Rearing Wolves to Our Own Destruction: Slavery in Richmond Virginia, 1782–1865 Read Online Free PDF Page B

doubt tobacconists valued the flexibility that hiring out offered in 1843 when prices plummeted because of "too many having been engaged in the business last year, which has thrown more [tobacco] into the markets than can be disposed of." 9 To cope, manufacturers simply chose not to rehire slave workers when their contracts had ended.
Hiring also gave city businesses the ability to secure a stable slave workforce with far less capital than would have been required to purchase such workers. According to data gleaned from local newspapers, personal papers, court suit papers, and deed records, between 1800 and 1840 the average annual cost of hiring a slave in Richmond was approximately $34 for a female and $70 for a male. In contrast, the cost of purchasing an adult slave ranged from $100 to $600 for females and $250 to $900 for males. Hiring allowed a resident like J.S. Ellis to hire skilled hands such as John Prosser's slave George for a fraction of the purchase cost. According to court records, George was valued at $325 in 1811 but was hired out for $70 per year. 10
Accompanying the slave-hiring system was the practice of living out, which allowed slaves (predominantly factory hands) to secure lodgings apart from both owner and employer. This system evolved because employers commonly lacked space and funds to build housing for hired slave workers. Instead, employers gave bondmen money to pay for room and board. Employers preferred these living arrangements because the system released them from any responsibilities for slave workers once the working day was over.
The flexibility that hiring out and living apart offered quickly won over owners, employers, and slaves themselves. By 1840 businesses were openly enthusiastic about hiring slave workers and believed them essential to economic success. Although it is not clear if the approach produced higher profits than free labor, in cases such as the tobacco industry it offered manufacturers a way to control costs during economic downturns. The unusual labor practices also offered employers the opportunity to experiment with, and make adjustments to, the workforce by using black and white, slave and free labor until they assembled a

 

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group of laborers that best suited their needs based on cost, but also on age, sex, and even class.
Factory, Mill, and Beyond
Around the turn of the century Colonel Samuel Jones opened one of the first shops devoted completely to tobacco manufacturing. 11 With the assistance of four male slave workers, Jones planned to stem and twist the brown leaves into chewing plugs and sell them for consumption. Little did Jones know that he was starting a new business trend; not long after his shop began production, other Richmond residents embarked on similar ventures. David Barclay, for example, soon began processing tobacco with one slave assistant, as did Daniel Triplett once he was able to find "two negro fellows" to help him. 12 These small manufactories required little initial investment. All that was necessary were a few workers and a screw press. The raw tobacco generally was purchased on credit and repaid after the finished product was sold. Once profits from selling the processed tobacco accumulated, the manufacturers who were able to survive during the first lean years expanded their businesses by employing more workers and purchasing more presses. Although the process seems straightforward now, Jones, Barclay, and Triplett were taking a substantial risk by entering a new industry with an untried type of labor. Before that time nearly all raw tobacco was shipped out of Virginia for processing. But that would change with these entrepreneurs, who succeeded in launching a major industry for Richmond and a major source of employment for hired slaves.
Over the next few decades, the small shops grew into large manufactories, and the link between slavery and tobacco manufacturing only became stronger. As production increased and facilities expanded