Cotton and Woolen Factory at Natchez - Anecdote of Lablache. [The Living age ... / Volume 3, Issue 32, December 21, 1844]
[From MOA 19th Century Periodicals, Natchez]
COTTON AND WOOLLEN FACTORY IN NATcHEZ.
The enterprising S. T. MeAlister, of Natchez,
has succeeded to the proprietorship and manage-
ment of the new cotton and woollen factory at
Natchez upper landing, and is now vigorously
applying his ample resources and his energy to
the business of manufacturing cotton bagging and
negro clothing. Under the direction of a person
who has been engaged six years in the Lowell
factories, he has commenced the employment of
young negroes and negresses, and the skill and
agility with which they attend upon the carding
machines, the spinning jennies, and ply the looms,
settles the question in regard to the complete suc-
cess of the enterprise. Negroes can be as profita
bly employed in manufacturing cotton as in grow-
ing it. This..first successful factory in the south,
will be the avant courier of a hundred like it.
The cotton bagging, which Mr. McAlister has
wrought from the cheapest and most indifferent
qualities of cotton, is of an,,astonishing fineness
and beauty. It is much ~.thicker, more even
threaded, and of stronger texture than the best
hemp Kentucky bagging. For sale in quantity it
could not be at present, perhaps, afforded any
cheaper than the Kentucky bagging, but it can be
wrought from the refuse cotton of the planter, for
which he could not get price enough to warrant
its being sent to market. J0. Dunbar, of Jefferson
county, sent in four bales of his inferior cotton to
Mr. McA., who has had a most beautiful fabric
of bagging wrought from it superior to either
Scotch or Kentuckyspecimens of which, if ex-
hibited in various parts of the state, wouid attract
universal attention. Besides bagging, Mr. McA.
will turn out all the mixed fabrics of cotton and
woollen for negro clothing. The factory edifice is
delightfully situated in the natural cove, above
Natchez, is a three story edifice, with a strong
steam engine power in the basement, feeding
itself with water from a perennial spring near by
the fuel used being Indiana coal. It contains
carding apparatus sufficient to card all the wool
raised in the stateworks about a dozen looms,
and has jennies for several hundred spindles. S.
T. McAlister, Esq. the senior partner in the New
Orleans commission house of Watson & MeAl-
ister, and in the Natchez House of MeAlister &
Watson, may expect in this great southern enter-
prise to advance manufactures, the best wishes
and patronage of all southrons. Vicksburg & nti-
nel.
posted by Lloyd at 2:27 PM
Cultural influences on personality.
Annual Review of Psychology, Annual 2002 p133(28) Harry C. Triandis; Eunkook M. Suh. Full Text: COPYRIGHT 2002 Annual Reviews, Inc.
[Accessed via Infotrac]
[...]
Complexity
Cultures differ in complexity (Chick 1997). The most contrast is found between hunters/gatherers and information societies. Gross national product per capita, although not sufficient, is one index of cultural complexity. Other indices include the percent of the population that is urban, the size of cities, personal computers per capita, etc.
Tightness
In tight cultures norms are imposed tightly (see above). In loose cultures deviation from norms is tolerated. Such tolerance is found in relatively heterogeneous societies (where several normative systems are present), where people do not depend on each other much, and where population density (e.g., opportunity for surveillance) is low. An open frontier is related to looseness (Triandis 1994, 1995).
Collectivism
Triandis (1994, 1995) proposed the hypothesis that collectivism is high in cultures that are simple and tight. Carpenter (2000) obtained empirical support for the correlation of collectivism and tightness. In collectivist cultures people are interdependent with their in-groups (family, tribe, nation, etc.), give priority to the goals of their in-groups, shape their behavior primarily on the basis of in-group norms, and behave in a communal way (Mills & Clark 1982).
There are many kinds of collectivist cultures. One important distinction is between vertical (e.g., India) and horizontal (e.g., the Israeli kibbutz) collectivist cultures. Vertical cultures are traditionalist and emphasize in-group cohesion, respect for in-group norms, and the directives of authorities (Bond & Smith 1996b). For instance, vertical collectivism is correlated with right wing authoritarianism (Altemeyer 1996), the tendency to be submissive to authority and to endorse conventionalism. Both vertical collectivism and right wing authoritarianism correlate positively with age and religiosity, and negatively with education and exposure to diverse persons (Pettigrew 1999, Triandis 1995). Horizontal collectivist cultures emphasize empathy, sociability, and cooperation (Triandis & Gelfand 1998). Gabriel & Gardner (1999) recently found another variation of collectivism between genders. According to their research, male collectivism is derived from group memberships (e.g., "I am an American"); female collectivism is derived from specific relationships (e.g., "I am Amanda's best friend").
A defining character of people in collectivist cultures is their notable concern with relationships. For example, Ohbuchi et al. (1999) showed that collectivists in conflict situations are primarily concerned with maintaining relationships with others, whereas individualists are primarily concerned with achieving justice. Thus, collectivists prefer methods of conflict resolution that do not destroy relationships (e.g., mediation), whereas individualists are willing to go to court to settle disputes (Leung 1997).
Individualism
At the cultural level of analysis (in which the number of cultures is the N of the analyses), individualism is the other pole of collectivism. In vertical individualist cultures (e.g., US corporate cultures) competitiveness is high, and one must be "the best" in order to climb the hierarchy. In horizontal individualist cultures (e.g., Australia, Sweden) hierarchical differentiation is de-emphasized, and the emphasis is on self-reliance, independence from others, and uniqueness (Triandis & Gelfand 1998). This is only a partial list of dimensions of cultural variation. Many more (e.g., Hofstede et al. 1998) have been proposed, but limitations of space do not allow their presentation here.
[...]
The study of cultural syndromes also requires the examination of hypotheses about the relationships among the syndromes. For example, is it in fact the case that collectivism is correlated with tightness and also with cultural simplicity? Carpenter's (2000) data suggest that they are correlated, but more work is needed. Is it in fact the case that individualism is correlated with cultural complexity and also with looseness? How are these attributes related to personality? Is cultural complexity related to cognitive complexity? Is tightness related to conscientiousness?
posted by Lloyd at 2:26 PM
Chu, Rebekah, State U New York, Albany, NY, US
Rivera, Craig
Loftin, Colin
Source: Social Forces, Vol 78(3), Mar 2000. pp. 971-987.
Journal URL: http://www.irss.unc.edu/sf/
Publisher: US: Univ of North Carolina Press
Publisher URL: http://www.uncpress.unc.edu
ISSN: 0037-7732 (Print)
Language: English
Key Concepts: herding culture-of-honor hypothesis & violence, White males in the rural south
Abstract: Replication of the Nisbett-Reaves test of the herding-culture-of-honor hypothesis fails to support expectations derived from Nisbett's culture-of-honor theory. The theory predicts that violent culture has economic advantage in frontier areas with herding economies, because there is a chronic threat of livestock theft. Nisbett and Reaves hypothesize that rural counties in the South where ecological conditions promote livestock herding, will have especially high White non-Hispanic male homicide rates. The authors of the present study replicated methods and procedures sampling 318 counties in 14 southern states. Statistical analysis of data reproduces the mean homicide rates reported by previous research, but indicates that they are artifacts of skewed distributions, unreliable estimates of homicide rates, and the failure to control for differences in the distribution of White poverty.
posted by Lloyd at 2:11 PM 