Chapter 9 The Old South, 1790-1850 Web

Old Farms: The Southeast The Chesapeake In 1790, chief crop was tobacco Slaves Tobacco depleted soil, forced planters to try other crops Tenant farmers Switch to grain crops increased need for male and artisan slaves Slave women performed other farm and domestic work Chesapeake farmers needed less slaves Birth rate offset any emancipation of slaves

Old Farms: The Southeast (cont) The Lowcountry South Carolina and Georgia Rice coast Needed many slaves Task System Rice coast population was 80 to 90% slave Tasks were assigned, slave’s time was their own upon completion of tasks Worked for hire, tended “own” garden plots or livestock

New Farms: The Rise of the Deep South Short-staple cotton Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin in 1793 Allowed for expansion of Cotton Belt By 1815, Cotton Belt expanded into uplands of Georgia and South Carolina Native peoples driven out Jeffersonian republicans ended Indian resistance and secured access to international markets for cotton planters Interstate Slave Trade By 1820, slave trade was well organized Middle passage

Rise of the Deep South (cont) Cotton plantation very profitable Slaves did back-breaking work in gangs under an overseer Plantations commercialized, grew nothing but cotton Slaves worked from dawn to dusk None of the freedom of task labor Material conditions for slaves improved Plantation masters were elite of the South Number of slaves as measure of success Successful southern ladies did not work Southern families Distrusted outsiders and defended rural neighborhoods Code of honor

Southern Yeomanry Cotton profitable only for large plantations In 1830, only 1/3 of southern whites owned any slaves Taxes drove poor whites out of good land Many settled in areas unsuitable for plantation crops Some yeoman produced livestock over plantation crops, a larger group practiced mixed farming “Subsistence plus” agriculture Yeoman neighborhoods Farms self-sufficient, traded labor and goods with each other Marketed surplus at country stores Lived simple life with few luxuries Relied a great deal on family labor

Private Lives of Slaves Plantation success rested on slave-master accommodation Slave privileges helped to ensure obedience and order Slave marriages encouraged and respected Broad wives Still, slave families were vulnerable Children often spread their affection across a broad extended family

Private Lives of Slaves (cont) Southern Evangelicals embraced slaves and considered their souls worth saving Difficulty was that many slaves refused to accept the legitimacy of slavery Led slaves to form their own churches Utilized conjuring, folk magic, root medicine, and other occult knowledge, most of it passed down from Africa Gave slaves sense of themselves as a historical people

Religion and Revolt Escapes and other forms of resistance more common than revolts Slave Christianity tempered resistance Gabriel’s Revolt Working covertly Planned to gather a slave army to seize Richmond Weather, white terror, and black betrayal foiled revolt Denmark Vesey conspiracy, 1822 Slaves would rise up and seize Charleston Then commandeer ships and make their escape Betrayed by slaves themselves Nat Turner revolt, 1831 Received notice in vision that God wanted him to lead revolt in Southampton County, Virginia Bloody, but unsuccessful, revolt ensued Southern whites deeply troubled by slave revolts

Plantation and Southern Growth Plantations were profitable In 1860, slaves alone were worth $3 billion dollars Land and slaves provided esteem in the South Purchased outside goods at a lower rate than North South did not take advantage of new technologies Slaves used instead of new technology Southern governments made little internal improvements Commercial and manufacturing developed far less than in the North

Discussion Questions What is the task system and how does it differ than the plantation slavery of the cotton belt? What affect did short staple cotton and the cotton gin have on Southern society? Examine the conditions of slaves on the plantations. Contrast these conditions with that of yeoman farmers in the South. Examine the major slave rebellions noted in this chapter. What level of success did each have, why did the fail, and how did they affect Southern society?