Historical Dictionary of the Old South

03-370 (1) Front 3/18/04 12:51 PM Page ii 05-341 (01) FM.qxd 10/18/05 6:03 PM Page i Historical Dictionaries of U.S. Historical Eras Jon Woronoff, Series Editor 1. From the Great War to the Great Depression, by Neil A. Wynn, 2003. 2. Civil War and Reconstruction, by William L. Richter, 2004. 3. Revolutionary America, by Terry M. Mays, 2005. 4. Old South, by William L. Richter, 2006 05-341 (01) FM.qxd 10/18/05 6:03 PM Page ii 05-341 (01) FM.qxd 10/18/05 6:03 PM Page iii Historical Dictionary of the Old South William L. Richter Historical Dictionaries of U.S. Historical Eras, No. 4 The Scarecrow Press, Inc. Lanham, Maryland • Toronto • Oxford 2006 05-341 (01) FM.qxd 10/18/05 6:03 PM Page iv SCARECROW PRESS, INC. Published in the United States of America by Scarecrow Press, Inc. A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706 www.scarecrowpress.com PO Box 317 Oxford OX2 9RU, UK Copyright © 2006 by William L. Richter All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Richter, William L. (William Lee), 1942– Historical dictionary of the Old South / William L. Richter. p. cm. — (Historical dictionaries of U.S. historical eras ; no. 4) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-8108-5074-5 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Southern States—History—1775-1865—Dictionaries. I. Title. II. Series. F213.R53 2006 975'.03’03—dc22 2005018801 ∞™ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992. Manufactured in the United States of America. 05-341 (01) FM.qxd 10/18/05 6:03 PM Page v To the memory of Miss (that’s pronounced Mee izz, for you Yankees) Elizabeth Tarver of Holly Springs, Mississippi, the quintessential Southern Belle, and my favorite librarian, who could effortlessly enunciate the phrase “thank you” in the five syllables God surely intended for it to have, and musically drawl the word “Mississippi” into a luxuriously full sentence. 05-341 (01) FM.qxd 10/18/05 6:03 PM Page vi 05-341 (01) FM.qxd 10/18/05 6:03 PM Page vii Contents Acknowledgments ix Editor’s Foreword Jon Woronoff xi Chronology xiii Introduction 1 THE DICTIONARY 31 Select Bibliography 383 Appendixes A. U.S. Governments during the Antebellum Era, 1790–1861 447 B. U.S. and Confederate Governments during the Civil War, 1861–1865 451 C. The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, 1781 453 D. Constitution of the Confederate States of America, 1861 465 E. Constitution of the United States of America as of 1860 487 About the Author 507 vii 05-341 (01) FM.qxd 10/18/05 6:03 PM Page viii 05-341 (01) FM.qxd 10/18/05 6:03 PM Page ix Acknowledgments A lot of people over the years contributed to this volume. Thirty years ago at Louisiana State University, the magnificent interpretations of Charles B. Dew and T. Harry Williams did much to give a factual basis to my innate love of the South and its historical ironies. John L. Loos and James L. Bolner at LSU, John W. Clark while a visiting professor from Kansas University, and Otis E Young from Arizona State Univer- sity opened up the constitutional and economic sides of America’s past. Several mentors, James E. Sefton from the California State University at Northridge, Burl Noggle, Robert Holtman, and James G. Zeidman from LSU, and Ron Smith from ASU, took an interest in my career early on and have unselfishly helped me countless times. And I am es- pecially grateful to Paul Hubbard, my original advisor at ASU, whose stimulating classes and friendship opened up the world of nineteenth century American history for me. Jon Woronoff at Scarecrow suggested the topic, got me started, and along with Kim Tabor, April Snider, and Niki Averill, kept me on the straight and narrow. Ginger Cullen and the rest of the staff at the main library of the University of Arizona provided critical help in finding needed resources, as did my friend D. Robert Altschul, professor emeritus in geography at the U of A, who suggested several books and articles I might have otherwise missed. My very dear friend, Diana L. Rubino, graciously provided much needed editorial assistance in producing the final draft. As usual, my wife Lynne’s constant support and love have been essential. To these people belongs whatever merit this work possesses. ix 05-341 (01) FM.qxd 10/18/05 6:03 PM Page x 05-341 (01) FM.qxd 10/18/05 6:03 PM Page xi Editor’s Foreword It is rather hard to get a fix on the Old South since one is assailed with so many versions of it. They range from edulcorated visions of high- minded planters and happy slaves to nasty ones of mean-minded whites, whoever they may be, and workers (black and also white) pushed as far as they can go and further. Both visions were probably right, in some cases, and wrong in even more, and the more likely range was some- where in the middle. Moreover, much of what happened probably had less to do with who they were intrinsically than the rather special situa- tion they were placed in, the “system” if you will. Thus, it is heartening to find a book which covers the whole ground, from the extremes to the middle, and explains how the political, economic, and social structures influenced those living in the Old South. Even more surprising, and welcome, is that this book, although encyclopedic in form, is nonethe- less written in such a manner that one can develop a real feeling for the time and place and people. To understand the Old South, it is necessary to see how it evolved over time—never being exactly the same Old South from one genera- tion or even decade to another. This is best conveyed by the introduction. But there were certain continuities, none stronger than the institu- tion of slavery and the rivalry with the North, both of which can be traced through the chronology. The Old South, perhaps more than many other communities, was strongly influenced and imprinted by people, with the more prominent—if not always quite admirable—appearing in numerous dictionary entries. Others deal with crucial events, political parties and movements, legislation and Supreme Court decisions, and essential economic and social features. There is no end to what can and has been said about the Old South, with a literature that continues ex- panding from year to year, so the bibliography is a good starting point for those who want to learn more. xi 05-341 (01) FM.qxd 10/18/05 6:03 PM Page xii xii • EDITOR’S FOREWORD The Historical Dictionary of the Old South was written by William L. Richter, who also wrote the Historical Dictionary of the Civil War and Reconstruction, which could advantageously be consulted on certain aspects of the Old South. Dr. Richter has also written several other books on this region and this period, most of them more scholarly but one a novel. Unlike the vast majority of our authors, while an academ- ically trained historian, he is retired from having operated his own horseshoeing business. This may explain why he is able to combine the basic facts, the same ones we can all find in the history books if we look hard enough, with an insight into the persons and events that goes a bit further than we may be used to and enlivens this latest edition to the series of Historical Dictionaries of U.S. Historical Eras. Jon Woronoff Series Editor 05-341 (01) FM.qxd 10/18/05 6:03 PM Page xiii Chronology 1781 1 March Articles of Confederation ratified. 1783 20 January Treaty of Paris effective, ending American Revolu- tionary War. 15 April Congress ratified Treaty of Paris. 1784 23 April Territorial Ordinance proposed 10 states equal to the original 13 be created out of the cis-Mississippi west with slavery pro- hibited after 1800. Never adopted in Congress, it became the basis of the Northwest Ordinance in 1787. 23 December New York City made temporary capital of United States. 1785 28 March Mt. Vernon conference between Virginia and Mary- land over navigation of the Chesapeake Bay and Potomac River. So successful that Pennsylvania added, then Delaware, then a new conference called for Annapolis. 20 May Land Ordinance of 1785 created the rectilinear survey system used in all territories from here on out, estab- lishing base lines, townships, and sections. 20 July Jay–Guardoqui Treaty negotiations began. Considered anti-Southern, its disapproval in Congress within the year led to the requirement that two-thirds of the Senate was to approve all treaties in the new Constitution. 1786 16 January Virginia statute for religious freedom adopted. 7 August Charles Cotesworth Pinckney proposed that Congress amend the Articles of Confederation. 11–14 September Annapolis Commer- cial Convention met but poorly attended so that the delegates agreed to adjourn and meet in Philadelphia the following year with an expanded agenda. 1787 25 May Philadelphia Convention opened.

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