1. What was life like in the antebellum South?
Essential Question:
What was life like in the antebellum South?
Warm-Up Question:
Rank order the success of these American presidents: Jefferson, Madison, & Monroe
Provide evidence for each
Lesson Plan for Tuesday, September 29, 2008: Warm-up question, Antebellum South notes

2. The Southern Antebellum Economy: King Cotton & Slavery
Ante means “before”
Bellum means “the war”

3. The Rise of “King Cotton”
Southern cotton fueled both the English & American Industrial Revolutions
“King Cotton” was the dynamic force driving the American economy from :
The South provided ¾ of world’s cotton
Southern cotton stimulated the growth of Northern textile industry, shipping, & marketing
Slave population grew 300%

4. The Value of Cotton Exports as a Percentage of All U.S. Exports

5. The Rise of “King Cotton”
The introduction of short-staple cotton strengthened the economy
Cotton could now be grown anywhere in the South
The cotton gin (1793) made seed extraction easy
The potential for profits led to a cotton boom & the expansion of slavery in the South
“Southern way of life”
White Southerners perceived their economic interests to be tied to slavery

6. Slaves Using the Cotton Gin

7. Southern Agriculture
Cotton expansion led to “Alabama Fever” from 1816 to 1820
Southern expansion boomed again from 1832 to 1838 into Mississippi, Louisiana, & Arkansas
…and again in the mid-1850s into Texas

8. Slave Concentration by 1860
The “Black Belt”

9. The Internal Slave Trade
The Upper South grew tobacco & was less dependent on cotton & slave labor
As slave prices rose, Upper South developed an internal slave trade to provide “surplus” slaves to the Lower South
Virginia, Maryland, & Kentucky began to take on characteristics of the industrializing North & became divided in their support of slavery

10. Slavery in a Changing World
Antebellum regional differences:
By 1820, all Northern states abolished slavery
The South lagged behind the North in cities, industry, & railroads
Southern population grew slower than in the North & West
The South lagged by choice because these were risky investments, but cotton was safe
Southern politicians feared being permanently outvoted in Congress
By 1860, only 35% of railroads were in the South
By 1860, only 15% of U.S. factories were in the South

11. Antebellum Southern Society: Whites

12. The Divided Society of the Old South
American slavery was deeply rooted in the Southern economy; but slavery divided the South:
By “caste”—black or white
By “class”—ownership of slaves
By region—slavery was more deeply entrenched along the “Black Belt” from GA to TX

13. Southern Society in 1850
“Slave-ocracy” (plantation owners)
6,000,000
The “Plain Folk” (small slave-owners & yeoman farmers)
250,000
Black Freemen
3,200,000
Black Slaves
U.S. population in 1850 was 23,000,000 9,500,000 lived in the South (40%)

14. Southern White Class Structure, 1860

15. White Society in South
Only a small percentage of whites owned large plantations:
Less than 1% of the white population owned 50+ slaves
Most whites were yeomen farmers who supported slavery because they hired slaves or felt reassured that there was a lower class than them

16. Small Slaveholders
Only about 25% of the Southern white population owned slaves
88% of slave owners had fewer than 20 slaves (most 1-2 slaves)
But slave conditions were worse because slaves shared their master's poverty
Most slaves would have preferred the economic stability & kinship of the plantation

17. If these were the living conditions for slaves on a plantation, what were conditions like on small farms?

18. Yeomen Farmers
About 75% of Southern whites were small, yeoman farmers who did not own slaves:
Most yeomen resented the aristocratic planters but hoped to become wealthy planters
Many saw slavery as a way of keeping blacks “in their place”
Many saw abolition as a threat to their Southern way of life

19. Antebellum Southern Society: Slaves

20. The World of Southern Blacks
While very few whites were plantation owners, most slaves lived on plantations:
90% of slaves lived on farms in which owner had 20+ slaves
15% of slaves served as “house slaves” (domestic servants)
10% of slaves worked in industry, lumbering, construction
2.4% of slaves worked on large plantations with 200+ slaves

21. Distribution of Slave Labor, 1850

22. 50% of all slaves lived in the Black Belt (“Cotton Belt”)

23. Slaves Picking Cotton on a Mississippi Plantation
“Hauling the Whole Week’s Pickings” William Henry Brown, 1842

24. Slaves Working in a Sugar-Boiling House, 1823
Some slaves could hire out their overtime hours for pay (“Underground Economy”)

25. Slave Families & Community
Normal family life was difficult:
Families were vulnerable to breakup by their masters
On large plantations, slaves were able to retain their African cultures & were mostly part of two-parent families
But on smaller farms, extended families provided support or “adoption” of unrelated slaves

26. A Slave Family

27. African American Religion
Black Christianity was the center of African-American culture
Richard Allen created African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church but was largely composed of free & urban African-Americans
On plantations, whites supervised religious messages, but the “real” slave religion was practiced at night in secret; preached about the inevitable day of liberation

28. Supervised Plantation Religion

29. Free Blacks in the Old South
Southern free blacks were severely restricted:
Had to register with the state & carry “freedom” papers
Were excluded from certain jobs
Subjected to re-enslavement & fraudulent “recapture”
By 1860 some states proposed laws to force free blacks to leave the state or be enslaved

30. Defending Slavery?

31. Defending Slavery
Southern planters feared revolts & the growth of abolitionism & used a new defense slavery:
It was sanctioned in the Bible
Constitution did not prohibit it
Slavery was a “natural” way of life for “inferior” Africans
Slavery was more humane than Northern industrial exploitation

32. Pro-Slavery Propaganda

33. Defending Slavery
Proslavery Southerners protected South against anti-slavery ideas:
Feared abolitionist propaganda would inspire slave rebellions or inspire the yeoman to support abolition
Increased restrictions on blacks by making it illegal to teach slaves to read & write
Banned church services & meetings without supervision

34. Slavery in the North: Early Emancipation Movements
In 1787, the Articles of Confederation outlawed slavery in the northwest
By 1804, nine states emancipated slaves or adopted gradual emancipation plans
Before the American Revolution, slaves were present in each of the 13 American colonies
In 1817, a group of ministers & politicians formed the American Colonization Society to resettle free blacks in West Africa
In 1808, the USA & Britain in outlawed the African slave trade

35. Anti-Slave Arguments
Leg Irons
Slave ID Tag
Slave muzzle

36. Resistance & Rebellion
The most common form of slave rebellion was passive resistance:
Work slowdowns & sabotage
Poisoning of masters
Running away was common among slaves; Runaway slaves were aided by the Underground Railroad

37. Quilt Patterns Showed Secret Messages
The Drunkard Path design warned escapees not to follow a straight route
The Monkey Wrench pattern told slaves to gather up tools and prepare to flee

38. Resistance and Rebellion
At the last minute, the plan failed, Prosser was captured, & no whites died
Between , 3 major slave revolts occurred:
Gabriel Prosser (1800) planned a violent march on Richmond
Denmark Vesey (1822) created an extensive plot to arm & free slaves in SC (no white deaths)
Nat Turner (1831) led a band of slaves from farm to farm & killed 60 whites
A change discovery revealed the plot & no whites died

39. Slave Rebellions in the South: Nat Turner, 1831

40. Conclusions: Worlds in Conflict

41. Conclusions
The post-1793 cotton boom transformed the American economy & Southern society:
Cotton facilitated westward expansion & the entrenchment of African slavery in the South
In the 1830s, the South became increasingly defensive about perceived Northern attempts to end slavery

42. Discussion Questions
How did American agriculture change from the colonial era to the Era of Good Feelings?
Which early 19th century change will have the greater impact on American history: Eli Whitney’s cotton gin OR Jefferson’s Louisiana Purchase? Explain