The Sugar Masters

Planters and Slaves in Louisiana's Cane World, 1820--1860

Richard Follett

• Publisher: LSU Press
• Year: 2005
• Print ISBN: 9780807148532
• eBook ISBN: 9780807148525
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: History

Focusing on the master-slave relationship in Louisiana's antebellum sugarcane country, The Sugar Masters explores how a modern, capitalist mind-set among planters meshed with old-style paternalistic attitudes to create one of the South's most insidiously oppressive labor systems. As author Richard Follett vividly demonstrates, the agricultural paradise of Louisiana's thriving sugarcane fields came at an unconscionable cost to slaves.
Thanks to technological and business innovations, sugar planters stood as models of capitalist entrepreneurship by midcentury. But above all, labor management was the secret to their impressive success. Follett explains how in exchange for increased productivity and efficiency they offered their slaves a range of incentives, such as greater autonomy, improved accommodations, and even financial remuneration. These material gains, however, were only short term.
According to Follett, many of Louisiana's sugar elite presented their incentives with a "facade of paternal reciprocity" that seemingly bound the slaves' interests to the apparent goodwill of the masters, but in fact, the owners sought to control every aspect of the slaves's lives, from reproduction to discretionary income. Slaves responded to this display of paternalism by trying to enhance their rights under bondage, but the constant bargaining process invariably led to compromises on their part, and the grueling production pace never relented. The only respite from their masters' demands lay in fashioning their own society, including outlets for religion, leisure, and trade.
Until recently, scholars have viewed planters as either paternalistic lords who eschewed marketplace values or as entrepreneurs driven to business success. Follett offers a new view of the sugar masters as embracing both the capitalist market and a social ideology based on hierarchy, honor, and paternalism. His stunning synthesis of empirical research, demographics study, and social and cultural history sets a new standard for this subject.

INDEX

Acklen, Joseph, 114, 178

Adams, John, 228

Affleck, Thomas, 71, 72, 112–13, 176–77

Age: of slaves, 51, 52–54, 53n11, 56–57, 61, 62, 80, 88

at menarche, 57

of mothers at birth of first children, 68, 69

of overseers, 137

Aggy (slave), 130, 138, 147

Agricultural societies, 17, 39, 41

Aime, Valcour, 25, 36, 62, 91

Alcohol use by slaves, 166–71, 167n19, 191, 198

Andrew (slave driver), 97

Andrews, Ethan, 52–53

Antilles, 48, 127

Ardoyne Plantation, 128–29

Armfield, John, 52–53, 56–57, 58, 59, 61

Arson, 148

Artisans. See Skilled slaves

Ascension Parish, 25, 31, 32, 33, 62, 130, 146

Ashe, Thomas, 19

Ashland Plantation, 184, 205–6

Assembly-line production, 93, 94, 102–3, 105, 120

Attakapas district, 14–15, 21, 32, 39, 82, 83, 104, 127, 143–44, 189, 190

Avoyelles Parish, 21, 31, 82, 83

Bagasse furnaces, 32, 35–36, 109

Banks, 29–30

Baptiste, Jean, 125

Barbados, 134

Barrow, Alexander, 27–28

Barrow, Bennet H., 115

Barrow, Robert Ruffin, 64, 97, 105, 124, 164, 194, 201

Bauer, Craig, 9

Bay Farm, 107, 170

Bayou Lafourche, 135, 188

Bayou Plaquemine, 39, 51

Bayou Sara, 21, 65

Bayou Teche, 14–15, 21, 37, 71, 83, 127, 148, 165, 171

Bayside Plantation, 124

Bellechasse Plantation, 34

Bellevue Plantation, 215

Ben Lomand Plantation, 83

Benjamin, Judah, 34

Benwell, John, 173

Betts, Ellen, 11, 66, 76, 171, 221, 222

Bias, William, 125, 127

Birth control, 75–76

Birth intervals for slave women, 71–73, 109–10

Birthrates of slaves, 50, 64

Black Code (1806), 19–20

Blacksmithing, 125, 127

Boré, Etienne, 17, 22–23

Bowdon Plantation, 130, 146–47

Bowman, J. P., 69, 73, 99, 189

Brackenridge, Henry, 19

Bradburn, William P., 36–37, 107

Brashear, Walter, 68, 80, 177

Brazil, 90

Breast-feeding, 70–72, 74

Breeding of slaves, 49, 55, 58, 58n16, 67–78, 89

Broomfield, Ellen, 188

Brown, Verice, 188

Brulé Plantation, 82

Burnside, John, 3, 85

Butcher, Aaron, 205

Butler, Benjamin, 149

Butler, Edward, 109

Butler, Henrietta, 67–68, 179, 192, 216

Cail, Jean-Françoise, 33

Cairnes, John Elliot, 119–20

Cajuns, 84–85

Canal construction, 39–40

Cane carriers, 104, 107, 130

Cane cutters, 102

Cane sugar industry: production statistics in, 4, 15, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26n13, 83, 99, 125, 128, 164, 165, 172

sabotage and resistance in, 5, 126, 130, 138, 142–49, 142–43n31, 189

and frost damage, 10, 11, 17, 22, 23, 46, 93, 109

and growing season, 10–11, 22, 92–93

overview of sugar production, 10–13

work culture of, 11–13

and grinding season, 12, 13, 46–47, 81–87, 101–6, 130–31, 135, 144–45, 160–62, 209

transformation of, in early nineteenth century, 17–18, 22–23

production costs in, 18, 27–29

revenues and profits from, 18, 26, 27, 34

ecological and environmental problems of, 10, 22–23, 92–93

and varieties of cane, 22–23

and windrowing canes, 22

compared with cotton production, 30–31, 32, 92, 195

open-kettle method of sugar production, 12, 33–34, 36–38

and vacuum processing, 33–37, 128, 129, 149

and timber collection, 35, 200–202, 204, 205

immigrant labor in, 47, 85–86, 91

slave rental for, 81–84, 86–88, 87n46, 89

Creole or Cajun labor for, 84–85

acreage farmed per worker in, 25, 92

distinctive characteristics of, and plantation management, 92–96

planting and cultivating, 99–101

and harvesting season, 101–2, 104–5, 148–49, 159, 172

and cane cutters, 102

after Civil War, 234–37

strikes in, 234–35. See also Mechanization and industrialization of sugar production

Plantation management

Sugar mills

Sugar plantations

Sugar planters

and specific countries

Cane-cutting ritual, 162–63

Capital investment, 28–37, 42, 88

Capitalism, 4n2, 6–8, 9, 150

Caribbean, 8, 10, 11, 25, 27, 43–44, 50, 71, 92, 93, 127–28, 134, 135

Carondelet, Baron de, 203

Carpentry, 84, 118, 123, 124, 125, 209

Carter, Farish, 54

Cartwright, Samuel, 105, 161

Catalpa Grove, 83

Chapman, A. J., 35

Charleston slave market, 54, 65

Chauvin, Dr., 203–4

Childbearing and pregnancy of slave women, 57, 58, 67–75, 74n32, 89. See also Reproductive potential of slaves

Children. See Slave children

Cholera, 190–91

Christianity, 226–32, 227n35

Christmas feasts and rewards, 5, 139, 152, 155–60, 163–66, 168, 170–72

Churches. See Religion

Claiborne, William C. C., 18

Clay, Henry, 26–27

Clinton, Catherine, 58

Clothing of slaves: and gender division of labor, 100–101

as incentive, 132, 160n12, 166, 171, 172

slaves’ purchase of, 212–15

inadequacy of, provided by planters, 215

for dancing, 221, 222, 223, 225

Coffee industry, 92

Colbert (slave), 127, 128, 138

Colbert, Jean Baptiste, 127

Collins, Robert, 113

Colomb, Octave, 83

Commissary, 123, 195, 216

Compensation systems. See Incentives for slaves

Wages

Congo, Peter, 124–25, 138

Conrad, Frederick, 83

Constancia Plantation, 182, 201–2

Contraception, 75–76

Cooks, 112, 113

Coopering skills, 118, 123, 125–26, 128

Corn production, 202–5, 211, 212, 217

Cornelius, Catherine, 96, 166, 188–89, 231

Cost: of sugar production, 18, 27–29

cotton prices, 21, 44

sugar prices, 21, 26, 27, 34, 44

of farm machinery, 31, 32, 33

of multiple-effect evaporator, 34

of bagasse furnace, 35–36

shipping costs, 39

slave prices, 50, 60–61, 64, 87, 125, 127, 188

of slave rental, 86–88

value of skilled slaves, 118, 125, 127

of medical care, 189

corn prices, 203, 204–5, 212

Cotton production, 21, 30–31, 32, 42, 44, 62, 69, 72–73, 83, 92, 100–101, 195

Craftsmen. See Skilled slaves

Crane, Andrew, 84

Credit and debt, 28–30, 37

Creoles, 84–85

Cuba, 25, 27, 43–44, 49, 51, 84, 85n44, 90, 104, 134, 182

Dakin, James H., 35

Dance, 165, 171, 213, 219, 220–26, 228, 229–30. See also Music

Dardenne, Eugenie, 51

De Bow, James, 17

De Bow’s Review, 30, 35, 112n24, 113, 114, 178, 186, 190–91

De Buiew, Edward, 74, 232

Deaths of slaves, 74, 175, 191, 192, 194

Deballièvre, Jean, 118–19, 122–23

Debt. See Credit and debt

DeGruy, Master, 68, 166

Demerera, 134

Demographics of slaves. See Slave demographics

Derosne, Charles, 33

D’Estrehan, Jean Noel, 17–18, 22–23

D’Iberville, Achille Sigur, 118

Diet. See Food for slaves

Discipline of slaves. See Punishment of slaves

Diseases. See Illnesses

Divorce, 80, 80n40

Doby, Frances, 68, 71, 166, 220

Doctors. See Medical care

Douglass, Frederick, 119, 168, 169

Doyal, Henry, 62

Doyle, H. G., 107

Durnford, Andrew, 51, 85–86, 139

Dusinberre, William, 6, 160n12

Dymond, John, 124, 231

Edwards, Bryan, 49, 198

Elia Plantation, 154

Ellendale Plantation, 147–48

Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 119

Engerman, Stanley, 6, 56, 95, 128n11

Engineers and engineering skills, 123, 124, 125, 127, 136

Erwin, Isaac, 85, 106, 171–72, 173

Eureka Plantation, 107, 128

Factories. See Industries in North

Fagot, Samuel, 86, 201–2

Familial and kin networks of slaves, 53, 64, 65, 68–69, 79–80, 79n39

Farm machinery, 31, 32, 33

Fertility. See Childbearing and pregnancy of slave women

Reproductive potential of slaves

Field work by slaves, 25, 26n13, 48, 55, 70–71, 73–75, 74n32, 91–92, 96–102

Fleischmann, Charles, 16

Fletcher, Rebecca, 70, 75, 192

Flint, Timothy, 91, 114–15

Florida, 56n13, 65

Fogel, Robert, 6, 56, 57n14, 95, 120, 128n11

Food for slaves: as incentive, 5, 131, 132, 151, 159–62, 160n12, 165, 166, 171, 172

and nutritional deficiencies, 77–78

insufficient amount of, for hired slaves, 84

and centralized meal services, 112, 113

in grinding season, 131, 160–62

seasonal variations in, 159

holiday meals, 165, 171, 172

and garden plots of slaves, 202–3, 205–6, 211–12

slaves’ purchase of, 215

Ford Motor Company, 103

Forest Home, 157–58

Forstall, Edward, 25, 36

Fortier, Alcée, 220–21, 223

Fourth of July holiday, 172–73

Fox, Tryphena Holder, 74

François (slave), 118, 119, 122–23, 124, 127, 138

Franklin, Isaac, 52–53, 56–57, 58, 59, 61

Frederick (Weeks’ slave), 125, (Lanaux’s slave), 215–16, 217

Free blacks, 51, 124n7

Free labor. See White laborers

Frogmoor Plantation, 99, 112, 168

Fugitive slaves. See Runaway slaves

Gabriel, 134

Gang labor, 95–100, 139–40, 142

Garden plots, 202–3, 205–6, 211–12

Garner, Bill, 126, 138, 209

Gay, Edward, 86–87, 106, 126, 207–9, 210, 219

Gender: division of slave labor by, 47–50, 99–100, 127–28

of slaves on sugar plantations, 47–69, 88–89

and slave prices, 60–61, 64

of slaves on cotton plantations, 62

and hired slave wages, 87

family gender roles, 154n4. See also Reproductive potential of slaves

Slave women

Genovese, Eugene, 6–7, 121, 153n3, 155n6

George, Ceceil, 46, 55, 70, 176, 184, 214–15, 219

George, Octavia, 60, 198

Gillman, Samuel, 35

Gordon, Martin, 82, 204

Grand Cote Island and Plantation, 14–16, 25, 124–25, 144, 148, 164, 189

Grand Marais project, 39–40

Grinding season, 12, 13, 46–47, 81–87, 101–6, 130–31, 135, 144–45, 160–62, 209. See also Harvesting season

Guitlot, Master, 67

Habitation Pointe aux Chenès, 50

Haidee, Emily, 216

Haiti, 134

Hamilton, Douglas, 65

Hamilton, John A., 143, 173–74

Hamilton, William, 231

Hamilton, William B., 44–45, 65, 107

Hampton, Wade, 117, 202

Hanna, James J., 128

Harris, Mary, 179

Harvest home festivities, 159–60, 169–72, 219–21

Harvesting season, 101–2, 104–5, 148–49, 159, 172. See also Grinding season

Health care. See Medical care

Hebert, Euphiman, 84

Heitmann, John, 9

Herbal remedies, 188

Hewitt, L., 144

Hidden action scenarios, 138–39

Hidden information problems, 139

Highland Plantation, 115

Hill, Peter, 174

Hines, Elizabeth, 70, 161, 184

Hired slaves, 81–84

Hite, Elizabeth Ross: on breeding of slaves, 67

on infant care, 70–71

on punishment of slaves, 176, 178

on medical care, 188, 193

on cleaning slave cabins, 191

and household economy of slaves, 211–12, 217

on dancing by slaves, 221, 222, 225

religion of, 226–30, 232

Hoe gangs, 99–100

Hog Point, 107

Holidays. See Christmas feasts and rewards;

Harvest home festiviti...

Table of contents

• COVER
• TITLE PAGE
• COPYRIGHT PAGE
• CONTENTS
• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
• ABBREVIATIONS
• PROLOGUE: THE SUGAR MASTERS
• ONE: “A SHARE OF AMBITION”
• TWO: “HEATHEN PART O’ DE COUNTRY”
• THREE: “AN INTELLIGENT EYE”
• FOUR: “A VERY INGENIOUS AND MECHANICAL MAN”
• FIVE: “MEN OF SENSE”
• SIX: “INCHIN’ ALONG”
• EPILOGUE
• BIBLIOGRAPHY
• INDEX