The South and the Slavery Controversy Chapter 16 Honors American History

COTTON IS KING 1800- Slavery faced an uncertain future Some talked of freeing the slaves Unprofitability would kill it The Cotton Gin- Made possible the wide-scale cultivation of cotton. Cotton became the dominant crop Demand for slaves and land increased

COTTON IS KING Northern Shippers received a large part of the profits. Cotton accounted for half the value of American exports after 1840. ½ of the worlds cotton supply. Most of America’s cotton was shipped to Britain. The South felt that Britain was dependent on southern Cotton

THE PLANTER ARISTOCRACY Oligarchy- Government by the few 1850- 1,733 families owned more than 100 slaves Planters- Political and social leaders Educated class, wealthy Undemocratic Southern Women-pg. 352 The South became slaves of the system. Pg 339-341 Plantation agriculture was wasteful Southern economy became monopolistic Financial instability of the plantation system Dangers of a one-crop economy Southern economy made the northern middleman rich Southern economy repelled European immigration

THE WHITE MAJORITY 1850- 345,000 owned fewer than 10 slaves Only about ¼ of white southerners owned slaves Lesser slaveholders were small farmers Non-slave holding whites Poorest land Subsistence farming Isolated lives Hillbillies, red-necks, poor white trash These people defended the slave system. Why? Mountain Whites Pg. 341

FREE BLACKS- Slaves w/o Masters 1860- 250,000 free blacks in the South Mulattoes-children of white men and slave Some purchased their freedom Some owned property and even slaves Free blacks were a “third race” pg 356 250,000 free blacks in the North Denied basic civil rights Competed for jobs with whites

PLANTATION SLAVERY 1860- 4 million slaves in the south Natural Reproduction- Breeding and Mulattoes Slaves were an investment $1,800 a slave 1860- $2 Billion investment Cared for fairly well Kept from doing dangerous jobs Slave auctions and the dividing of the family Life Under the Lash- pg 346-348

THE BURDEN OF BONDAGE

THE BURDEN OF BONDAGE Slavery was degrading to the victims Lacked dignity, resonsibility, and choices No rights or education No incentive to work Laziness, stealing and sabatoge Slaves hoped for freedom Some actually rebelled Gabriel- 1800 Denmark Vessey- 1822 Nat Turner- 1831 These revolts left a mark on the whites

EARLY ABOLITIONIST MOVEMENT American Colonization Society- 1813 Send slaves back to Africa (Republic of Liberia) Most balcks had no wish to go to a strange country 1830s- Abolitionist movement turned to freeing the slaves Became a moral issue and Religious movement Theodore Weld Lyman Beecher

RADICAL ABOLITIONISTS I will be harsh as truth, and uncompromising as justice. On this subject, I do not wish to think, or speak, or write, with moderation. No! no! Tell a man whose house is on fire to give a moderate alarm; tell him to moderately rescue his wife from the hands of the ravisher; tell the mother to gradually extricate her babe from the fire into which it has fallen;—but urge me not to use moderation in a cause like the present. I am in earnest—I will not equivocate—I will not excuse—I will not retreat a single inch—AND I WILL BE HEARD.1 William Lloyd Garrison- “The Liberator” pg 350 American Antislavery Society- 1833 Fredrick Douglas- Runaway Slave-Great Speaker-352 Developed into political Parties 1840- Liberty Party 1848- Free-Soil Party 1850s’- Republican Party

THE SOUTH LASHES BACK Pro-slavery whites launched a massive defense of slavery Supported by the Bible It was good for Africans Saved them from the barbarism of the jungle They could receive the blessings of Christianity Happy servants vs. overworked northern WAGE SLAVES Attack on free speech- 353-356