Life in the South ( ) Role Playing Rules: 1.Everyone Actively Participates 2.20 Inch Voices 3.Think Empathetically: Put Yourself in Your Characters’ Shoes 4.Listen Carefully to Others 5.Remember The Time: 1840s and 1850s 6.Remember that You are NOT You!

Southern Society Only 1/3 of families own any slaves Tenant Farmers (rural poor) - whites who rent or work farms for landlords Yeomen - small farm owners who worked in fields with slaves Planters - wealthy plantation owners; had more than 20 slaves - very rare –Planters are political and economic leaders of the south Most Southern blacks are slaves, but 250,000 are free Free blacks - face discrimination - they can’t vote, live in certain places, or own guns Some free blacks own slaves

Cotton - the new Cash Crop of the south South is largely agricultural (farming) Tobacco and rice prices drop Many in south are looking for a new way to make money Eli Whitney’s cotton gin makes cotton profitable Major problem now is that they cannot pick cotton fast enough impact.ifas.ufl.edu/ TV/multimedia.html

In Character: What is the first thing you think of when you see this image…

Cotton Boom Cotton Belt - South Carolina to east Texas - warm and moist Cotton is easy to grow, doesn’t spoil, and easy to transport Scientific Agriculture - Cotton drains fields of nutrients, so farmers rotate fields, giving fields a year to be restored More workers (slaves) are needed South almost entirely focus on cotton production (short sighted)

In Character: What is the first thing you think of when you hear the word… COTTON

homepage.univie.ac.at/.../ a_tour_of_topics.htm By noting the regions in which “cotton was king,” what are two climate conditions are required for the growth of cotton?

Describe the clothing of the people in the image. Why might this be?

What issues do you see with the housing used by these people?

How can we tell this is the farm of a planter?

Life on a Plantation Plantation Wives - served as the business leaders of the household (men often were away on business) Specialized Jobs - domestic help (in home), field workers, blacksmiths, carpenters, shoemakers, etc. Overseer - plantation manager; in charge of field production; in charge of slave discipline

In Character: What is the first thing you think of when you hear the word… PLANTATION

In Character: What is the first thing you think of when you hear the word… OVERSEER

Life Under Slavery Treatment of slaves varied from farm to farm Slaves on small farms did many tasks; those on large plantations specialized Slaves usually worked from dawn to dusk, and ate meals in the fields Slaves served as butlers, maids, or cooks in plantation homes Skilled slaves (blacksmiths and carpenters) were sometimes able to hire themselves out to other farms for money

In Character: What is the first thing you think of when you hear the word… SLAVERY

timmer.org/HISTORY_17A/Links/images/violence.jpg.webloc

Slave Life Slaves were treated as property, not people Bought and sold for profit ($200 to $5000) Homes were dirt floored shacks Slaves created adopted families, and feared being sold away from the group Marriages were not legal, could be broken up by sale Told folktales (stories with a moral) instead of going to school Created religious ceremonies and songs to create hope and pass time

In Character: What is the first thing you think of when you hear the phrase… LIFE OF A SLAVE

How do the businesses in this image make money? What does this image tell us about how slaves were viewed?

What is inhumane about slave auctions?

The image about to be shown is disturbing, but it shows the amount of physical scarring that can result for slave abuse by overseers. You may look away if you wish. timmer.org/HISTORY_17A/Li#45AA5

Challenging Slavery Slow Downs - slaves worked slowly to protest Escape - slaves tried to escape to Mexico or Canada Revolt - rare but feared by owners Nat Turner’s Rebellion (1831) –Turner and fellow slaves believe God told then to rebel during a solar eclipse –Kill total of 60 whites in Virginia, inc. Turner’s owner and family –100 Slaves killed in the rebellion, Turner hanged –Most violent slave revolt in US history

In Character: What is the first thing you think of when you hear the name… NAT TURNER

The previous reward was for $200. This reward is for $400. Why would Harry be worth paying such a high reward for? ($400 in 1800 is worth $ in 2006 according to the Inflation Calculator)

In Character: What is the first thing you think of when you first see this image…

City Life in South Free blacks - denied rights of whites and faced daily discrimination No state-wide public schools Parents who could afford it sent kids to private schools or hired tutors Literacy - ability to read; literacy rate in South lower than the North because of lack of schools

In Character: What is the first thing you think of when you hear the phrase… CITY LIFE IN THE SOUTH

African-American Culture in the South African slave trade banned in 1808 By 1860, almost all slaves been in U.S. Spirituals - songs sung with religious messages about escape or freedom - root of Jazz, blues, gospel music Slave Codes - rules that were meant to control slaves. Examples: –No gathering in large groups –Had to have a pass to be in public –Illegal to teach slaves to read/write

In Character: What is the first thing you think of when you hear the phrase… AFRICAN-AMERICAN CULTURE IN THE SOUTH