cotton, slavery and the south chapter 11. the cotton economy crop shifts –tobacco –rice
TRANSCRIPT
Cotton, Slavery and the South
Chapter 11
The Cotton Economy
• Crop Shifts– Tobacco
– Rice
• Sugar
• Long-Staple (Sea Island) Cotton
• Short-Staple Cotton
“King Cotton” Emerges
• advent of the cotton gin made Short-Staple cotton much easier to produce
• Social Demand
• Spread
– by 1820
– by 1850
– by 1860
– at the start of the Civil War Cotton constituted nearly two thirds of the total export trade of the USA and was bringing in $200 million a year
• Social impact– whites
– Blacks
Southern Trade and Industry
• Other business areas
• Commercial sector
• Transportation
Southern Society and Culture
• Philisophical Grandations
• Actual Gradations
Social Stratification among whites– most farmers were dependent on the system
*Fake Smile*
The “Peculiar Institution”
• Slave Codes– forbade slaves
Slave Codes Cont’d– If a master killed a slave, the act was generally
not considered a crime
Size Mattered
• Large vs. Small Plantations
• Slave Life– Workday
• (in house) slaves lived/worked closely to master
• slave women
• Slave Life Cont’d– “Enough”
– Health
• Slave Life Cont’d– Slavery in the Cities– rare
• Slave Life Cont’d– Free African Americans
• 250,000 free African Americans in slaveholding states at the start of the Civil War
– Slave Trade• professional business of slave traders
• Slave Life Cont’d– Slave Trade Cont’d
– Acceptance and Rebellion• at two extremes, slavery could produce two very different
reactions
The Culture of Slavery
• Language and Music– language sometimes incorporated African
speech patterns into English
Jennifer Ong
• Religion– Slaves became Christian (Baptist or Methodist)
due to missionary efforts
• Family Structure– marriage not legal
Jennifer Ong