Questions and Answers
What was the importance of agriculture in the South?
With all of the industrialization in the North they needed supplies.
What was the Southern economy dependent on?
Cotton and slave labor.
What year and who created the cotton gin?
1793 and Eli Whitney.
What does the cotton gin do?
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How much faster was the cotton gin?
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In 1860 there were about how many slaves?
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Prices of slaves went up _____ times.
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By 1820 they produced ____ times that amount.
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What was the greatest source of wealth in America at the time?
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How was cotton a source of wealth in the North?
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How was cotton a source of wealth in the South?
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What was the wealth that plantation owners lived in referred to?
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Did it include all Southern states?
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How many southern farmers had slaves?
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What did most farmers do, because the cotton owners were a small group?
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What did southerners think would happen if they lessened control over slaves?
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What were the two main points that southerners would use to defend slavery?
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How would northerners respond?
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How many African Americans were free in the South?
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How were they free?
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Were they ever safely free?
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What were things that free African Americans were denied?
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What did Norbert Rillieux do?
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What did Henry Blair do?
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What were slave codes?
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What did most slaves do?
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How hard were they worked?
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How were slaves punished?
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What was the only thing that kept them healthy and productive and saved from too much mistreatment?
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What did slaves do that weren't farm hands?
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How would slaves rebel?
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What did the courageous slaves do?
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Who was Nat Turner?
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What happened?
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Results of that?
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What are spirituals?
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Study Notes
Importance of Southern Agriculture
- Agriculture was vital in the South, supplying essential resources for the industrialized North.
- The Southern economy was heavily reliant on cotton and slave labor for its prosperity.
Cotton Gin and Its Impact
- The cotton gin, invented by Eli Whitney in 1793, revolutionized cotton processing by using a spiked cylinder to efficiently remove seeds from cotton fibers.
- This invention made cotton processing approximately 50 times faster than manual methods.
Slave Labor and Cotton Production
- The demand for cotton led to an increase in slavery; more slaves equated to greater cotton production.
- By 1860, there were about 4 million slaves in the South, a significant increase from approximately 698,000 in 1790.
Economic Dynamics of Cotton
- Slave prices escalated significantly, rising 10-20 times over the years.
- Cotton production surged from 500,000 pounds in 1790 to ten times that amount by 1820, making it the greatest source of wealth in America.
Wealth Distribution
- Cotton served as a financial boon for bankers and shipowners in the North and plantation owners in the South.
- Plantation life for owners was characterized as living in "the cotton kingdom."
Southern Farming Landscape
- While cotton dominated, less than half of Southern farmers owned slaves; most engaged in subsistence farming, growing corn and raising hogs and chickens.
- States like Alabama and Mississippi were cotton-dependent, but not all Southern states followed this pattern.
Slavery and Control
- Southerners feared that reduced control over slaves could lead to uprisings.
- Defending slavery, they argued it was more humane compared to Northern free labor, as slaves were not burdened by unemployment.
Free African Americans
- Only 6% of African Americans in the South were free, many of whom purchased their freedom, but faced constant risks of being kidnapped and sold back into slavery.
- Free African Americans faced numerous legal restrictions: they could not vote, serve on juries, or send their children to public school.
Contributions by Innovators
- Norbert Rillieux developed a new method to refine sugar, while Henry Blair invented a seed planting device that lessened the time required for sowing.
Slave Codes and Rebellion
- Slave codes were laws that controlled every aspect of enslaved individuals' lives, treating them as property rather than people.
- Most slaves worked as farmhands, suffering extreme workloads, often to the brink of death, and punishment was typically meted out through whipping.
Slave Resistance
- Slaves could rebel in subtle ways: working slowly, pretending not to understand instructions, or damaging equipment, while some displayed extraordinary courage by escaping.
- Nat Turner, in 1831, led a rebellion after claiming to have a vision, resulting in the deaths of 60 whites and prompting violent reprisals against innocent African Americans.
Cultural Expressions
- Spirituals emerged as a form of religious folk songs, blending biblical themes with the experiences and hardships of slavery, reflecting the deep cultural heritage of enslaved people.
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Description
Test your knowledge of Southern agriculture and its economic significance in history. This quiz covers key elements such as cotton production, the role of slave labor, and the impact of technological innovations like the cotton gin. Discover the vital connections between the South's agricultural practices and its economy.