Transcript Alabama`s Role in Economic Support of the Confederacy

Alabama’s Economic Support
of the Confederacy
Between Alabama's statehood in 1819 and the Civil War in
1861, the economy of the state was based in agriculture.
Plantation Economics
• On a 1,000-acre plantation, a third might be planted in cotton as
a cash crop. Timber, pastureland, buildings, and gardens would
cover the remaining acreage.
• Supplies for the plantation would be ordered through the
plantation’s factor (representative) in Mobile who also sold the
cotton as an agent of the owner.
• Planters usually bought yard goods (material), tools, and foods
such as coffee, tea, flour, and sugar through their factors
because these items were not produced on the plantation.
• Farm animals were usually purchased locally.
Yeoman Farming
• Two-thirds of the farmers in Alabama in 1860 were not planters,
but yeoman farmers who seldom were slave owners.
• These farmers raised cotton as cash crop, grew their own food,
and raised cattle.
http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org
Alabama’s Antebellum Textile Industry
Although most of Alabama’s cotton was exported
as raw material to textile manufacturers in the
North and in Europe, Alabama did have fourteen
mills by 1860. Two of the largest of these mills
were in Tallassee and Prattville.
•Daniel Pratt had established a gin mill in
Autauga County which manufactured 1500
cotton gins per year. Additionally, he produced
wool and broadcloth, providing this cloth to the
Prattville Dragoons for uniforms.
•Tallassee mills became a supply center for
cotton cloth for Confederate uniforms.
http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org
http://www.contactez.net/g
urleyalabama/JamesMaso
n.html
Tallassee Manufacturing Company in 1860
http://216.226.178.196/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/photo&CISOPTR=3046&CISOBOX=1&REC=1
Alabama’s Antebellum Metal Manufacturing
By 1850, there were 16 furnaces, forges and
foundries in Alabama. By 1860, there were 4
furnaces making pig iron, 4 foundries making cast
iron, and 27 manufacturers making sheet iron, tin,
and copper products. These products were for
agricultural and domestic consumption.
Alabama was fortunate to have a mineral district
that could provide the raw materials necessary for
the production of iron.
Although Alabama was lacking in railroads and
roads, Selma had railroad access to the iron ore
and furnaces in the mineral district.
http://cartweb.geogra
phy.ua.edu
Alabamians
hoped that
secession could
be accomplished
peacefully, but
the possibility of
the North’ s use
of military force
to preserve the
Union made war
preparations
necessary.
http://216.226.178.196/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/photo&CISOPTR=3732&CI
SOBOX=1&REC=11
Josiah
Gorgas
Josiah Gorgas, a Pennsylvania
native, came to live in Alabama
after his marriage to Amelia
Gayle, the daughter of a former
governor. As the South began
to prepare for war, he was
made Chief of the Bureau of
Ordnance for the Confederacy.
Although he was adept at
selecting the right men for the
right jobs, his true talent was
logistics. He excelled at
getting what was needed, where
it was needed, and when it was
needed. The Confederate Army
never lost a battle because it
lacked munitions.
http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org
Gorgas Transforms and Expands
Existing Domestic Industry
Throughout the new
Confederate states,
Gorgas expanded
existing industries;
established new
armories and foundries;
found alternative
sources for saltpeter, a
key ingredient in the
production of
gunpowder; and created
a huge gunpowder mill at
Augusta, Georgia.
http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org
The Rise of Selma as a War-Time
Manufacturing Center
In 1861, Colin J. McRae, a former Mississippi
legislator, secured a contract with the Confederate
government to cast cannon and erected a foundry at
Selma.
Selma Arsenal and Naval Gun Works, 1865 (Frances Lanier Portrait).
Selma became the most important site for
munitions production in the Lower South
• When New Orleans fell to
the Union in April 1862, the
arsenal in Mount Vernon,
Alabama, was moved to Selma
because it was deemed a
safer location.
• By the end of the Civil War,
the industrial complex at
Selma was producing nearly
all of the war materials for
the Confederate troops.
• Pieces produced at Selma
included the 6.4 Brooke
cannon which weighed more
than 10,000 lbs.
• Selma is also believed to
have cast 11 of the 11-inch
Brooke smoothbore cannons
that weighed more than
20,000 pounds.
http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org
Brooke Cannon
selmaala.blogspot.com
Picture of restored Brooke Cannon located in front of
City Hall in Selma, Alabama
The Bullets of Selma
.577/.58 caliber
Enfield or rifle
musket
.69 caliber rifle
musket
.44 and .36
caliber Colt
army & navy
round balls
.54 caliber
Mississippi
or Austrian
rifle
Alabama had a number of iron works which
produced pig iron used in the arms production
in Selma.
• The iron works at
Tannehill produced more
than 22 tons of pig iron
a day during the Civil
War.
http://www.alaironworks.com/
http://digital.archives.alabama.gov/cdm4/item_viewer.p
hp?CISOROOT=/photo&CISOPTR=4450&CISOBOX=1
&REC=2
Products of the Selma Confederate Naval
Yard
The gunboats Gaines, Selma, and Morgan were
built and outfitted in Selma. They, along with the
CSS Tennessee, engaged the United States Navy in
the Battle of Mobile Bay.
http://americancivilwar.com/tcwn/civil_war/Navy_Ships/CSS_Selma.html
CSS Tennessee
http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/images/h60000/h60335.jpg
CSS Tennessee
•
The hull of the CSS Tennessee,
an ironclad ram, was laid down in
Selma in 1862.
•
The iron mail of the Tennessee
was three thicknesses of 2” by
10” plate.
•
She was commissioned in
February of 1864, after which
she was towed to Mobile to be
engined and armed.
She had two fatal flaws:
1. The engines which were
salvaged from a riverboat
were not powerful enough.
2. The steering chains were
placed outside the armored
deck making the chains
vulnerable to attack.
•
One imposing aspect of her
armament was a hot water
attachment to her boiler for
repelling boarders, throwing one
stream from forward of the
casemate and one aft.
•
Battle of Mobile Bay, 5 August 1864
Engraving from artwork by J.O. Davidson depicting CSS Tennessee in
the center foreground, surrounded by the Union warships (from left to
right): Lackawanna, Winnebago, Ossipee, Brooklyn, Itasca, Richmond,
Hartford, and Chickasaw. Fort Morgan is shown in the right distance.
http://americancivilwar.com/tcwn/civil_war/Navy_Ships/CSS_Tennessee.html
Another Alabama Contribution:
The World’s First Submarine
H. L. Hunley, inventor and builder
of the CSS Hunley submarine
The CSS Hunley became the first
submarine to sink a warship.
http://www.history.navy.mil/branches/org12-3.htm
http://216.226.178.196/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISORO
OT=/photo&CISOPTR=5070&CISOBOX=1&REC=1
The Greatest Contribution
Manpower was Alabama’s
most significant contribution
to the Confederacy.
While estimates vary,
Alabama sent between
90,000 and 120,000
men to serve in the
army and navy of the Confederacy.
Private Calvin Munroe
http://216.226.178.196/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISO
ROOT=/photo&CISOPTR=5281&CISOBOX=1&REC
=17
When the Civil War began, United States military
leaders were forced to choose between their loyalties
to their state and region and their sworn loyalty to the
United States. Many talented military leaders chose to
defend the South. One of the most prominent of these
leaders was Virginia’s Robert E. Lee.
http://216.226.178.196/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/photo&CISOPTR=7544&CI
SOBOX=1&REC=2
General James Longstreet
was one of Lee’s most
prominent generals in the Army
of Northern Virginia, until he
was made a scapegoat for
the South’s defeat at
Gettysburg .
Although he was not a native
Alabamian, he was living with his
mother in Alabama when he
received his West Point
appointment.
http://216.226.178.196/cdm4/item_view
er.php?CISOROOT=/photo&CISOPTR
=6505&CISOBOX=1&REC=2
The “Gallant” Pelham
Alabama-born Lt. Colonel
John Pelham was a favorite
hero of generals and his
men. He had the ability to
be at the right place at
the right time with his
guns ready and aimed in
the right direction. General
dubbed him the “gallant”
Pelham after the battle
Fredericksburg.
http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org
http://216.226.178.196/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISO
ROOT=/photo&CISOPTR=4960&CISOBOX=1&REC
=3
Commander Raphael Semmes
http://www.history.navy.mil/library/onli
ne/cssalabama.htm
After serving in the Mexican War,
Semmes settled in Mobile where
he was commissioned a
Confederate Navy commander in
1861. Semmes captured 18 Union
ships as commander of the Sumter
before taking command of the
CSS Alabama in 1862. Until her
sinking by the USS Kersage off
the coast of France, the Alabama
terrorized U. S. merchant ships
taking 69 prizes all over the world.
Alabama Provided the Confederacy
with Four Major Generals
John H. Forney
Fought in Virginia and
later at Vicksburg
Henry D.
Clayton
Commanded a
regiment in Gen.
Braxton Bragg’s
Kentucky Campaign
Jones M.
Withers
Commanded at
Vicksburg
Assigned to
defenses at
Mobile
Robert Rodes
Raised Warrior
Guard
Commanded at
Manassas
Photos courtesy of Alabama Department of Archives and History
Alabama Also
Commissioned 36
Brigadier Generals
Among the more famous
of these were:
•
•
•
•
•
Edmund Pettus
Charles M. Shelley
Edward Asbury O’Neal
Pinkney D. Bowles
Archibald Gracie
(Shown beginning with top
row, left to right)
Photos courtesy of Alabama Department of Archives and History
Alabama’s economic contribution to the war effort was
significant. Alabamians, both black and white, were
adversely affected by the war because it left the state in
ruins. The Civil War was a defining moment in Alabama
history having profound effects on Alabama’s future.
http://www.alabamaheritage.com/vault/UAburning.htm
The ruins of the Rotunda at the University of Alabama after it was
burned by Union forces led by Croxton.