Chapter 11.3 The Plantation South The Industrial Revolution brought new industry in the north along with immigration and city growth, while in the south the economy became more dependent on the idea of slavery and the cotton crop

I. The Cotton Kingdom As the north was growing the south was remaining rural. Industry was booming in the north and the need for more cotton spurred the southern farmers to grow more A new invention (cotton gin) allowed this to happen

A. The Cotton Gin In 1793 Eli Whitney created a simple machine to speed up the process of getting cotton from the fields, his cotton gin separated the seeds and processed the cotton at a very quick rate Before this it was all done by hand The Cotton gin allowed one worker to process 50 times more cotton

B. Slave Labor To grow the cotton they need more labor In 1790 there were almost 700,000 enslaved Af. Americans and by 1860 there were 4 times that amount Prices for slaves increased by 10-20 times more

The south was all different some areas focused on cotton and slavery while other areas chose to grow corn and raise hogs and chickens However the south earned the name “cotton kingdom” it created a rich yet very small group of plantation owners

C. Defining Slavery Most southern whites accepted slavery They feared that if they let up on it it would allow more slave uprisings The South argued that slavery gave Af. Americans work and job security and no unemployment like in the north The only difference was that in the south violence and abuse accompanied the work

II. African Americans in the South About 260,000 of the four million blacks in the south were not slaves The few that were not slaves purchased their freedom but still found it hard to be considered equals

A. Restriction on Free Af. Americans Most laws denied basic rights to Free Africans. They were excluded from jobs, denied education, couldn’t vote, couldn’t testify in court, or serve on juries. Their freedom was never secure Slave owners even worked the streets looking for escapees and even kidnapped Af. Americans and sold them into slavery

Many did make a positive difference in society. Norbert Rillieux helped revolutionize the sugar industry by refining the sugar system and speeding up the sugar making process

B. Life under Slavery Slavery gave those under it no rights at all Laws known as slave codes controlled all parts of their life, slaves were treated as objects or property As workers became skilled, they soon ran the whole plantation as a slave which gave owners the ability to expand onto more land Others worked as nannies, butlers, and housekeepers but the majority were labor in the fields

Many slaves were worked so hard with little food that many even died or were worked to death Punishments like whippings were handed out for not working hard enough But many owners knew that a hard working slave needed food so many did take care of them

Many families were split up to keep them from hatching plans together to escape Many children didn’t even get a chance to know their parents and were sent to different parts of the south At 1808 it was illegal to brings slaves into the country but it didn’t stop them from selling and trading those that were already here

C. Resistance to Slavery The only way Africans hung onto their culture and traditions were by word of mouth or music Many tired to fight slavery by working slowly and pretending not to understand slave codes Some even broke equipment to sabotage owners and their farms

Many even organized all out rebellions The most famous rebellion was led by Nat Turner who led a revolt in 1831 He had a vision to kill all the whites in the south because those people were his enemies, so he decided to attack and killed 60 whites but in the end he was caught and because of him many innocent blacks were executed