Life In the American South of the 1860s (1 Viewer)

[PolarBear]

Scene I The Berkeley Cotton Plantation, South Carolina Circa 1861

Benjamin Washington is greeted by his 8 year old daughter Sissy and her favorite dolly "Evaline" upon his return with supplies for Bessie, the cook at the main house.

 

[PolarBear]

Scene II The Magnolia Grove, Berkeley Plantation, South Carolina Circa 1861

Colonel Archibald Rutledge, a proud veteran of the Mexican War and frequent guest at the plantation, flirts with Miss Olivia Berkeley amidst the fragrant Spring blossoms.

 

[jazzeum]

Randy,

I assume some of these scenes that you've posted today come from Set 325.

 

[PolarBear]

Randy,

I assume some of these scenes that you've posted today come from Set 325.

Yes all are from that set.

 

[PolarBear]

Scene III: Cotton Fields, Berkeley Plantation, South Carolina Circa 1861

Dorcas Washington leaving the field where she and others on the plantation have spent their day gathering the industrial "fuel" for textile mills from Lowell, Massachusetts to Manchester, England

 

[The Lt.]

Seems like your really enjoying your new set Randy and thanks for sharing it.

 

[PolarBear]

Scene IV The Gardens, Berkeley Plantation, South Carolina Circa 1861

Elizabeth Berkeley and her youngest daughter Melanie stroll the garden path behind the mansion house.

 

[Scott]

".....gathering the industrial "fuel" for textile mills from Lowell, Massachusetts to Manchester, England"

Nobody was "clean" on slavery.

Good series! Thanks.

 

[PolarBear]

".....gathering the industrial "fuel" for textile mills from Lowell, Massachusetts to Manchester, England"

Nobody was "clean" on slavery.

Good series! Thanks.

Scott

Here is the cover of an educational packet sold at the Lowell Textile Museum showing the links between slavery and the Northern textile industry:

 

[PolarBear]

And a link to a site on Lincoln and Cotton during the ACW

http://www.abrahamlincolnsclassroom.org/Library/newsletter.asp?ID=132&CRLI=180

 

[Scott]

I used to joke with my Southern friends about all the abused Lowell mill girls escaping South to freedom.

 

[PolarBear]

Here is an interesting 19th C painting that records the look of plantation life and the role of cotton in the South

Cotton Pickers by William Aiken Walker

 

[PolarBear]

I used to joke with my Southern friends about all the abused Lowell mill girls escaping South to freedom.

Winslow Homer's Bobbin Girl

Homer's brother Charles was a textile chemist who first worked for the textile mills in Lawrence, Mass. He later went to work for the Valspar paint and varnish company:

"Shortly thereafter, Lawson Valentine made a singularly important decision: he hired a chemist, Charles Homer, brother of famed New England artist Winslow Homer. According to the Valspar History, Homer 'made varnishes so perfect they could be poured from the can to the back or side of a carriage ... varnishes that flow out smoothly and evenly and dry perfectly."

 

[Scott]

The mill hands sure weren't making the big $$$$ but the work got them off the farm.

 

[PolarBear]

Scene V: Quinby & Company Photographic Studio, Charleston, South Carolina 1861

With war clouds looming on the horizon, Capt. Thomas Ravenal of the 2nd South Carolina Volunteers (and neighbor of the Berkeley family) has gone to Charleston to have his portrait taken at one of the photographic studios whose business is suddenly on the rise due to current events.

 

[PolarBear]

Scene VI The Berkeley Plantation, South Carolina April 1861

Captain Ravenal is greeted by George Berkeley and his two sisters Melanie and Olivia. He has come to tell the family that the Confederate States of America and the United States are now at war. On April 12th Confederates attacked and captured Fort Sumter in Charleston,S.C. On April 15th, President Lincoln issued a proclamation to raise a militia of 75,000 men. South Carolina had been the first Southern state to secede from the Union on December 20, 1860. Captain Ravenal is calling for a regimental muster of the 2nd South Carolina Volunteers, of which the young John Berkeley is a member.

 

[thebritfarmer]

Hi Randy,

Great pictures, I can see you are enjoying your new Hocker figures very much.

Scott

 

[Scott]

There should be a kid's book on history illustrated with photos of these figures that would be a guilty pleasure for adults.

I know that Wm Hocker has some coastal artillery sets that could show Fort Sumter.

A book on the start of the war up to 1st Bull Run would work with the toys figures representing the "lost innocence" and all that.

 

[PolarBear]

There should be a kid's book on history illustrated with photos of these figures that would be a guilty pleasure for adults.

I know that Wm Hocker has some coastal artillery sets that could show Fort Sumter.

A book on the start of the war up to 1st Bull Run would work with the toys figures representing the "lost innocence" and all that.

With Bill's sets you could do a bang up job teaching British Victorian and American history. Every school should invest in sets like these.

Randy

 

[PolarBear]

Scene VII Tarleton House, South Carolina April 1861


Ben Washington delivers supplies for the 2nd South Carolina Volunteers stored at Berkeley Plantation for the regimental muster to be held at the Ravenal Plantation in response to the outbreak of war. During the Civil War African Americans served as military teamsters for the large wagon trains of military supplies. Winslow Homer recorded some of the Union teamsters in an oil painting called The Bright Side shown below.