Record #:

21570

Author(s):

Forret, Jeff

Abstract:

This article examines changes and imbalances in the Southern social structure as seen through the lens of the antebellum gold mining boom in North Carolina. The first efforts to mine gold in western North Carolina in 1803 utilized slaves to search for gold, and expansion of the gold mining industry in the late 1820s increased the demand for laborers sending thousands of slaves to the mines. Slaves were then working alongside whites, thus challenging the basic tenets of the Old South's stratified society. Additional stress was brought by the introduction of white, foreign mine workers into several operations, further complicating the Southern class and social systems, particularly in the influx of a white, working social class that had no interest in slavery or slaveholding.

Source:

North Carolina Historical Review (NoCar F251 .N892), Vol. 76 Issue 2, April 1999, p135-162, il, map, f Periodical Website

Subject(s):

Gold mines and mining--Slave labor

Record #:

21664

Author(s):

Forret, Jeff

Abstract:

This article examines the often violent relationship between slaves and poor whites in the antebellum Carolinas. In poor white communities, the ideal of honor was very important to a man's standing in the community. When a poor white man was not respected in his community, he still demanded respect in the black community, often using force to achieve it.

Source:

North Carolina Historical Review (NoCar F251 .N892), Vol. 81 Issue 2, Apr 2004, p139-167 , il, f Periodical Website

Subject(s):

Race relations

Record #:

21631

Author(s):

Forret, Jeff

Abstract:

This article examines the Whig accusation of misappropriated funds that drove the Democratic-appointed superintendent of the US Branch Mint at Charlotte, John Hill Wheeler from office in 1841. The debate began as minor allegations of unnecessary spending for the mint grounds but developed in debates regarding the spoils system. The Whigs, while publically condemning this practice, used their actions to assert their right to benefit from political patronage.

Source:

North Carolina Historical Review (NoCar F251 .N892), Vol. 77 Issue 2, Apr 2000, p151-178 , il, por, f Periodical Website

Subject(s):

North Carolina--Politics and government