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Southern Institutions Continued… Cotton Kingdom. What were some basic understandings regarding Southern the stratified hierarchy in the South during the antebellum period?. Cotton Kingdom. Antebellum South Aristocracy- feudalism & chivalry (duels etc..) Myth of the Southern aristocrat
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Southern Institutions Continued… Cotton Kingdom What were some basic understandings regarding Southern the stratified hierarchy in the South during the antebellum period?
Cotton Kingdom Antebellum South • Aristocracy- feudalism & chivalry (duels etc..) • Myth of the Southern aristocrat • Mostly self made (attorney’s, soldiers, marriage) • Leisure time? finances and managing plantation • Non planter class- predominate but supported slavery for economic and social reasons
Planter Paternalism • Notion of benevolent masters- slaves were like children that depended upon their masters • Economic yet family investment (“our people) • Firm discipline was necessary for sound economic investments • Ban of the slave trade made reproduction a must in order to perpetuate slavery • Comparatively (world wide) fairly well cared for
But… • Not all planters followed this axiom • Many slaves were malnourished and tortured • Did not have a close relationship with the actual owner- mostly the drivers • Selling of slaves for economic reasons contrasts the paternalism • Basis for authority was “fear” • Whipping, threat of sale • Bad treatment- torture, rape etc. had no recourse • There was “absolute power” over the slaves- major critique of slave power • Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Small Slave-owner • Most of the population did own large amounts of slaves • Generally small merchants • Lived in relative closeness but with Spartan like conditions
Yeomen Farmer • The “shiftless poor whites” • Did not have the same economic opportunities do to a lack of development • Mostly located in the backcountry • Similar to the later homesteads of the west • Reliance on subsistence farming- therefore grew corn and other crops • Accepted slavery but some voiced concern about the planter control over society- Hinton Helper • Jacksonians who feared “cotton snobs” • But also did not abolition for fear of economic competition from slaves: slavery kept “them in their place”
Closed Minded Society • Fear of a slave uprising • Fear of abolition- equal footing with the lower class • Debate over gradual emancipation (Virginia) • American Colonization Society: • But defeated by the notion of slavery being a “positive good” • 1) slavery was natural and the proper social status • 2) slavery was sanctioned by the Bible (Saint Paul- obey your masters) • 3) Family government- slaves were incapable of supporting themselves Slavery was more humane than northern industry- Cannibal’s All • Intimidation and isolation of anti-slavery ideals also prevailed • Cassius M. Clay: anti-slavery intellectual fired from University of North Carolina for stating he would vote for a moderate Republican view of emancipation
Nat Turner • Effects… • Stringent anti-education laws • Curfews • Patrols • Attacks on anti-slavery propaganda • Talks of secession due to onslaught of propaganda
King Cotton • 1810-1860: slavery tripled to 4 million slaves • Cotton? Or the reliance on the institution of slavery?- regional dichotomy • Decrease in the need for slaves in the upper South with an increase in slaves for the lower South (cotton belt) • Led to an increase in the internal slave trade • Upper South became somewhat of a breeding ground for slaves to be sent South • Cotton became king due to ease of growth, cotton gin and westward expansion (13,000 to 4.8 million bales by 1860).
Slavery Reliance • Cotton growth ruined the land: what options? • Hard times- big planters could diversify crops (keep the slaves); other planters may move west or sale the slaves (need to retain slaves). • Motivation is to keep slavery as an institution • Industrialization- should remain free whites, but also posed a threat to slavery (demands for wages etc.): South failed to industrialize as a whole.
Was Slavery Profitable • Read the section regarding profitability on pages 324-326… • What were the arguments for and against the profitability of slavery?