1. The South and the Slavery Controversy

2. American slavery was rooted in both racism and economic exploitation and depended on brutal repression for its survival
Slavery remained a cancer on American democracy; a moral outrage that mocked out nation’s claim to be a model of social and political enlightenment

3. The American slave populations had several unique distinctions
The only enslaved popuolation in world history which grew by its own biological reproduction
Developed a distinctive and durable African-American culture which flourished under slavery

4. American Slavery after the Revolution
Early Republic – Federal Government took steps to slow the growth of slavery
Old Northwest Ordinance
Banned slavery
Missouri Compromise
Forever banned slavery in the Louisiana Purchase Territory north of the line
Many northern states began to abolish slavery gradually after the Revolution also

7. The Growth of the Cotton Economy
Before 1793 – Slavery was on the decline until the invention of the cotton gin
Change – Eli Whitney invents Cotton Gin – 1793
Led to a resurgence in demand for slaves
War of 1812 and Indian Removal Act 1830 – open up Gulf states to cotton production and plantation slavery

8. Effects By 1860 – 4 million slaves in the US Field hand
Quadrupled since 1800
Field hand
Northern bankers loan $300 million to southerners for slaves
75% of whites in the south owned ZERO slaves

10. ”Cotton is King”
As cotton became more profitable – planters went into gulf
“Sold Down the River” – selling slaves in upper south into the deep south
Northern shipping made profit from cotton trade
Cotton = ½ of US exports after 1840
Britain’s textile mills depended on southern cotton – 75%
1850s = 1/5th of the British population directly or indirectly made its living from southern cotton
If Civil War between North and South occurred – Southerners believed that Britain would break any Northern blockade and force recognition of the South

12. The Planter Aristocracy
Pre-Civil War, a planter aristocracy dominated Southern government and society
Oligarchy – a government by the few
,733 Southern families owned 100 or more slaves
“Cottonocracy”
Children educated in private schools, many located in the north
Pre-Civil War, a planter aristocracy dominated Southern government and society
Oligarchy – a government by the few
,733 Southern families owned 100 or more slaves
“Cottonocracy”
Children educated in private schools, many located in the north

13. The “Cottonocracy” Effects of the the Planter Elite rule on the South:
Dominated by rich planter class
Widened gap between rich and poor
Stopped growth of tax-supported schools
Characteristics
Sir Walter Scott – writer, chivalry, idealized feudal systems

14. Effects of the Slave System on the south
Plantation agriculture ruined the soil
moved West and Northwest
Monopolistic – ”land butchery” increased, small farmers sold land to plantations – big get bigger, small get smaller
Financially unstable – over speculation common = debt
Dependence on a one crop economy – discouraged agricultural diversification (price dependent on world conditions)
1850s – Southerners increasingly resented the North
North was prospering at their expense (commissions and interest paid to bankers, shippers, middlemen)
Plantation economy repelled immigration – 1860 – only 4.4 percent of the Southern population was foreign- born – white south is the most Anglo-Saxon section of the nation

15. Planter Elites
Less Wealthy Slave-owners
Small Farmers
Non-slave holding whites
Poor Whites

16. Less Wealthy Slave- Owners
Planter Elites
1,733 families who owned >100 slaves or more
345,00 Southern white families
Over 2/3 owned less than 10 slaves
Only ¼ of white southerners owned slaves

17. Small Farmers Lived on small farms Worked in fields 0-2 slaves
Modest homes

18. Non-slave holding whites
¾ of Southern whites
Made a living cultivating poor soil – backcountry or mountain valleys
Resented planter class
Raised corn, hogs, NOT COTTON
Isolated
Poor Whites
“Hillbillies” or “crackers”
Malnutrition, parasites
Among the strongest defenders of slavery
Prospect of social mobility
Belief in their racial superiority

21. The Mountain Whites Isolated in Appalachian Mountain Range
Lived under meager frontier conditions
Hated planters and slaves
Proved loyal to the Union during the war

22. Free Blacks “the Third Race”
1860- numbered about 250,000 in the South
Upper South - free blacks were part of manumission after the Revolutionary War
Deep South – many mulattoes
Some free blacks earned their freedom with their earnings
Many owned property

24. Plantation Slavery 1808 – legal importation of slaves ended Smuggling
Natural increase – REMEMBER THIS DISTINGUISHES AMERICAN SLAVERY
Investment – 1860 prices for prime field hand = $1800
Slave women in Old South could earn freedom by bearing up to 13 children
White masters often forced themselves on slave women = malatto children

25. Slave Auctions Sold alongside horses, cows, pigs Families separated
Bankruptcy
Inheritance

26. The Life of Slaves
The is no clear, simple answer – Treatment varied from master to master, region to region
Hard grueling work, ignorance, oppression
Worked from dusk until dawn
Work and lives managed by a white “overseer” or black “driver”

27. Life in the “Black Belt”
Area from South Carolina and Georgia to Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana
Life harder than in the Old south
20+
75% of population
Maintained a fairly stable family life and culture

28. African-American Culture and Family
Stable 2 parent families
Named children after grandparents or master
Religious practices: Second Great Awakening
Mix of African and Christian traditions
Emphasized stories in the Bible – like the captivity of Isrealites
Call and response style of preaching
Ringshout

30. Most states passed laws to prohibit education of slaves
9/10 adult slaves illiterate at stat of the CIvil War

31. Slave Rebellions
Gabriel Prosser Rebellion (1800): VA, plan foiled by informants, leaders were hanged
Denmark Vesey Revolt (1822): Charleston, SC – Vesey and 30 others hanged
Nat Turner Rebellion (1821): Black preacher led uprising and killed 60 whites - hanged