Chapter 8: Regional Societies Section 2: The Cotton Kingdom

The Cotton Kingdom THE SOUTHERN ECONOMY: (263-265) The South had long relied on agricultural products and slave labor to drive its economy

The Cotton Kingdom THE SOUTHERN ECONOMY: 263-265 The Cotton Boom: (263) Southern farmers had grown cotton since the late 1600s, but they could not keep up with market demands In 1793, Eli Whitney developed a cotton gin that made it easer to gin, or separate, the seeds from short-staple cotton balls A person operating the gin could clean 50 times as much cotton in a day as a person working by hand From 1815-1860, cotton represented more than half of all American exports

The Cotton Kingdom THE SOUTHERN ECONOMY: 263-265 Agricultural production: (264) Farmers in the Upper South had difficulty growing cotton because it required a lengthy warm-weather season Instead these farmers grew corn, hemp, tobacco, and wheat The Agricultural Upper South did not rely heavily on slave labor because of its different climate and agricultural practices After the United States banned the importation of slaves in 1808, some planters in the Upper South sold slaves for a profit to the cotton-producing states of the Lower South

The Cotton Kingdom THE SOUTHERN ECONOMY:263-265 Southern Manufacturing (264) Manufacturing had an important role in the Upper South Brickyards, ironworks, sawmills, textile mills, and tobacco factories as well as mills for processing corn, rice, sugar, and wheat, dotted the region.

The Cotton Kingdom THE SOUTHERN ECONOMY:263-265 Southern Manufacturing (264) The South was home to the Tredegar Iron Works of Richmond, Virginia. One of the nation’s largest and best equipped ironworks, the company operated its rolling mills in the 1850s mainly with slave labor Railroad construction and mining also strengthened the southern economy. New Orleans became the nation’s most prosperous export center and the fifth-largest U.S. city Despite the encouragement of some factory owners, industrialization developed more slowly in the South than in the North. This was true for several reasons: Most southern investors put their money in land and slaves rather than in new factories Planters used their influence to discourage states from imposing taxes to fund improvements that might have promoted manufacturing Factory workers were in short supply because the region’s reliance on slave labor discouraged immigrants from coming to the South The market for manufactured goods suffered from the fact that slaves and poor whites – the bulk of rural population – had little or no purchasing power

The Cotton Kingdom THE SOUTHERN CLASS STRUCTURE: (265-266) The class structure of the antebellum, or pre-Civil War, South reflected the importance of land and slaves to the region’s economy Just one in four southern white families owned slaves, but this group dominated southern society and politics

The Cotton Kingdom THE SOUTHERN CLASS STRUCTURE: (265-266) Wealthy Planters: 265-266) Few slaveholders held 20 slaves or more. The majority of plantation owners – those holding fewer than 20 slaves – lived modestly compared to those who owned more slaves

The Cotton Kingdom THE SOUTHERN CLASS STRUCTURE: (265-266) Wealthy Planters: 265-266) The plantation owners’ reputation for a life of ease was often more image than reality Plantation owners were kept busy managing the plantation – keep records of business transactions, assign tasks to supervisors or slaves, writing to shipowners or bankers, and contracting with brokers Planters’ wives supervised the food preparation, housecleaning, mending, spinning, and weaving. NOTHING BUT SUFFERING AND HARD WORK

The Cotton Kingdom THE SOUTHERN CLASS STRUCTURE: (265-266) Small Farmers (266) Hundreds of thousands of yeoman farmers, farmers who lived on small plots of fertile land, made up the majority of southern white society Lacked easy access to the market Although most small farmers owned no slaves, some managed to purchase a few

The Cotton Kingdom THE SOUTHERN CLASS STRUCTURE: (265-266) The Very Poor: (266) The poorest white people made up a small percentage of the South’s population and farmed the least productive soil They lived in rough cabins, ate poorly, and sometimes suffered from medical problems such as malaria and hookworm They owned NO slaves They often survived by farming, fishing, hunting, and raising pigs

The Cotton Kingdom WHITE SOUTHERN CULTURE (267-269) The difference between the social classes reflected a widely varying economic statuses and backgrounds of white southerners In other respects, however, these classes shared a number of cultural characteristics

The Cotton Kingdom WHITE SOUTHERN CULTURE (267-269) Food and Housing (267) Small southern farmers typically planted corn and raised pigs. Most southerners lived on corn and pork Many southerners of various classes shared similar housing. Although some successful plantation owners built grand mansions to replace their log cabins, many others maintained simple homes even after gaining great wealth

The Cotton Kingdom WHITE SOUTHERN CULTURE (267-269) Folkways: (269) The South’s British and African heritage influenced its folklife – music, tales, crafts, and folk art Children in wealthy families were typically taught to play musical instruments Some members of the Yeoman class also sang and played traditional European music. In rural areas, many songs described the songwriter’s surroundings or recounted heroic adventures Southerners prized handcrafted items, such as baskets and pottery Techniques used to make baskets reflected the cultural influences of African Americans, Native Americans, and European Americans

The Cotton Kingdom WHITE SOUTHERN CULTURE (267-269) Religion: (269) Religion may have united white southerners more than any other cultural element. Churches functioned as social centers for many white southerners, particularly because so many people lived in isolated rural areas To justify slavery, many white southerners interpreted the Bible to mean that white people were superior to African Americans Some white slaveholders saw themselves as spiritual guardians of the slaves

The Cotton Kingdom THE URBAN SOUTH: (269) Southern cities differed in appearance and atmosphere from northern cities, but they had similarities as well City governments regulated economic affairs and provided public services such as city wells, free public schools, gas streetlights, and paved streets Southern cities were centers of change City-dwellers in the South emphasized business and came closest to resembling northerners Some urban southerners owned slaves; urban slaves worked in bakeries, factories, markets, mills, and offices

The Cotton Kingdom FREE AFRICAN AMERICAN SOCIETY (270) By 1860, some 260,000 free African Americans lived in the South. Nearly half of them made their homes in the Upper South The pattern was reversed in the Lower South, where less than 2% of the African population was free Some African Americans worked as skilled craftspeople, such as mechanics or seamstresses. Others found domestic employment as cooks or servants. Some had never been slaves

The Cotton Kingdom FREE AFRICAN AMERICAN SOCIETY (270) William Ellison of South Carolina, for example, learned to build cotton gins while a slave. After buying his freedom, he purchased the freedom of his wife and children A small minority of African Americans, including Ellison, became landowners, and some even purchased slaves Ellison became one of the wealthiest free African Americans in the antebellum South

The Cotton Kingdom FREE AFRICAN AMERICAN SOCIETY (270) White southerners greatly restricted the rights of free African Americans Southern legislatures required free African Americans to register with local authorities and to carry identification badges proving they were not a runaway slave Free African Americans had to post bonds – money or a pledge of property – as a guarantee of good behavior. Free African Americans in the South were not permitted to vote, hold public meetings, carry weapons, or testify in court against whites “THOUGH WE ARE NOT SLAVES, WE ARE NOT FREE.”

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