Chapter 14.2pgs. 331-338

What was life like in the South before 1860?

Small Farms

• Majority of Southerners lived on small farms

• Lived on less fertile soil• Owned 1 or 2 slaves. Farmed their

property with family• Raised corn, potatoes, vegetables for

food• Some cotton enough to provide cash for

family

Mountain Whites

• Lived apart from rest of population• Rough frontier life• Lived on food they grew• Fishers and hunters to survive• Proud and independent despite poverty• Little interest in slavery or other major

issues

City Folk

• Unlike North farming still important• Few large cities• 1860 only Baltimore and New Orleans

ranked in nation’s top 10 largest cities• Most southern city dwellers were white.• They were doctors, lawyers, merchants,

or skilled labor

Plantation System

• Rich planters – small group but powerful

• Leaders in their states, social centers

• Used slave labor to help with cotton process

Slavery

• What is slavery?• Slaves expensive• 1860 1 white family out of 4 owned

slaves• Price of strong field hand - $1,200 -

$1,500

Cotton Process

• Cotton required more field hands than any other crop

• Planters spent lots of money buying slaves

• Cotton brought political power• 1860 out of 8 million whites, only 10,000

southerners owned 50 or more slaves• Rich planters were leaders also spoke

for the South in Congress

Cotton Process

• Fields plowed at end of winter and plants planted

• Slaves tended plants day by day keeping out weeds and insect damage

• Fall – slaves carried bags and picked cotton

• Slaves in fields from daylight to dark with only a brief lunch

Cotton Process Continued

• After picking, cotton went to gin• Then was bailed and transported

by either wagons or wharfs and shipped to steamboats.

• Steamboats carried cotton to port cities and shipped to New England states or Britain

Question??

• How did planters transport their cotton to market??

Plantation Lifestyles

• Wealthy planters lived in large, stately houses

• Houses generally had pillars with large rooms, high ceilings, and tall windows

• Not all leisure• Had to give directions or even direct

slaves themselves• Plantation owners were both men and

women mostly men

Lifestyle continued

• Owner’s wife generally directed house staff and gave medical care

• Required great deal of organization to be a successful plantation

Slave Lifestyle

• Some were house slaves which included; kitchen help, maids, butlers, and coach drivers

• Some were skilled slaves such as carpenters, blacksmiths, and gardeners

• Majority were field hands

Hard Lives

• Lived in cabins close to owners• No windows and single rooms• Bed was plank of wood with a coarse blanket• Had a fireplace for cooking and heating• Food consisted of pork, corn meal, and

molasses• Few clothes had to last them all• year• Many Southerners felt slavery was a benefit to

black people

Generosity

• Some slave owners were generous• Gave slaves some comfort such as

allowing them to hunt, fish, plant gardens, and raise chickens

• Still hard however, due to the fact they lost their freedom, working for nothing, and rewarded or punished as the owner saw fit

• Harsh owners often beat and whipped their slaves especially if they ran away or misbehaved

Slave Culture

• Religion – Christianity, hoped to find comfort and reward of going to heaven

• Attended Methodist or Baptist churches run by white congregations

• Some all black churches – African Baptist Church

• Could run own services

New Style

• Developed new style of music• Sang spirituals which were

religious folk songs• Expressed yearning for freedom• Slow chants while working• Told folktales at night

Separation

• Slaves tried to keep families together

• One of most cruel aspects of slavery was members often sold to different masters

• Especially when “Old South” started moving to “Lower South”

Fear

• Plantation owners feared revolts since slaves outnumbered the whites

• Main reason why they overworked their slaves and kept discipline strict

Question??

• Why did slaves fear being sold “down the river” to the Lower South?

Rebellions

• To show their desire for freedom slaves not only expressed themselves through their culture but also by running away or by rebelling

• Approximately 200 rebellions took place during the years slavery was in existence

Rebellions

• Seldom led to freedom• Proved they would fight for

freedom

Rebel Leaders

• Nat Turner• Led one of the bloodiest revolts of

the time• 1831 he and his band of slaves

killed 57 white people• Led to more than 100 blacks being

killed by whites who panicked due to the uprising

Leaders

• Gabriel Prosser – Virginia• Denmark Vesey – South Carolina• Madison Washington – Louisiana• Washington led a successful revolt

aboard the ship Creole. They seized the ship and sailed to the West Indies living out their lives in freedom

Blacks in the City

• Some blacks lived in cities• Some were free, some were hired skilled labor• 1860 about 260,000 free blacks lived in south• Many left country to live in city where they

could own property and hold jobs• Some were successful in business• Most lacked education and opportunity to vote

Question??

• What factors enabled a minority of people – the planters – to maintain political leadership in the South?