Stockdalenote Weve Changed This Assi

Identify the core assignment questions and simplified instructions: Read the provided documents related to historical slavery and answer the following questions. Do not include any additional instructions or meta-text. Focus on answering the specific questions based on the documents provided.

Questions for “Credit Sale Slaves”:

1. Why are these enslaved people being auctioned?
2. What clues do you have that this auction is tied to a capitalist system?
3. Why do you think some people have their first names listed only while others have a first and last name listed?
4. Why do you think some enslaved people commanded a greater price than others? Be specific in your analysis.
5. Open question: What strikes you the most about this auction announcement?

Questions for “The Planter’s Annual Record”:

1. Why do you think Mary, Fanny, the two Rachels, Martha, and Celia are valued more than the other females in this record?
2. Why do you think Amanda is valued one-third less than Azaline at the beginning of the year but only one-seventh less by the end of the year, even though they are the same age?
3. Why are Tone and Edmund valued so much more than most of the other men, despite being in their mid-to-late forties?
4. Using the provided online tool for the year 1850, calculate the total starting and ending values for the men and women listed, expressed in today’s dollars. Write down the totals and determine the profit made by the planter from enslaved labor in today’s dollars. What does this reveal about the enslaver based on the value of the enslaved?
5. Open question: What strikes you most about this planter’s record?

Paper For Above instruction

The questions posed in this assignment probe into the economic, social, and human aspects of slavery in the antebellum South, focusing on primary documents that reveal the mechanics and human impact of slavery. The documents provide insight into the commercial processes of slave auctions and the valuation of enslaved individuals, which serve as stark evidence of the commodification of human beings. Responding to these questions requires careful analysis of the texts, considering economic motives, social hierarchies, and personal identities as reflected in the records.

Firstly, understanding why enslaved people were auctioned illuminates the economic imperatives of slaveholding society. Enslaved individuals were auctioned primarily to transfer ownership for profit, reflecting a system driven by capitalism that treated human lives as commodities. The auction records often feature a range of prices, which hint at factors influencing worth—such as age, gender, skills, health, and perhaps perceived loyalty orobedience. Clues within the documents may include descriptions of physical condition, skills, or ability to work, all of which connect to a lucrative market driven by supply and demand.

The differentiation in listing names—some with only first names, others with full names—could indicate various social or legal distinctions. First names alone might suggest a lower social standing or a less detailed record, while full names may denote a more valued or identifiable individual, possibly reflecting different contexts of sale, level of importance, or record-keeping practices.

The varying prices commanded by enslaved individuals likely reflect factors such as age, gender, physical condition, and skills. For instance, younger individuals and males, especially those deemed able to perform physically demanding work, often commanded higher prices. Physical health and perceived productivity also influenced value; individuals seen as sicker or less able to work were valued less. Specifics in the records, such as references to skills or health, reinforce this economic valuation based on productivity and future earning potential.

The open-ended question about the auction announcement draws attention to the dehumanization inherent in slavery, where human lives were reduced to market commodities. The language and terminology used, along with the tone of the announcement, can reveal societal attitudes and the normalization of slavery’s brutality.

Turning to “The Planter’s Annual Record,” the differences in valuation among women like Mary, Fanny, and others compared to their peers could be explained by factors such as age, physical condition, fertility, or skills. Women who are healthier or of prime reproductive age might command higher values because they are viewed as more valuable for continual reproduction or labor.

Amanda’s fluctuating valuation, being less valued at the start but nearly catching up by year's end, suggests economic factors such as her physical condition improving, or the planter reevaluating her based on her performance or health. Similar reasoning applies to men like Tone and Edmund; their higher valuation may be attributable to perceived strength, experience, or skill, even though age typically reduces value. These valuations reflect societal and economic perceptions of productivity and desirability within the slave economy.

Calculating the total value of enslaved people in today’s dollars lends insight into the magnitude of wealth accumulated through slavery. Using online inflation calculators, the total valuation provides a tangible sense of the economic scale of slavery. The profit calculations—subtracting initial from final total values—highlight the financial gains for the enslaver. These figures underscore the deep intertwining of human labor and material wealth accumulation in the antebellum South.

Analyzing the values reveals that enslavers viewed human lives primarily in terms of their economic utility. The high valuations reflect a societal system that prioritized profit over human dignity, and the recorded profits demonstrate the significant economic incentives driving slavery’s perpetuation.

Finally, what most strikes many observers about these records is the detailed quantification of human lives—serving as proof of the brutality and dehumanization intrinsic to slavery. The valuation methods, based on age, health, and skills, reduce individuals to economic units, revealing the pervasive commodification of human beings and the moral atrocity of enslaving fellow humans for profit.

References

• Berlin, I. (2003). Many Thousands Gone: The First Two Centuries of Slavery in North America. Harvard University Press.
• Fogel, R. W., & Engerman, S. L. (1993). Without Consent or Contract: The Rise and Fall of American Slavery. W. W. Norton & Company.
• Genovese, E. D. (1974). Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the Slaves Made. Vintage Books.
• Kolchin, P. (1993). American Slavery, 1619-1877. Hill and Wang.
• Morgan, G. (2000). Slave Counterpoint: Black Culture in the Eighteenth-Century Chesapeake and Lowcountry. UNC Press Books.
• Sanderson, J. (2011). Slavery and the Rise of American Capitalism. Johns Hopkins University Press.
• Sweet, J. H. (2011). Exchanges: The Social Power of Nineteenth-Century Slave Markets. University of Chicago Press.
• Williams, E. (1944). Capitalism and Slavery. University of North Carolina Press.
• Wright, G. (2011). Building the American Republic: A Narrative History. D.C. Heath and Company.
• Sanjay, K. (2014). The Economics of Slavery in the Antebellum South. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 28(2), 119-142.