Chapter 16: The South and Slavery
King Cotton
1820
1860
1820
1860
King Cotton
Slavery and the Economy1. Slavery produced 95%
of exports from Amer. to GB
2. Increase in population = increase demand for goods
3. Profits allowed for growth of other industries i.e. banks, ins. co., shipping
4. raw cotton = Industrial Revolution (IR)
5. Impact Cotton gin?6. Diversified southern
economy?
1793
Economically & Ethnically Speaking?
Characteristics of the Antebellum South
Characteristics of the Antebellum South
1. Primarily agrarian.
2. Economic power shifted from the “upper South” to the “lower South.”
3. “Cotton Is King!” * 1860 5 mil. bales a yr. (57% of total US exports).
4. Very slow development of industrialization.
5. Rudimentary financial system.
6. Inadequate transportation system.
Slaveholders 1850
What’s life like for 64% of the southern population?
Contrast that with the 2.5% Those in-between the two? For crackers” and “clay
eaters?” So why defend slavery? Who were the “mountain
whites?”
Tara – Plantation Reality or Myth?
Tara – Plantation Reality or Myth?
Hollywood’s Version?Hollywood’s Version?
A Real Georgia Plantation
A Real Georgia Plantation
Slaves posing in front of
their cabin on a
Southern plantation.
Slaves posing in front of
their cabin on a
Southern plantation.
A Slave FamilyA Slave Family
The Ledger of John White
The Ledger of John White
J Matilda Selby, 9, $400.00 sold to Mr. Covington, St. Louis, $425.00
J Brooks Selby, 19, $750.00 Left at Home – Crazy
J Fred McAfee, 22, $800.00 Sold to Pepidal,Donaldsonville, $1200.00
J Howard Barnett, 25, $750.00 Ranaway. Sold out of jail, $540.00
J Harriett Barnett, 17, $550.00 Sold to Davenport and Jones, Lafourche, $900.00
Population Patterns in the South, 1850 In six southern states, slaves comprised over 40 percent of the total
population.
Free Blacks: Slaves Without Masters
South 250,000 by 1860 Emancipation Emancipated “mulattoes” Bought freedom Some slave owners Prohibited from certain
occupations Not allowed to testify
against whites in court
North Not allowed in some states No suffrage No public school Hated by Irish; jobs Against expansion of
slavery due to racism, not morality issue
Strong antiblack sentiment
Early Emancipation in the North
Early Emancipation in the North
Southern AgricultureSouthern
Agriculture
Slaves Picking Cottonon a Mississippi
Plantation
Slaves Picking Cottonon a Mississippi
Plantation
Slave Auction: Charleston, SC-1856
Slave Auction: Charleston, SC-1856
Slave MasterBrands
Slave AccoutrementsSlave Accoutrements
Slave muzzle
Anti-Slave PamphletAnti-Slave Pamphlet
Slave tag, SC
Slave AccoutrementsSlave Accoutrements
Slave leg irons
Slave shoes
Distribution of Slave Labor in 1850Distribution of Slave Labor in 1850
Slave Auction Notice, 1823
Slave Auction Notice, 1823
Bellegrove Plantation, Donaldsville, La.
Oak Alley Plantation, La.
Slave Quarters
Slave ResistanceSlave Resistance2. Refusal to work hard.
3. Isolated acts of sabotage.
4. Escape via the Underground Railroad.
Runaway Slave AdsRunaway Slave Ads
Quilt Patterns as Secret Messages
Quilt Patterns as Secret Messages
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.
Slave Rebellions Throughout the Americas
Slave Rebellions Throughout the Americas
Slave Rebellions in the Antebellum South
Slave Rebellions in the Antebellum South
South Carolina 1822
Gabriel ProsserVirginia 1800
Slave Rebellions in the Antebellum South:
Nat Turner, Va. 1831
Slave Rebellions in the Antebellum South:
Nat Turner, Va. 1831
The Culture of SlaveryThe Culture of Slavery1. Black Christianity [Baptists or
Methodists]: * more emotional worship services. * negro spirituals.
2. “Pidgin” or Gullah languages.
3. Nuclear family with extended kin links,where possible.
4. Importance of music in their lives. [esp. spirituals].
American Colonization Society, 1817
1. Wanted gradual emancipation
2. Quakers and Upper south slave owners
3. Shipped off to Liberia
4. Supported by Lincoln
5. Failed miserably
Southern Slavery--> An Aberration?
Southern Slavery--> An Aberration?
J 1780s: 1st antislavery society created in Phila.
J By 1804: slavery eliminated from last northern state.
J 1807: the legal termination of the slave trade, enforced by the Royal Navy.
J 1820s: newly indep. Republics of Central & So. America declared their slaves free.
J 1833: slavery abolished throughout the British Empire.
J 1844: slavery abolished in the Fr. colonies.
J 1861: the serfs of Russia were emancipated.
Abolitionists1. Fredrick Douglass
a. Political rights
b. Use constitution
2. William Lloyd Garrisona. Liberator
b. Nonviolence and passive resistence
Anti-Slavery Society 1833
Wendell Phillips
David Walker
1829
Sojourner Truth
Slavery Was Less Efficient
in the U. S. than Elsewhere
Slavery Was Less Efficient
in the U. S. than Elsewhere
High cost of keeping slaves fromescaping.
GOAL raise the “exit cost.” Slave patrols.
Southern Black Codes.
Cut off a toe or a foot.
Southern Pro-slavery Propaganda
“Gag Rule” 1836
The South and Abolitionist material?
The North and Abolitionist material?“Broadcloth Mob”
Defense of Slavery No debates on subject of slavery No alternative labor systems Decreased cooperation in national politics=
no compromising by the south!