8

The Anti-Slavery

Movement in Kentucky Prior to 1850 $100 60 45 27 ,000 ,000 ,000 ,000

H orses and Mules S alt-petre a nd Gunpowder W hite a nd Red Lead S oap and Candles T otal

$ 4,782 ,000

I t i s noteworthy that cotton does n ot appear i n this l ist. I n t he following t a b l e are enumerated for comparison the c hief agricultural products i n 1840 of the states of Ohio, K e n tucky, a nd Alabama. Ohio is selected as a neighboring free s tate and Alabama as a representative state of the lower South.
11

O hio H orses and Mules C attle S heep S wine W heat, Bushels B arley, B ushels O ats, B ushels R y e , B ushels C orn, B ushels P otatoes, Bushels S ugar, P ounds T obacco, P ounds C otton, P ounds 430,527 1 ,217,874 2 ,028,401 2 ,099 ,746 16 ,571 ,661 212 ,440 14 ,393 ,103 814,205 33 ,668 ,144 5 ,805 ,021 6 ,363 ,386 5 ,942 ,275

Kentucky 295,853 7 87,098 1 ,008,240 2 ,310 ,533 4 ,803 ,151 17 ,491 7 ,155 ,974 1 ,321,373 39 ,847 ,120 1 ,055 ,085 1 ,377 ,835 53 ,436 ,909 691 ,456

Alabama 143,147 668,018 1 63,243 1 ,423 ,873 828 ,052 7 ,692 1 ,406 ,353 5 1,008 20 ,947 ,004 1 ,708 ,356 10 ,143 273 ,302 117 ,138 ,823

A s tudy of the table shows that by 1840 K e n t u c k y produced a large quantity of t obacco a nd f airly l arge quantities of o ther agricultural staples such as corn, oats and wheat. C o t ton was a negligible product i n comparison w ith i ts production i n a s tate of the lower South. W i t h t he exception of the single item of t obacco, t he products of K e n t u c k y were s trikingly l ike t hose of Ohio as to k ind a nd quantity, a fact which undoubtedly had i ts b earing upon the attitude of the state toward slavery at v a r i ous periods before 1860. T h e system of slave labor was bound u p only w ith t he production of t obacco i n so far as agricultural s taples were concerned, since i t was hardly to be doubted that the cultivation of wheat, oats, rye, corn, and perhaps of hernp also could be carried on more profitably w ith free than w ith s lave labor.
" U . S. Census Report: 1840, Agriculture, Manufactures, etc., pp. 228, 274, 260, 326.