Slaves and Slaveholders in the Choctaw Nation: 1830-1866

SLAVES AND SLAVEHOLDERS IN THE CHOCTAW NATION: 1830-1866 Jeffrey L. Fortney, Jr., B.A.

Thesis Prepared for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS May 2009

APPROVED: D. Harland Haglen, Major Professor Randolph Campbell, Committee Member F. Todd Smith, Committee Member Richard McCaslin, Chair of the Department of

History Michael Monticino, Interim Dean of the Robert

B. Toulouse School of Graduate Studies

Fortney Jr., Jeffrey L. Slaves and Slaveholders in the Choctaw Nation: 1830-1866. Master of Arts (History), May 2009, 71 pp., 5 tables, 4 figures, bibliography, 46 titles.

Racial slavery was a critical element in the cultural development of the Choctaws and was a derivative of the peculiar institution in southern states. The idea of genial and hospitable slave owners can no more be conclusively demonstrated for the Choctaws than for the antebellum South. The participation of Choctaws in the Civil War and formal alliance with the Confederacy was dominantly influenced by the slaveholding and a connection with southern identity, but was also influenced by financial concerns and an inability to remain neutral than a protection of the peculiar institution. Had the Civil War not taken place, the rate of Choctaw slave ownership possibly would have reached the level of southern states and the Choctaws would be considered part of the South.

Copyright 2009 by

Jeffrey L. Fortney, Jr.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Page

LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................................... iv LIST OF FIGURES .........................................................................................................................v Chapters

1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................1 2. THE ORIGINS OF SLAVERY, PROMINENT SLAVEHOLDERS, AND

RUNAWAYS ........................................................................................................15 3. QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS: GROWTH AND EXPANSION FROM

REMOVAL TO EMANCIPATION ......................................................................26 4. CONSEQUENCES OF GROWTH, MISSIONARIES, AND BURNING ...........42 5. CIVIL WAR AND ABOLITION ..........................................................................58 APPENDIX: 1860 CHURCH MEMBERSHIP .............................................................................66 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..........................................................................................................................68

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LIST OF TABLES Page

1. Population Demographics, 1830 to 1860...........................................................................31 2. Slaveholders of Diverse Oklahoma Counties ....................................................................35 3. Gender Analysis of Choctaw's Slaves...............................................................................37 4. Age Demographics for Slaveholders with Two or Less Slaves.........................................37 5. Slave Age Statistics in Eagle County (owners of 3 or more slaves)..................................41

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