Journal of the Korean Geographical Society (대한지리학회지)

The Korean Geographical Society (대한지리학회)
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An Ecological Reflection on the Food Self-Sufficiency Debate of the Antebellum American South

남북전쟁 이전 미국 남부지방 식량자급 논쟁의 환경사적 검토

  • Keumsoo Hong (Department of Geography Education, Korea University)
  • Published : 2004.06.01
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Abstract

The antebellum American South has been characterized by the lingering backward images of plantation, slaves and cotton. The South specializing in the cotton cultivation is compared with the manufacturing East and the breadbasket Midwest. Douglass North who examined the interregional trade assumed that the South up until 1860 relied on the Midwest for the foodstuffs. Statistical and literary evidence, however, disputes the North's model, showing instead that the southern region attained self-sufficiency in foodstuffs at least in the late 1830s or early 1840s. The South's food self-sufficiency is attributable, to a greater extent, to the region-wide environmental movement of scientific agriculture launched to address the aggravating soil problems from cotton monoculture. Diversification and crop rotation lied in the center of the new regime. The new agricultural system combining com, cotton and cowpea ensured the procurement of hoecake, hog meat, and cotton. The most significant outcome of the good farming regime, however, was the enhanced environmental consciousness which came to prevail the best farmer's reckless rush for profit maximization.

남북전쟁 이전 미국의 남부지방은 플랜테이션, 노예, 면화 등 주로 부정적인 이미지로 중서부지방과 동부지방에 대비되었다. 환금작물 생산에 특화된 남부의 농업은 제조업 중심의 동부나 곡창지대를 안고있는 서부와는 확연한 차이를 보이는데, 이들 세 지역의 교역관계를 분석한 더글라스 노스는 남부지방의 경우 지역내부에서 소비되는 식량은 전적으로 서부에서 수입하였다고 설명하였다. 그러나 수집된 각종 통계와 문헌상의 기록으로 미루어 남부는 적어도 1830년대 말에서 1840년대 초에 자체적으로 충분한 양의 식량을 확보하기에 이른다. 그리고 그렇게 될 수 있었던 데에는 다년간의 면화재배로 척박해진 토양을 개선하기 위해 농촌지식인이 중심이 되어 범지역적으로 전개한 ‘과학적 영농’ 운동의 역할이 컸다. 새롭게 보급된 다각적 농법에서는 윤작이 강조되었는데, 특히 옥수수, 면화, 콩의 돌려짓기가 널리 채택되었다. 이를 통해 주요 식량원인 옥수수의 자급이 가능해졌고, 남아도는 양은 단백질 공급원인 돼지의 사료로 활용할 수 있었으며, 면화재배에서 얻어지는 수익도 체감의 악순환을 벗어날 수 있었다. 그러나 다각화의 가장 큰 소득이라면 질소고정에 효과적인 콩과작물을 통해 면화 단작으로 척박해진 토양을 되살릴 수 있다는 환경인식의 형성이었다.

Keywords

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