Questions for On Slavery’s Border

1. What made the upper Louisiana territory—Missouri--- different from the other regions in the South? Explain the influence of the French and Spanish in upper Louisiana. Why, according to Burke, was slavery unique in Missouri? Most slaves in Missouri were part of a small slaveholdings on farms rather than hundreds of slaves and many plantations. Slaveholders in Missouri were of lesser means and this dominated a slave culture that was much different than most of the others in the South. 19- french and Spanish architecture and physical layout of upper LA had French influence
The Spanish opened navigation of the Mississippi and encourages people to move to upper lA.
The population of Upper Louisiana in 1772 was made up of 38 percent slaves. They played a major role in colonial life by working in homes, fields, mines and businesses. However, unlike Lower Louisiana, this was done on a much smaller scale.
It was said that the benefits of living in Upper Louisiana came not from the law but from the milder climate. The whole state of Louisiana was influenced by French and Spanish rule. The Code Noir affected both slaveholders and slaves. The law was also heavily influenced by the Catholic Church..

The small number of slaves led to a more intimate relationship. This both benefitted and harmed slaves though emotional and physical abuse. The benefits were that since owners worked with slaves that authority was weakened and gave them resistance opportunites.

Farmers produced cash crops on a smaller scale and practiced diversified agriculture

2. From where did migrants predominantly come? Describe the settlers in terms of class and race. Why did large slaveholders not move to Missouri in large numbers? What affect did migration have on the master/slave relationship in Missouri? Did reality align with migrants’ expectations of the frontier? Migrants 5
Large numbers 25``
Large slaveholders ddi not come to Missouri because of the lack of extensive cotton production. The 180-day average growing season was shorter than optimal.
Many also didn’t migrate because slaves were more likely to escape to freedom than in the Deep South
From 1821-1860 there were large migrations from Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Virginia to Missouri.
The migrants who came to Missouri were of lesser means. They were mostly farmers and planters with less than 20 slaves. Many came from backcountry regions of the Upper South and therefore had little to no experience in full-scale plantation culture. Because of the small slaveholdings, when families migrated to Missouri it often caused slave families to be split apart. This was a devastating blow to slave families. Many white women and children were also not happy about moving because it was completely the male’s decision.

There were three classes of people: transient: who squatted on land and moved on as settlement encroached; Many of these people had no slaves and were in sparsely populated places and were forced off their land. They had few economic sources

temporary landowners, who viewed land as a fluid commodity to be sold when better prospects beckoned elsewhere; saw Missouri as a stopping point and established owners, who viewed Missouri as their permanent home.
Many people’s expectations of Missouri were not met. Many thought the woodlands were more fertile than the prarie’s. Many had to wait for harvest season once they got there
The wetlands were not as fertile as they had thought
Most believed the rewards of the new land outweighed the initial hardships, or so they would say to entice family members into joining them.
3. Discuss small slaveholders’ family strategies. How did they differ from the planter elite? What was the role of education? They wanted lives similar to their old ones but better. Many wanted to leave areas with big competition among other slaveholders. Women were meant to be their children’s teacher