history essays-chapter 11

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CHAPTER 11COTTON, SLAVERY, AND THE OLD SOUTH

Chapter Summary

The North and South differed in many ways:

(1) Most significant was South's staple crop economy and thelabor force that worked it.

(2) Cotton (and in some areas tobacco, rice, and sugar) created a system ofbusiness and commerce that made Dixie different from the rest of thenation.

(3) The most obvious difference in the SOUTH was the region's reliance onslavery.

(4)More than an economic system, slavery was a critical, creative force in asocial order that included planters, their ladies, plain folk (men andwomen), and, of course, the slaves themselves

(5) Whites of different classes and genders shared many of the same beliefsand wanted many of the same things.

(6)At the same time, there were significant differences among members ofthe white community, differences which were not always apparent to thecasual observer.

(7) African Americans managed to create an enduring cultural system thattranscended their condition and enabled them to endure the hardships theyfaced.

Objectives

A thorough study of Chapter 11 should enable the student to understand

1. The staple crop economic system and how it shaped commercial life in the Old South.

2. The Old South's "colonial dependency" and why it did little to change it.

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3. The role of the planter in the southern social and economic system.

4. The role of the "Southern Lady" in the Old South.

5. Who the "plain folks" were and their significance in the southern social order.

6. The role of an enslaved people in the Southern social and economic system.

7. The various ways in which slaves resisted slavery.

8. The ways African Americans developed their own separate culture and how it helped sustainthem under slavery.

9. The continuing historical debate over the South, its "peculiar institution," and the effects ofenslavement on African Americans.

Main Themes

1. How economic power shifted from the upper to the lower South and the impact this had onsouthern social and political development.

2. How society in the South developed in both myth and reality.

3. The nature of the South's "peculiar institution" and the effect it had on the southern way of lifefor both whites and blacks.

Points for Discussion

1. What was "the Southern way of life" for the white Southerner?

2. How did the staple crop economy shape this "Southern way of life"?

3. Apart from what they produced, how did the economic attitudes of the North and South differ?Look at the previous chapter and assess the methods and goals of the regions. Might thedifferences between the two sections have been the result of something other than the goodsthey produced or the labor they used? (Document number 1 in the Study Guide will help here.)

4. In reference to the years 1800 to 1860, one historian noted, "The South grew, but it did notdevelop." Analyze that observation.

5. If nothing else, slavery set the South apart, made it unique. But how did the institution functionand what was its impact on the slave? Analyze the plantation system, its social and itseconomic functions. How did it control its labor? And what was the response of these workers?(Document numbers 1 and 2 in the Study Guide, will help here.)

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6. Since most white Southerners did not own slaves, why did they not oppose the institution ofslavery?

7. Compare and contrast the way of life of Northern and Southern women during the 1840s and1850s. How were their lives changing? What was not changing? Be sure to include AfricanAmerican women in this analysis.

8. Discuss the debate among historians concerning the nature of American slavery and its effectson African Americans. Why have historical interpretations changed? (Document number 2 inthe Study Guide will help here.)

9. How did music both shape and reflect the lives of African Americans on the plantations?

Interpretive Questions Based on Maps and Text

1. Between 1820 and 1860, into what areas did cotton production spread? What political factorsaccounted for this? What geographic factors played a part as well?

2. Compare and contrast the slave distribution in 1820 and 1860. In which areas did slaveryspread? What political factors accounted for this? What geographic factors played a part aswell?

3. In what areas did cotton production and concentrated slave distribution coincide? Whataccounted for this? In which areas did cotton production not coincide with a concentration ofthe slave population? What may have accounted for this?

4. Note where the concentration of slaves was high and yet cotton production was low. Whataccounted for this?

Essay Questions

These essays are based on the map exercises. They are designed to test students' knowledge of thegeography of the area discussed in this chapter and to test their knowledge of its historicaldevelopment. Careful reading of the text will help them answer these questions.

1. Compare and contrast the areas of cotton production in 1820 with those in 1860. Whataccounted for this growth in production? What factors contributed to the spread of the "CottonKingdom"?

2. Note the relationship between areas of cotton production and the density of the slavepopulation. What does this suggest about the system under which most of the cotton wasgrown?

3. There were some regions where cotton was grown but where there were few, if any, slaves.What contributed to this? What sort of society would have developed there?

Internet Resources

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For Internet quizzes, resources, references to additional books and films, and more, consult thetexts Online Learning Center at www.mhhe.com/brinkley12.

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history essays-chapter 11

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