The First American Frontier : Transition to Capitalism in Southern Appalachia, 1700- title: 1860 Fred W. Morrison Series in Southern Studies author: Dunaway, Wilma A. publisher: University of North Carolina Press isbn10 | asin: 0807822361 print isbn13: 9780807822364 ebook isbn13: 9780807861172 language: English Capitalism--Appalachian Region--History, Capitalism--Southern States--History, subject Appalachian Region--Economic conditions, Southern States--Economic conditions. publication date: 1996 lcc: HC107.A127D86 1996eb ddc: 330.974 Capitalism--Appalachian Region--History, Capitalism--Southern States--History, subject: Appalachian Region--Economic conditions, Southern States--Economic conditions. Page ii The First American Frontier Transition to Capitalism in Southern Appalachia, 1700- 1860 Wilma A. Dunaway The Fred W. Morrison Series in Southern Studies The University of North Carolina Press Chapel Hill & London Page iv © 1996 The University of North Carolina Press All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Dunaway, Wilma A. The first American frontier: transition to capitalism in southern Appalachia, 1700-1860 / Wilma A. Dunaway. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8078-2236-I (cloth). ISBN 0-8078-4540-x (pbk.) 1. CapitalismAppalachian RegionHistory. 2. CapitalismSouthern StatesHistory. 3. Appalachian RegionEconomic conditions. 4. Southern StatesEconomic conditions. I. Title. HC107.A127D86 1996 95-2790 330.974dc20 CIP 00 99 98 97 96 5 4 3 2 1 Publication of this book has been supported by a generous grant from the L. J. Skaggs and Mary C. Skaggs Foundation. Page v To Donald Armour Clelland professor extraordinaire It is no small thing to have given your life to liberation of the world through the vehicle of teaching and inspiring those who go forth. Page vi Page vii Contents Acknowledgments xv 1. The Transition to Capitalism on American Frontiers: 1 Toward a Paradigm Shift 2. Slaves, Skins, and Wampum: 23 Destruction of Southern Appalachia's Precapitalist Mode of Production, 1540-1763 3. Settlers, Speculators, and Squatters: 51 Competition for Appalachian Land Resources, 1790-1860 4. The Poor Man Had No Chance: 87 Formation of a Landless Agrarian Semiproletariat 5. Makin' Do or Chasing Profits?: 123 The Agrarian Capitalism of Southern Appalachia 6. Diggers of the Country: 157 Industrial Production for Export 7. The Spatial Organization of External Trade 195 8. The Pervasive Reach of Global Commodity Chains 225 9. Appalachian Communities and Noneconomic 249 Articulation with the Capitalist World System 10. Economic Crisis and Deepening Peripheralization 287 Appendix. Essay on Quantitative Methods 323 Notes 333 Bibliography 387 Index 435 Page ix Illustrations Risking indenturement in Chattanooga, Tennessee 112 A large Ohio County, West Virginia, manufacturer 163 Antebellum Wheeling, West Virginia 201 Antebellum Knoxville, Tennessee 203 Steamboating grain down the Tennessee River 211 Export by flatboat down the Tennessee River 213 Southwestern Virginia hog drive headed to Richmond 219 Blue Ridge Virginia cattle drive headed north 220 Antebellum arrest warrant for a delinquent debtor 267 The company town at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia 270 A medium-size spa 307 Queen of mountain spas: West Virginia's White Sulphur 311 Springs Page xi Maps and Figures Maps 1.1. Southern Appalachia 2 2.1. Southern Appalachia's Significance to the 26 International Rivalry for North American Territory, Early 1700s 3.1. The Repeopling of Southern Appalachia, 1740-1840 54 3.2. Disposal of the Lands of Southern Appalachia 55 3.3. Speculative Land Syndicates in Southern Appalachia, 62 1750-1840 4.1. Slaves in the Appalachian Labor Force, 1860 110 5.1. Southern Appalachia's Agricultural Exports, 1860 144 6.1. Southern Appalachia's Industrializing Counties, 1860 159 6.2. Typical Size of Manufacturing Firms, 1860 161 6.3. Salt and Iron Exportation, 1860 167 6.4. Extractive Exports from Southern Appalachia, 1860 168 7.1. Southern Appalachia's External Trade Routes 200 7.2. Southern Appalachian Waterways 210 7.3. Transportation Networks, 1850-1860 216 8.1. Firms Exporting Processed Agricultural 243 Commodities, 1860 10.1 Absentee-Controlled Banking in Southern 301 Appalachia 10.2.Commercialization of Southern Appalachia, 1840 304 10.3.Significance of Travel Capitalism in Southern 306 Appalachia 10.4. Investments by Economic Sectors, 1860 310 Figures 1.1. Theoretical Model of Local Incorporation into the 18 Capitalist World System