Published by Louisiana State University Press
Copyright 2019 by Louisiana State University Press
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
First printing
DESIGNER : Mandy McDonald Scallan
TYPEFACE : Whitman
PRINTER AND BINDER : Sheridan Books
Maps created by Mary Lee Eggart
Library of Congress Cataloging - in - Publication Data
Names: Frawley, Michael S., 1978 author.
Title: Industrial development and manufacturing in the Antebellum Gulf South
: a reevaluation / Michael S. Frawley.
Description: Baton Rouge : Louisiana State University Press, [2019] |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018046167| ISBN 9780807170687 (cloth : alk. paper) | ISBN
9780807171394 (pdf) | ISBN 9780807171400 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Industrialization Gulf States History 19th century. |
Economic development Gulf States History 19th century. | Manufacturing
industries Gulf States History 19th century. | Gulf States Economic
conditions History 19th century. | Southern States History 17751865.
Classification: LCC HC107.A13 F73 2019 | DDC 338.976009/034 dc
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018046167
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.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
As I look back now on all of the time and effort that it took to complete this work, I cannot help but be reminded of all those people who gave their time, expertise, and support to help me finish this endeavor. I have been extremely fortunate that I have so many wonderful friends, teachers, and family who were willing to at least feign interest in my work while I endlessly droned on about maps, tables, charts, and the importance of industry in the antebellum Gulf South.
First, none of this would have been possible without the help and support of the Louisiana State University Department of History. The faculty of the department were always willing to stop and talk, give me tips on writing and research, and challenge me to explore paths that I had never thought to take. Victor Stater and Suzanne Marchand opened their home many times to my wife and me and taught me the joys of an academic life. Moreover, I will always remember my discussions on Caribbean slavery with Paul Hoffman, and our search for that perfect number. Hopefully someday I will find it. Gaines Foster and William J. Cooper always were willing to go the extra mile to help me reach my goals, and their comments on early versions of this manuscript were invaluable. Moreover, I want to thank them for putting up with all of the numbers in which this work attempts to drown readers. The Geography Department at LSU, and especially Craig Colten, greatly supported my work as I attempted to combine history and geography. GIS is something more historians should take advantage of when studying historical problems.
Paul Paskoff read and commented on large parts of this work, and for once, shockingly, I do not know what to say, as words alone cannot express my gratitude. I learned more in my conversations with Paul at Louies, Burgersmith, and Community Coffee than I did in any archive. Anything worthwhile in this book was inspired by him. Even when I felt that I no longer could keep my head above water, he assured me that I was doing important work and that I was equal to the task. Paul sharpened my arguments and made me see avenues of research that I had not even considered. Moreover, he pushed me into using maps to make my data easier for the general public to understand, something that makes this work much better. Everything good that has happened in my career thus far, I credit to him. He is not just my mentor, he is also my friend. Paul, thank you.
I also had the good fortune to have many colleagues who were a constant source of support throughout this process. Adam Pratt waded through an avalanche of statistics, reading parts of this work as it was being written, and providing me with valuable feedback. Michael Robinson, Nathan Buman, and Kat Sawyer were always available to just sit down and talk, either about our work or about the trials and tribulations of academia. Chris Childers served as a shining example of what it means to be a scholar, and if my work is half as good as his recent book I will have accomplished a great deal. Katie Eskridge had the pleasure of sharing an office with me, and I am sure that she is scarred for life from that experience. I hope that you can still smell the McDonalds french fries I insisted on eating in the office just to drive you crazy. Finally, Jason Wolfe, and his wife Ali, made my time in Baton Rouge not just instructive, but fun. Even as we have gone on our separate career paths, their continued friendship has been more valuable to me than I will ever be able to express.
At this point, most authors writing their acknowledgments take the time to thank all of the libraries and archives that they worked in, and I am no different. As part of this book, I performed research that was taxing not just to me but to the staff of the archives. Retrieving rolls of microfilm constantly just to see me find only one issue of a newspaper and returning it must have been frustrating to the staff. But the staff of the Mississippi State Archives, the Alabama State Archives, and the Texas State Archives, not only did this work with a smile on their face, they went out of their way to make suggestions of archival sources in their repositories that could be of use to me. The staff of the archives of the Harvard Business School taught me the ins and outs of the R. G. Dun collection, which this book could not have been written without. The staff at facilities such as this do not get half of the credit and thanks that they truly deserve. Moreover, I had the help of a very talented cartographer to create the maps and charts that are at the heart of this book. While I have never met Mary Lee Eggart, I will be forever in your debt.
While the ink was still drying on my diploma, the History Department at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin took me on as a Senior Lecturer. Derek Catsam, Ana Martinez - Catsam , Roland Spickermann, Diana Hinton, Chad Vanderford, and Lanita Akins plucked me out of a pile of applicants, and for that, I will always be grateful. While lecturers are supposed to focus on teaching, they all encouraged me to push forward and finish this book. Diana Hinton even gave me money from her research funds to finance one last trip to the Harvard Business School Archives, which was instrumental in finishing my work. Roland and his wife Loraine opened their home to my wife and me as we got acclimated to West Texas, while Derek and Ana always had time to check in on me, and on my progress, and talk about what it meant to be a historian in academia today. My biggest regret is not being able to spend more time getting to know Chad Vanderford, who passed away as I was finishing this manuscript. We both came out of the same program at LSU, and our talks about football and politics will always stay with me. Now secure in an assistant professorship and working on the tenure track, I know I will always have the departments support and encouragement.
BATON ROUGE