1830-1860

Focus Question: How did the rise of cotton cultivation affect the

society and economy of the Old South?

Big Picture: 1770’s—Tobacco = no profit 1830’s—Cotton needed by BR & NE

Upper South—VA, NC, TN, AR (relied less on slavery)

Lower or Deep South—SC, GA, FL, MS, LA, TX

Cotton…againo Climateo No toolso Cotton gino 1810-1830—

slave pop boom

o Demand in NEo Corn alternate

crop

Grew veggies & hemp Less reliable on slaves

Settlers from lower south were from upper south White southerners benefited from 3/5 clause Abolitionists criticized both regions for slavery Cotton & sugar = $ = internal slave trade

Industry 1/3 pop lived in South Industry in VA & SC

o Tredegar Iron Works No workforce Industry = sell slaves =

no $

Education Refused to pay for

public educationo All would be farmers

Educating slaves = illegal

By CW, 60 % of NC illiterate

Focus Question: What major social divisions segmented the white

South?

Big Picture: Four Southern groups: Planters (1%), yeomen,

small farmers, & pine barren folks.

• Used plantation agriculture• Lived in AL & MS• Showed wealth by slave #• “Agents” sold cotton• Cheated— “mulattos”

• 88% of holders had 20+ slaves

• Lawyers, Dr, & Artisans• Slave use:

• Upland-harvest only• Lower-more

• Desired live of Planter• Took out loans for land

in AL & MS

• Nonslaveholders• Slave use:

• Only at harvest• Paid slaves

• Depended on family to work land

• Controlled most southern land

• Democratic• Believed in self-

sufficiency.

• 10% of Southern whites• Squatters, raised hogs• Refused slave-like work

Focus Question: Why did nonslaveholding whites feel their futures

were tied to the survival of slavery?Big Picture: North—forces own race into labor. South—exploits blacks through slavery.

Focus Question: What were the distinctive features of African-

American society & culture in the South?

Big Picture: Slave location/labor determined treatment

• Age: 20’s—slave ship• Africa/Caribbean

• Different language• No partners

• Low birth numbers due to female malnutrition

• Worked on small, isolated farms

• Females & males• English language• Ratio of male to female

equal

• Higher birth rates• Plantation agriculture

• Chesapeake area or lower South

• Slave trade banned in 1808

Slave-Owning Population Slave-Owning Population (1850)(1850)

Slave-Owning Population Slave-Owning Population (1850)(1850)

Slave-Owning Families Slave-Owning Families (1850)(1850)

Slave-Owning Families Slave-Owning Families (1850)(1850)

¾ of all slaves lived on plantations with 10+

Men & women Sun up to sundown Smaller farms:

“task system” Larger farms:

worked under an overseer

Master encouraged “slave marriage”o Childreno Discourage runaways

Law did not protect slaves (or crimes committed against them)

Families sold & separated

Sexual abuse from masters

“Fictive Kin”

High reproduction rateo Equal ratioo 2/3 lived to be 10 yo

Balanced diet of vegetables and meat.

Resistant to malaria & yellow fevero Home remedies

Lived in crude wooden cabins

Infected water to do bacteria and “waste”

1860—1/3 of free blacks lived in upper South & ½ of free blacks lived in lower South.

Easier to get jobs in the South vs North.

Lived in rural areas. Carpenters, coopers,

barbers, small traders, and worked in markets.

Organized own churches and schools.

Languages of slaves:o Pidgin—dropping

connector words & blend of African, Spanish, and English.

Religion:o African slaves

worshipped many religions

o “Witchcraft”o Water Symbolism—early

slaves were baptized b/c water was significant in their religion.

Religiono Plantation owners

brought in preachers• Preach that slaver

was justified by Bible• Slaves began

interpreting their struggle as a “test” from god and master would “get theirs”

• Similar to Jews who were enslaved by Romans.

Black Music & Danceo Struggle expressed in

music: drums, clapping

o “Patting the juba”o Spirituals

• Sung in fields to talk about escape.

• Underground Railroad:• Created to help

slaves escape to Canada or Mexico.

• Harriet Tubman

Quilt Patterns as Secret Quilt Patterns as Secret MessagesMessages

Quilt Patterns as Secret Quilt Patterns as Secret MessagesMessages

The Monkey Wrench pattern, on the left, alerted escapees to gather up tools and prepare to flee; the Drunkard Path design, on the right, warned escapees not to follow a straight route.