1. OBJECTIVE
DO FIRST
You will be able to explain 4 causes of slavery in the South
What does “racism” look like today? Explain 2 examples.

2. What does racism look like today?
As we watch the following video, think about the following:
How do the statistics in the video demonstrate the affects of racism on today’s society?

3. NOTES: The 4 causes of slavery
As we go through today’s notes page, be ready to check your understanding using the A-D cards!

4. Cause #1: Limited Cheap Labor in the Americas
Many white and black Americans arrived to the New World by signing a contract for indentured servitude.
Those who couldn’t afford to pay for the trip across the Atlantic Ocean would agree to work for 3-7 years as an indentured servant in exchange for the cost of the trip.
Early farmers and plantation owners used indentured servants as their primary source of labor.

5. Cause #1: Limited Cheap Labor in the Americas
This labor, however, was not permanent. Eventually, servants would be freed after working for a few years and the plantation owners would have to find new laborers for their fields.
These farmers soon realized that it would be easier to enslave the blacks who arrived to the Americas and never allow for them to gain back their freedom.
This practice became very common and slavery spread quickly throughout the southern colonies. With the enslavement of blacks, there was suddenly an entire continent full of cheap laborers for southern plantations.

6. Check your Understanding
Africans first arrived to the Americas as:
Slaves
Free Men
Indentured Servants
Plantation Owners

7. Check your Understanding
The difference between an indentured servant and a slave is:
Servants worked to gain their freedom, while slaves could never be freed
Servants could be white or African, but slaves were always black
Children of servants also had to work for their parents’ masters, while the children of slaves could be free
Both A and B

8. Cause #2: Demand for Cheap Agricultural Products
As European nations colonized areas throughout the Americas, one of their main goals was to import new and useful agricultural products from the New World.
Europeans soon realized that crops like tobacco, sugar, rice, and cotton could be produced much more efficiently in the Americas.
To increase the production of agricultural goods, Europeans began enslaving Africans and bringing them over to the Americas to work the fields.

9. Cause #3: Long-Growing Seasons in the South
The geography of the North made it difficult to grow large plantations and cash crops.
The soil was rocky and rough. The climate was also too cold—cash crops required a warmer climate and the harsh northern winters killed off the crops.
Eventually, slavery was no longer seen as useful and northern states started to rely on industrialization for their economy.

10. Cause #3: Long-Growing Seasons in the South
The geography and climate of the South was the opposite of the North.
The rich, fertile soils allowed cash crops to grown in abundance. The long, warm summers provided the climate needed for long and profitable growing seasons.
As a result, the south became heavily dependent on slave labor to harvest cash crops on farms and plantations.

11. Check your understanding
Which of the following correctly matches the region with its geography and climate?
North had a long growing season, South had warm weather
North had harsh winters, South had rocky soil
North had rocky soil, South had long growing seasons
None of the above

12. Check your understanding
What became the basis of the North’s economy?
Agriculture
Trade
Industrialization
All of the above

13. Cause #4: Profitability of Cotton
Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin in This invention transformed the southern economy by increasing the amount of cotton that plantation owners could harvest in a year.
In 1790, the South produced only 3,000 bales of cotton. By 1850, production had skyrocketed to over 4 million bales per year!

14. Cause #4: Profitability of Cotton
In the south, it was common to hear people declare “Cotton is king!” because the southern economy depended so heavily on its production.
With such a dependence on cotton, the south developed a dependency on slave labor. The slaves grew and harvested the cotton—without this source of labor, the Southern economy would fail.

15. Check your understanding
The cotton gin led to which of the following?
Increase use of slave labor
Increased production of cotton
Increase in the importation of slaves
A and B only