Chapter 9: The Changing South

Mobile is part of the Changing South, more specifically the Southern Coastlands described in the next chapter. Growing up a Southerner, I can attest to the rich culture and the pride Southerners feel about their region. Although there is an overall general “southern pride,” there is much diversity within the Southern region. When I think of the South, I think of the states Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia, Tennessee and the Carolinas. Kentucky, Arkansas, Texas and Virginia are also considered part of the region, but ask any Mobilian or Alabamian and they will tell you differently. I attribute this to the strong differences between the sub-regions. Although there are differences between Mobile in the Southern Coastlands and say Atlanta in the Piedmont region, we all share commonality and pride in being Southern.

Alabama State Flag

When one thinks of the Old South, plantations dominate public thought. Crops like short staple cotton did well in Mobile - in fact, I had a cotton field across the street from my house growing up - but other southern crop staples like indigo, tobacco and sugar cane did not do well. These plantations were almost always located along rivers so they could transport the raw cotton faster and more cost effectively. The Alabama River was heavily used as it flowed into the port of Mobile. From Mobile, the cotton was shipped to New England and European textile factories.

Oakleigh Mansion, a famous plantation house in Mobile



Vessel License for the Clotilde, circa 1855



Plantations and the South cannot be discussed without mentioning slaves. Because large-scale plantation production required a large amount of labor, the number of slaves in the state grew from almost 48,000 in 1820, to 435,000 in 1860. Most of these slaves worked in cotton production. Although there were plantations in Mobile, the city is more known for being the port from which many of the slaves came through and was the slave trading capital of the state until 1850. In fact, the last known shipment of slaves was brought to Mobile illegally in 1860, more than 50 years after the slave trade had been declared illegal.

Sources:
http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1832
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_(AL)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africatown