yes, I knew about New York City's intimate relationship (as a trading hub and financial center) with the slave South during the antebellum period. But New York was not the entire North. Even though it was the largest US city in 1860, that does not make NYC a microcosm for the entire area from Maine to Minnesota. (The mayor of NYC during much of the Civil War was a "copperhead" Democrat, i.e., very sympathetic to the South.) Nor does Foner's snapshot of NYC capture the long-term trends seen the North as a whole, i.e., the developing links between the Northern industry and Midwestern farmers.
Of course NYC didn't "need" slavery! Protected by tariffs after 1861 (and helped by war contracts), it could develop in a more industrial direction, away from being so dedicated to trade and finance. It could also benefit from the debt peonage of the ex-slaves, as Louis points out. by the way, the Washington op-ed has been posted to pen-l three times. On Sun, Mar 31, 2013 at 11:06 AM, Louis Proyect <[email protected]> wrote: > On 3/31/13 1:59 PM, Jim Devine wrote: > > The lack of economic connection between the North and South > > "In the years just before the Civil War, it was customary for > anti-slavery writers and speakers to refer to New York City as 'the > prolongation of the South' where 'ten thousand cords of interests are > linked with the Southern Slaveholder.' If, by some magic, one of the > countless visitors to the 'World of Tomorrow' had suddenly been > transported back to the New York World's Fair of 1853, he would have had > no difficulty in discovering the reasons for these remarks. Had he > arrived in the city late in June or early in July, he would have noticed > that the lobbies of the Astor, St. Nicholas, Fifth Avenue, St. Denis, > Clarendon, and Metropolitan hotels were thronged with Southern merchants > and planters. The pages of the morning and evening newspapers, he would > have observed, were filled with advertisements addressed to these > Southerners, urging them to visit this or that store, to inspect the > latest assortments of dry goods, hardware, boots and shoes, and other > types of merchandise… > > > "Had the visitor remained in the city until September, he would have > seen the daily departures of packets for the South, burdened with huge > cargoes of dry goods, boots and shoes, hardware, clothing, liquors and > even fruits, butter, and cheese. The same vessels, he would have > noticed, soon returned to New York, this time loaded with cotton, > tobacco, tar, resin, turpentine, wheat, pork and molasses. By the time > our visitor was ready to return to the Twentieth Century, he should have > been quite ready to agree that New York was 'almost as dependent upon > Southern slavery as Charleston itself.' Perhaps he might even have > agreed with James Dunmore De Bow, who said in reply to a query by the > London Times, asking, 'What would New York be without slavery?'" > > --Philip Foner, "Business and Slavery: The New York Merchants and the > Irrepressible Conflict" > _______________________________________________ > pen-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l > -- Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante.
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