1. c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Hospital
Extra Credit
To Replace your lowest “Daily Grade”
Write a letter to a soldier who was hurt fighting for our country
Assignment: Write a letter to a recovering American soldier and return it unsealed in an addressed and stamped envelope first thing in the morning and I will replace your lowest daily grade with a 100.
Address: A Recovering American Soldier
c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Hospital
6900 Georgia Avenue, NW
Washington, DC

2. Antebellum Society
1800–1860
The South builds a cotton economy, but also creates a class system with race as the most critical factor.
The South’s economy relies on cotton, and the slave labor used to produce it.
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3. Antebellum Society 1800–1860 SECTION 1 Southern Culture SECTION 2
Antebellum Society in Georgia
These are my notes for slide 2
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4. Southern Culture Section 1
The South becomes a distinct region that is quite
different from other regions of the United States by
the 1850s.
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5. Southern Culture “Cotton is King” Antebellum South Focuses on Cotton
SECTION 1
Southern Culture
“Cotton is King”
Antebellum South Focuses on Cotton
• Southern antebellum society based on cotton
(antebellum means “before the war,”)
• Late 1700s, cotton is Georgia’s most important
crop with English textile mills creating a huge
demand
Continued . . .
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6. The Cotton Gin Cotton seeds limited amount of cotton produced
SECTION 1
continued “Cotton is King”
The Cotton Gin
Cotton seeds limited amount of cotton produced
because the seeds hard to remove
• Eli Whitney designs cotton gin in 1793
- cotton gin—machine that removes seeds from
cotton
- allows each worker to clean 50 times more
cotton per day
• More planters begin growing cotton as a result of
cotton gin
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7. The Cotton Gin

8. The Cotton Boom Cotton Gin Brings Changes
SECTION 1
The Cotton Boom
Cotton Gin Brings Changes
• Cotton boom allows South to focus on agriculture
• North focuses on industry
• Cotton easy to sell, commands high prices
• Planters begin to grow more cotton than any other
crops and less food crops
• South becomes dependent on cotton
Continued . . .
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9. Slavery Expands • Cotton requires large workforce; slavery
SECTION 1
continued The Cotton Boom
Slavery Expands
• Cotton requires large workforce; slavery
increases in South
• Cotton profits skyrocket, very profitable
• As profits rise, slave prices jump:
- male field hand is $300 in 1790s; rises to
$1,000 by late 1830s
• Slave importation illegal after 1808
- continue to trade slaves already living in U.S.
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10. Difficulties with Farming
SECTION 1
Difficulties with Farming
Soil Exhaustion
• Farmers plant same crops each year; takes vital
nutrients from soil
• “Exhausted” soil no longer supports crops;
plantations shift west
• Some rich farmers use guano, bird droppings, as
fertilizer by 1850s
Continued . . .
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11. Crop Failures • Georgians too reliant on cotton; use profits for
SECTION 1
continued Difficulties with Farming
Crop Failures
• Georgians too reliant on cotton; use profits for
more land, slaves
Wealth in south is determined by land and slaves
owned not cash on hand. Crop failure can lead to
poverty
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12. Industry in Georgia Industry is Limited Barriers to Industry
SECTION 1
Industry in Georgia
Industry is Limited
• Little industry in Georgia; some textile (cotton) mills;
iron
- these industries later vital to Civil War effort
Barriers to Industry
• Wealthy reinvest money in cotton instead of
developing industries
• Planter class—no need to change industry while
cotton is profitable
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13. Transportation in Georgia
SECTION 1
Transportation in Georgia
River Travel
• Rivers are main transportation method until mid-
1800s
• Samuel Howard launches Georgia’s first
steamboat, Enterprise, 1816
• In 1819, Savannah makes first transatlantic
steamboat trip
- launched by group of Savannah businessmen
Continued . . .
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14. Railroads • In 1837, Construction of Western and Atlantic
SECTION 1
continued Transportation in Georgia
Railroads
• In 1837, Construction of Western and Atlantic
(W&A) Railroad begins
- first W&A stake driven seven miles east of
Chattahoochee River
- staked spot called Terminus—beginning of
modern-day Atlanta
• All but two major southern railroads pass through
Atlanta by 1860
Southern railroads are lighter gauge than northern railroads-built for lightweight hauling of agricultural goods (esp. cotton)
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15. Education in Georgia Georgia’s Public School Systems
SECTION 1
Education in Georgia
Georgia’s Public School Systems
• Georgia’s public school system weak, develops
later
• Georgia creates poor school system to educate
needy children in 1817
• Many Georgians embarrassed to send children to
poor schools
• If able, families pay to send children to old field
schools instead
• Education neglected—20% of Georgia’s white
adults literate by 1850
Continued . . .
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16. Georgia’s Cities Georgia Still Mostly Rural
SECTION 1
Georgia’s Cities
Georgia Still Mostly Rural
• Savannah is Georgia’s largest city in 1860,
22,000 people
• Augusta—12,500; Columbus, Macon, Atlanta—
under 10,000 each
• Most Georgians live in rural areas, small towns
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17. Quiz 1. What does the term antebellum mean?
2. What was Georgia’s most important crop during the antebellum period?
3. _____developed the cotton gin for removing seeds from the cotton.
4. During the antebellum period, the economy of the North was based on _____ and the economy of the South was based on _____.
5. The price of slaves increased after because the importation of slaves became______.

18. 6. ____ soil no longer supports crops
7. Some rich farmers used _____, bird droppings, as fertilizer by 1850s.
Wealth in the South was determined by ___ and ____ and not money.
Samuel Howard launches Georgia’s first steamboat the ______.
10. The Western & Atlantic Railroad started at a place that becomes the city of Atlanta known as ______.

19. Antebellum Society in Georgia
Section 2
Antebellum Society in Georgia
Antebellum Georgia develops distinct social classes based largely on race and partly on economic opportunity.
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20. Antebellum Society in Georgia
SECTION 2
Antebellum Society in Georgia
The Old South
Social Classes and Slavery
• Georgia, South divided into social classes; race
the critical factor
Planters
Yeoman Farmers
Poor Whites
Free Blacks
House slaves
Field Slaves
• Whites of all classes see themselves as higher in status than blacks - even free, wealthy African Americans considered lower than whites
• Only about 25% of Southern whites own slaves
- slave ownership sign of wealth, political power
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22. Planters A Wealthy Minority
SECTION 2
Planters
A Wealthy Minority
• Planters—wealthy elite, own 20 or more slaves
on plantations
• Plantations—large farms extending hundreds of
acres
• 1860, under 3,000 of Georgia’s 600,000 whites
considered planters
Continued . . .
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23. Small Communities • Plantations small self sufficient communities
SECTION 2
continued Planters
Small Communities
• Plantations small self sufficient communities
• Plantation owners usually hire overseer to head
farming operation
• Owners live in towns to enjoy social lives, better
education
• Coastal owners come to cities to avoid disease-
carrying insects
• Planters often well-educated community leaders
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25. Yeoman Farmers The Majority of White Georgians Poor Whites
SECTION 2
Yeoman Farmers
                              
The Majority of White Georgians
• Most Georgia whites yeoman farmers—own and
farm a few acres of land
• Some slave owners, some rent farms from larger
landowners
Poor Whites
• Poor whites own no land, hire selves out to land,
business owners
• Live at subsistence level; many move to towns,
work in mills by 1860
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26. Free African Americans
SECTION 2
Free African Americans
Freedom Not Guaranteed
• About 3,500 free African Americans in Georgia,
1850
• Slaveholders free slaves or slaves purchase their
own freedom
• Live mainly in towns where they can find work
• Many free slaves still must register; some
kidnapped and enslaved
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27. Enslaved Africans Different Roles on a Plantation
SECTION 2
Enslaved Africans
Different Roles on a Plantation
• Field hands tend crops on plantation; driver maintains discipline
• Some skilled slaves become carpenters or blacksmiths
- some allowed to keep portion of earnings
• House slaves cook, clean, tend homes, care for children
Considered of a higher class than field slaves
Continued . . .
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28. SECTION 2
continued Enslaved Africans
Life Under Slavery
• Slaves live in slave quarters; some in servants’ quarters in homes
• Many slaves allowed plots to grow food; some can sell surplus
food
• Illegal to teach slaves literacy, but some taught; pass it on
• Slaves can’t legally marry; many owners recognize informal
marriage
• Owner may sell a slave anytime; children of slaves are also slaves
• Slave families often broken up throughout South
Continued . . .
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29. SECTION 2
continued Enslaved Africans
Resistance
• Slaves develop means of protest; most common to work slowly
• Some escape to North; severe punishment to deter others if
caught
• Many white Georgians fear slave revolts; pass strict slave codes
Unchained Memories
*Life of a slave girl
reading slave girl
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