Lesson 11.2b –Slavery in Daily Life

1. Lesson 11.2b –Slavery in Daily Life Today we will examine the daily life of slaves in Southern society.

2. Vocabulary • agrarian – related to farming • divisions – parts of something that is divided • society – the ways in which a group of people who live together relate to each other

3. What We Already Know Eli Whitney’s cotton gin triggered a cotton boom westward, beyond the Atlantic coastal states.

4. What We Already Know As cotton cultivation spread, so did slavery.

5. What We Already Know Southern society was a stratified (layered) society. Planters Small farmers & businessmen Poor whites Free blacks and slaves

6. Southern life was based on an agrarian economy. An agrarian economy is one that is based on farming. Even though almost all Southerners earned their living from the land, they could be separated into two groups.

7. Slavery Divides the South • Slavery divided white Southerners into those who held slaves and those who did not. • Slaveholders with large plantations were the wealthiest and most powerful people in the South, but they were relatively few in number. • Only about one-third of white families owned slaves in 1840, and only about one-tenth had 20 or more slaves.

8. Slavery Divides the South • Most white Southern farmers who owned few or no slaves still supported slavery. • They hoped someday to buy slaves, raise more cotton and become rich.

9. Slavery Divides the South Slavery had become necessary for increasing profits.

10. African Americans in the South • Slavery also divided black Southerners into those who were enslaved and those who were free. • Enslaved African Americans formed about one-third of the South’s population in 1840.

11. About half worked on large plantations with white overseers.

12. Most plantation slaves were field workers.

13. City slaves did not face the back-breaking conditions of plantations. • In cities, enslaved persons worked as domestic servants, skilled craftsmen, factory hands, and day laborers. • Sometimes they were hired out and allowed to keep part of their earnings. • Compared with a slave on the plantation, a city slave was almost a freeman, but they were still enslaved.

14. In 1840, about 8 percent of African Americans in the South were free. • They had either been born free, been freed by an owner, or bought their own freedom. • A significant number of free blacks in the South overcame great obstacles to become skilled workers.

15. In 1840, about 8 percent of African Americans in the South were free. • Some did well enough to become planters. • Many others lived in cities such as Baltimore and Washington, D.C.

16. Check for Understanding B ask A: What percentage of Southern blacks were free in 1840? In 1840, about 8 percent of Southern blacks were either been born free, had been freed by an owner, or bought their own freedom. Be sure to re-state the question in your response!

17. Free blacks faced many problems. • Some states made them leave once they gained their freedom. • Most states did not permit them to vote or receive an education. • Many employers refused to hire them. • But their biggest threat was the possibility of being captured and sold into slavery.

18. Finding Strength in Religion An African-American culture had emerged on plantations by the early 1800s.

19. Finding Strength in Religion Religion helped slaves endure the brutal conditions of plantation life, by offering them hope of a life in heaven.

20. Finding Strength in Religion • Some slaveholders tried to use religion to make slaves accept their treatment. • Some ministers stressed such Bible passages as “Servants, obey your masters.”

21. Finding Strength in Religion • But enslaved people preferred Bible stories like that of Moses leading the Hebrews out of bondage in Egypt. • Slaves expressed their religious beliefs in religious folk songs called spirituals.

22. Finding Strength in Religion • These spirituals often contained coded messages about a planned escape or an owner’s unexpected return. • African-American spirituals later influenced blues, jazz, and other forms of American music.

23. Families Under Slavery Perhaps the cruelest part of slavery was the sale of family members away from one another.

24. Families Under Slavery • When slave families could manage to be together, they took comfort in their family life. • Slave children lived with their mothers.

25. Families Under Slavery They married, though their marriages were not legally recognized.

26. Families Under Slavery Parents often lived on other plantations, and sometimes stole away to visit their children, even at the cost of a whipping.

27. Slave Rebellions • Occasionally, slaves rose up in rebellion against their white masters. • Gabriel Prosser planned an attack on Richmond, Virginia, in 1800.

28. Slave Rebellions • In 1822, a free minister named Denmark Vesey planned a revolt in Charleston, South Carolina. • His plot to liberate several thousand slaves was discovered, and he was hanged along with more than 30 others

29. The Nat Turner Rebellion • Nat Turner was a slave preacher who could read. • Turner believed that God wanted him to free the slaves, even if by armed rebellion.

30. The Nat Turner Rebellion • In Virginia in 1831, Turner and 70 followers killed 55 white men, women, and children. • When Turner was caught, he was tried and hanged. • Turner’s rebellion spread fear in the South. • Whites killed more than 200 African Americans in revenge.

31. Southern states passed harsh laws. • Free blacks and slaves could not own weapons or buy liquor. • Slaves were required to carry a pass any time they were away from white supervision. • Slaves could not hold religious services unless whites were present. • After Turner’s rebellion, the grip of slavery grew even tighter in the South.