1. Agriculture in Antebellum South Carolina
Standard Indicator 8-4.1

2. Headright system + slave labor = large SC plantations
Quick Review
During Colonial times, agriculture was the basis for society in SC
Those who did save enough for 1 or 2 slaves worked along side them in their own fields
Note: Most SC families lived on sustenance farms and owned NO slaves
Headright system + slave labor = large SC plantations
By 1860, SC had the highest percentage of slave holders in the nation……why?

3. The Cotton Boom
Eli Whitney – Cotton Gin -- Need to increase profits -- Depended on slave labor to make it work.
The use of slavery in both the Upcountry and the Lowcountry eased the tensions between the two areas……As well as the Constitutional Amendment that gave one vote where one lived to “every free white man of 21”

4. The Cotton Boom Cont……. SC political rights changed
International slave trade ended in 1808
SC slave population continued to grow
Overgrowth of cotton stripped the land
Little focus on finding a new cash crop
Need for new land led to southern arguments over western expansion

5. Planter Life of the Elite (4:43)

6. Plantation Life
Was self-sustaining & depended on the institution of slavery
Slave Duties/Jobs (men, women, children)
Provided minimum food, clothing, & shelter
Slave marriages were not recognized
Slave families often split up
Against the law to teach slaves how to read or write

7. Plantation Life for Slaves
Lived in small cabins with dirt floors
Overseen by the Masters under a watchful eye
Slaves who went off the plantation had to carry a pass
Run-a ways were harshly beaten
Slave protests happened by way of slow down work, destruction of owner property, & faking sickness
Converted to Christianity

8. Class System
Planter elite had wealth, prosperity, & political pull due to slave labor
Master & Mistress had the hard job of making the plantation run smoothly to be profitable
Overseers were hired to help with the business (but the master oversaw the slave population)
Mistress oversaw the running of the house & cared for the sick slaves

9. Leading to Sectionalism
Such actions led southerners to justify slavery as a ‘positive good’ and claim that southern slaves were better cared for than factory workers in the North
These arguments contributed to the growing sectionalism that divided the nation