Chapter 11 - The South, Slavery and King Cotton PDF

## The South, Slavery, and King Cotton 1800-1860 ### The Old South - The pre-Civil War Old South was the most distinctive region of the United States - It expanded dramatically westward and southward - It was rooted in cotton #### Key Points: - Southern states remained rural and agricultural lon...

## The South, Slavery, and King Cotton 1800-1860 ### The Old South - The pre-Civil War Old South was the most distinctive region of the United States - It expanded dramatically westward and southward - It was rooted in cotton #### Key Points: - Southern states remained rural and agricultural long after the rest of the nation - The Old South was instrumental in enabling the nation's capitalist development and growth - Southern-grown cotton was a key raw material driving industrial growth - Cotton was a key raw material for textile mills in Great Britain and New England - The price of raw cotton doubled after the War in 1812 - Profits from the southern cotton industry flowed into the hands of northern and British bankers, merchants, and textile mill owners - Northern investors provided loans to southerners to buy more lands and slaves - Northerners also provided the cotton industry with: insurance, financing, and shipping. ### The Old South Myth - One of the enduring myths of the Old South is captured in paintings, novels, and films - It portrays a stable, paternalistic agrarian society led by planters who were the “natural” aristocracy. ### Focus questions 1. What factors made the South distinct from the rest of the United States during the early nineteenth century? 2. What role did cotton production and slavery play in the South's economic and social development? 3. What were the major social groups within southern white society? Why was each group committed to the continuation and expansion of slavery? 4. What was the impact of slavery on African Americans, both free and enslaved, throughout the South? 5. How did enslaved peoples respond to the inhumanity of their situation? ### The Distinctiveness of the Old South - The Old South differed from other sections of the country in its high proportion of native-born Americans - Few European immigrants settled after the Revolution due to geography and cost - European immigrants could not compete with slave labor ### Conflicting Myths - Southerners are a "mythological people" created half out of dream and half out of slander - There is a powerful myth that the South was both different from and better than the North - Many southerners today tenaciously cultivate a separate identity from the rest of the nation ### The South and Slavery - The South's climate and geography were ideal for cultivating profitable warm-weather crops like tobacco, cotton, rice, indigo, and sugarcane - The plantation system of large commercial agriculture used enslaved labor - The South had lacked a large urban and industrial economy in comparison to The North - The South supported what John C. Calhoun called a “peculiar institution” —slavery - The South developed a system of race-based slavery - The majority of southern whites did not own slaves, but they supported slavery - The South was a biracial culture - The profitability of owning slaves created a sense of unity and social superiority among white southerners ### The Cotton Kingdom - The story of the Old South is woven with the threads of tragedy - The revolution of cotton production was rooted in the explosive expansion of slavery across the South and into Texas - Native Americans were displaced from their ancestral lands - The production of cotton clothed the world, spurred the expansion of global capitalism, and transformed history - The Lower South became a major center of cotton production - The cotton belt moved south and west during the first half of the nineteenth century - The movement west was driven by restless farmers seeking land and opportunity - Cotton was called “white gold” - It drove the national economy and the Industrial Revolution - Southern cotton fed the mechanized textile mills in New England and Great Britain - The price of cotton doubled each year, in the early 1800s - The cotton industry generated prosperity for northern investors, southern planters, and international companies. ### The Old South's Divisions - Within the Old South, three distinct subsections with different patterns of economic development and degrees of commitment to slavery emerged: - The Lower South (South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas): grew increasingly dependent upon commercial cotton production supported by slave labor - The Upper South (Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas): had more-varied agricultural economies-a mixture of large commercial plantations and small family farms - The Border South (Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri): slavery was slowly disappearing because cotton could not thrive there ### King Cotton - By the mid-1800s, cotton production in the United States had grown from less than 150,000 bales in 1814 to 4 million bales in 1860 - The South was the driving force of global cotton production. ### Plantation Life and Society - Most southern whites did not own slaves, they supported their way of life - Many southerners viewed planters as “natural aristocrats” - Most planters, however, were ambitious self-made men - Southern society was dominated by an elite group of planters and merchants - Planters who owned 500 or more slaves were known as a planter aristocracy - They accounted for 3% of white men in the South, but owned over half of the slaves - 1,500,000 slaves lived in the South, a vast majority were field hands - Southern plantations relied on a hierarchical social structure - White families had a high birthrate in the South - The lifestyle included: fine clothes, lavish parties, expensive wine and furniture, and an abundance of food - Black people were viewed as property. - The South's laws reflected its patriarchal and racist perspectives ### The Slave Trade - An enslaved population grew from 700,000 in 1790 to 4 million in 1860 - The trade in slaves became a lucrative industry - Slaves were transported to the Lower South from the Upper South for cheaper labor. - The buying and selling of enslaved people became an essential part of the economy - The price of slaves quadrupled between 1800 and 1860 - The most lucrative markets for enslaved people were tobacco plantations in Virginia and Maryland, and cotton plantations in Louisiana - Slaves were often separated from their families - The domestic slave trade, fueled by cotton production, brought an influx of slaves into the Lower South and Texas - The South's economic system relied on forcing the enslavement, forced breeding, and sale of Africans to achieve economic success. ### Black Society in the South - Southern society was literally black and white - Whites were viewed as superior - The enslaved were viewed as property - White society believed that blacks were an inferior race - Whites often believed that slaves were better off in a state of bondage - The system of slavery relied on force and violence - White southerners believed they were entitled to own slaves because it was a "moral" and necessary institution - The institution of slavery and its economic ties, were integral to the South's social and political hierarchy - The southern system relied on the forced oppression of blacks and exploitation of their labor and bodies. ### Slave Resistance - Slave resistance took a variety of forms: - Running away - Faking illness - Sabotage - Rebellion ### Slave Rebellions - The greatest fear of whites in the Lower South was an organized slave revolt.  - The most successful slave revolt in the Western Hemisphere took place in Haiti - The Haitian Revolution was a decisive moment in the fight for freedom. - The Haitian Revolution threatened the South's social order and way of life - The Haitian Revolution provided hope for the enslaved - The Haitian Revolution sent shock waves of fear across the South - There were a few key slave rebellions in the United States: - Gabriel Prosser conspiracy (1800) - Charles Deslondes revolt (1811) - Denmark Vesey plot (1822) - Nat Turner's Rebellion (1831) - The South feared rebellions and responded with swift and harsh punishments - White southern society struggled to convince themselves that its actions were "just" ### The Slave System - The South developed a complex system of laws, rules, and regulations - These laws were designed to maintain white supremacy and slave control - The system was rooted in fear and violence - The South's legal and political system was designed to protect the institution of slavery and its economic and social power ### Free Persons of Color - Free persons of color in the South were in an in-between state of freedom and slavery - Free people of color were subject to numerous restrictions - Free men of color lacked the rights to vote, own weapons, attend white church services, or testify against whites in court - Free people of color were vulnerable to kidnappings ### Slave Family and Community - Enslaved men and women often created families - Slave owners often supported their existence for the sake of control - Slaves often faced the constant threat of sexual assault by white owners - Slave women were forced to bear children to increase the financial value of the plantation -Slave women were often separated from their children - Slave children were forced to work from a very young age - Slave communities developed strong family bonds and religious practices - Underground Railroad: a vast communication network of free blacks and abolitionists that helped runaway slaves reach free states - The slave community relied on spiritual songs to express their sorrow, frustration, and hope for freedom - The combination of religious faith and African tradition helped the enslaved to cope with the realities of enslavement ### African American Religion - African Americans developed religious practices that combined Christian beliefs with African traditions - Slaves believed in a Supreme God, Christ, and the Holy Ghost - They also believed in spirits, magic, charms, and conjuring-the casting of spells - Slaves gathered secretly to worship - White slaveholders did not allow them to share their faith or practice African traditions openly because they feared it would lead to rebellions - Religious beliefs encouraged hope for freedom - Religious beliefs provided a sense of release and comfort ### The Lure of Freedom - The South was a society built on constant oppression - Many slaves found the courage to flee - There were numerous attempts to escape, but only a few were successful ## Chapter Review - The South remained rural and agricultural until the Civil War - Cotton made the South economically wealthy: - It was the foundation of plantation agriculture - It fueled industrial growth in the North - It was a major global commodity - Slavery was the most significant factor that drove the South's economy - Southern society was divided between the planter elite, “plain folk,” and poor whites - Black society was divided between the enslaved and the free - The slave system rested on violence, coercion, and racial oppression - Free persons of color in the South were subject to numerous restrictions - The South established a complex system of laws and regulations, designed to protect the institution of slavery - Slaves resisted the system in a variety of ways, most notably through running away, by sabotage, and by joining rebellions - Slave rebellions were a constant threat to white society - The South responded with swift and brutal punishments - The South's economic system depended on its ability to force the enslavement, forced breeding, and sale of Africans - The South was a complex and contradictory society. - It was dominated by white supremacy. - The South's social and political system was designed to protect the institution of slavery. - The fight over slavery was a key factor that drove the South's rebellion against the federal government. ### Chronology - 1790: The enslaved population of the United States is almost 700,000 - 1791: Slave revolt in Saint-Domingue (Haiti) - 1800: Gabriel Prosser conspiracy in Richmond, Virginia - 1808: U.S. participation in the international slave trade is outlawed - 1811: Charles Deslondes revolt in Louisiana - 1814: Annual cotton production in the United States is 150,000 bales - 1822: Denmark Vesey conspiracy is discovered in Charleston, South Carolina - 1830: U.S. slave population exceeds 2 million - 1831: Nat Turner leads slave insurrection in Virginia - 1840: Population in the Old Southwest tops 1.5 million - 1860: Annual cotton production in the United States reaches 4 million bales - 1860: Slave population in the United States reaches 4 million ### Key Terms - "peculiar institution" p. 466 - Old Southwest p. 471 - Cotton Kingdom p. 474 - planters p. 477 - plantation mistress p. 478 - "plain white folk" p. 480 - slave codes p. 482 - mulattoes p. 483 - field hands p. 488 - spirituals p. 493 - Nat Turner's Rebellion (1831) p. 499