Slave Society and Abolitionism

Taylor

The Rise of the Cotton King

o Prior to the 1793, the Southern economy was weak and had a unprofitable slave system

o Thru Eli Whitney’s cotton gin, cotton production became more effective and slavery reinvigorated.

o The cotton kingdom developed into a huge agricultural factory.

o North and South relied on slave labor for the cotton industry to grow.

o MAJOR RESULT: Slavery was being brought back to life in the status quo.

The Three Souths

o The southward flow of slaves continued from 1790 to 1860.o There was not a unified South, just the three Souths. o BORDER SOUTH Tobacco was the main slave crop and

over 17% of the population were slaves, with the average slaveholder having five slave.

o MIDDLE SOUTH Many plantations in Virginia and Tennessee. 30% of the population were slave with the average slaveholder having five slaves.

o LOWER SOUTH Cotton was king here. 47% of population were slaves, with the average slaveholder having 12 slaves. Less than two percent of all blacks were free.

Slaves and the Slave System

o South was dominated by wealthy plantation owners.o The plantation system was risky (slaves could hurt

themselves or run away), and had a negative impact (one-crop econ and resented North for dependence)

o Plantation Slavery Nearly 4 million slaves by 1860. Slaves were used in this because they were seen as a primary source of wealth. Life was harsh during this time because slaves were brutally punished.

Burdens of Slavery

o BURDENS 1. Felt deprived, suffered cruel treatment, and felt they deserved less in life. 2. Denied education.

Burdens led to..o REVOLTS Rebellions were never successful

and led to tightened rules by the whites. o FREE BLACKS By 1860 more the number of

free blacks increased. Many were mulattos, purchased their slavery or even owned land.

Abolitionism • EARLY ABOLITIONISM1.1817: the American Colonization Society was founded for the purpose of

transporting Blacks back to Africa. Supported by many Northerners and Southerners because they didn’t want free blacks in America.

2.1822: the Republic of Liberia was founded for Blacks to live. 3. The second Great Awakening reminded that slavery was a sin• RADICAL ABOLITIONISM-->1. In 1831, William Garrison published the Liberator, an antislavery newspaper,

which 2. Inspired the American Anti-Slavery Society: Encouraged Theodore Wells

to write American Slave Society As It Is, and Wendell Phillips( M.I.Abolitionist) and the Grimke sisters (only two white southern women abolitionist leaders) to stand up against slavery.

3. 1829: Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World (advocated a bloody end to white supremacy) written by David Walker, a Black abolitionist

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4. Sojourner Truth: Freed women and NY and fought for women's rights.

5. Fredrick Douglas: Greatest black Abolitionist who turned to politics to end slavery.

6. Most Abolitionists would support the civil war to end slavery.

EFFECTS OF ABOLITIONISM

SOUTH lashed back. 1.Abolitionist efforts came under attack and fire. 2.Abolitionist literature banned from the South. 3 Pro-slavery whites lashed back by persuading that slavery was a

positive thing. 4. Gag Resolution: All anti-slavery appeals in court were to be ended

without debate.

NORTH1.Abolitionists were unpopular. 2. North relied on the South for economic well being. 3. Mob outbursts4. Overall effect: many saw slavery as unjust and many opposed

extending it.