2. VOCABULARY Planter – Cottonocracy – Slave codes – Denmark Vesey –
Nat Turner –

4. And the story continues. . .
The Mexican-American War begins and after two years of fighting Mexico loses one-third of its territory. America officially owns Texas, California and New Mexico as the quest for Manifest Destiny is fulfilled.
The US population increases during this time, more people are working in factories and leaving their farms. More people are moving West.
Better roads are created, steamboats, covered bridges, turnpikes, to accommodate the many people traveling West.
Tariffs are passed to keep American factories from going bankrupt, but his angers the South – contributing to a growing sense of sectionalism in the country.
With the tariffs a separation between the North and South becomes wider. The Economy of the South depends on cotton and slave labor. The Economy of the North depends on industry and paid labor.

5. The Old South is often pictured as huge plantations worked by hundreds of slaves.
While large estates with beautiful mansions did exist in the South, most white southerners were not rich planters.
In fact, most whites owned no slaves at all.

6. An even smaller number – less than 1% - owned 50 or more slaves.8%
32% 8% 2%
50%
In 1860, only one white southerner in 30 belonged to a planter family. A planter is someone who owned at least 20 slaves.
An even smaller number – less than 1% - owned 50 or more slaves.

7. Planters - 5 or more slaves owned 8%
“Cottonocracy” 50 or more slaves
Planters - 5 or more slaves owned 8%
Small Farmers -1-4 slaves owned 8%
Whites who owned no slaves 50%
Free African Americans 2%
Enslaved African Americans 32%

8. The small percentage of wealthy southern families that owned 50 or more slaves were called the “cottonocracy” because they made a vast fortune from growing and selling cotton.
These wealthy slave owning families were few in number but their political opinions and way of life dominated southern culture and government.

9. The wealthy families of the cottonocracy built elegant homes and filled them with expensive European furniture.
They entertained lavishly to show off their wealth and dressed and behaved like European royalty.
Because planters had a lot of wealth and influence with other people they often times became political leaders - pushing their own ideas and beliefs on state, local and national politics.
Planters usually hired overseers to run and manage their plantations and oversee their slaves.

10. Although 1% of the southern population “cottonocracy” lived lavishly, 75% of southern whites were small farmers.
These farmers owned their land and may have had one or two slaves which they worked side by side with in the fields.

11. Not all white farmers owned the land, lower on the social ladder were a group of poor whites.
These farmers did not own the land they farmed, instead they rented it and paid rent by giving back part of their crop. Many barely made a living.
Poor farmers usually lived in the undesirable hilly wooded areas of the South. They grew such crops as corn, potatoes, and other vegetables. Some herded cattle and pigs.

12. Although some African Americans living in the South were free, they still lived under harsh discrimination. They may have been free but they were not treated equally.
Most of the free African Americans were descendants of slaves freed during and after the American Revolution. Others had worked hard to buy their freedom.

13. In 1860, over 200,000 free blacks lived in the South
In 1860, over 200,000 free blacks lived in the South. Slave owners felt threatened by free blacks, they feared they would encourage enslaved blacks to rebel.
Slave owners also didn’t like free slaves because they believed slavery was necessary because blacks couldn’t take care of themselves. But free African American workers proved this wasn’t true.

14. Many southern states did not want free African Americans settling in their state and began passing laws designed to discriminate and make free African American’s lives harder.
Such discriminatory laws consisted of not allowing free African Americans the right to vote. In some states African Americans were threatened with becoming enslaved if they didn’t leave.
African Americans would continue to be treated unequally under the law for another hundred years!

15. One in three African Americans was enslaved in the South by 1860.
Most slaves worked in the field on cotton plantations. Both men and women worked hard planting and harvesting crops.
Children worked as soon as they were able, usually pulling weeds, fetching water and collecting wood. As children aged they eventually worked 12 to 14 hour days.
Some African American workers learned valuable skills such as blacksmithing and carpentering. A few worked in cities and lived as if they were free, but the money they earned would belong to their master.

16. The treatment of slaves depended upon the individual slave owners
The treatment of slaves depended upon the individual slave owners. Some slave owners provide clean cabins, decent food and clean clothes. Other owners spent little money on their slaves’ wellbeing.
Runaway or rebellious slaves was always a concern for slave owners. Southern states passed laws known as slave codes to keep slaves from running away.
Under slave codes African Americans were prohibited from:
Gathering in groups of more than three.
Leaving their owners land without a written pass.
Owning guns.
Learning to read or write.

18. The slave codes made it a crime for slaves to learn to read and write to specifically keep them uneducated.
Slave owners reasoned that if their slaves could not read they would not be able to use maps or read train schedules, making it harder for them to plan an escape to the north.

19. Some Southern laws were passed to protect slaves from abuse suffered from their owners.
But the laws only went so far, as a slave did not have the right to testify in court or bring charges against owners who mistreated them.
Most slave owners wanted to keep their slaves healthy and productive and saw their slaves as valuable property.

20. Even owners that were kind to their slaves insisted that their slaves work long, hard days.
Usually slaves worked from sun up, to sun down – As much as 16 hours a day.

21. In the South laws were passed that did not recognize slave marriages or slave families. Slave husbands and wives could be sold to different owners, and often times their children were taken from their parents and sold.

22. Slaves on larger plantations had better chances of staying together as it was less likely they would be sold off.
The family unit among slaves was very important and many times traditional African songs and stories would be passed down to younger generations. This was one way of keeping their African heritage alive.
Many enslaved African Americans were Christians and used stories from the bible to give them inspiration.

23. Living under such oppression caused many slaves to revolt
Living under such oppression caused many slaves to revolt. Slaves lashed out against the harsh system that treated them like property by destroying crops, stealing food, and running away.
For slaves seeking freedom in the northern states it was a dangerous and long journey. Very few slaves made it to freedom.
The southern states had slave patrols and sheriffs specifically looking for run away slaves.

24. Some brave African Americans chose violence as a way to resist the brutal slave system. Denmark Vesey was a free African American and skilled carpenter, who had won a lottery and purchased his freedom when he was 32 years old. Sadly, he was not able to buy his wife and children out of slavery.
Vesey planned a slave revolt where he meant to kill slaveholders in Charleston, liberate the slaves, and sail to the black republic of Haiti for refuge.
But his plan was leaked and Vesey was arrested before the rising could begin. He and 35 other black followers were executed by hanging on July 2, 1822.

25. Nat Turner was a slave that led a slave rebellion in Virginia on August 21, 1831.
Turner led a group of slaves on a killing spree moving from plantation to plantation as they gathered horses and weapons. They freed other slaves along the way.

26. In the end, sixty white people were murdered making this uprising the deadliest slave rebellion in the history of the United States.
Fifty-seven blacks accused of being part of Turner's slave rebellion were executed and an additional 200 blacks were killed by white militias and mobs.
Turner was able to hide for two months. But when he was found, he was hanged.

27. Across Virginia and other southern states, new laws were passed to control slaves and free blacks:
Prohibited education of slaves and free blacks.
Added harsher regulations for blacks to gather together (for instance, a white ministers had to be present at all black church services).
Denied free blacks trials by jury and made any free blacks convicted of a crime subject to sale and relocation.