Download
1 / 155
1.55k likes | 1.69k Views
Unit Four. EQ: How did the forces of sectionalism impact the United States 1801-1850?. Sectionalism is………. The excessive concern for the interests of a section. Excessive concern for the interest of one group or area to the detriment of the whole. King Cotton.
E N D
Unit Four EQ: How did the forces of sectionalism impact the United States 1801-1850?
Sectionalism is……… • The excessive concern for the interests of a section. • Excessive concern for the interest of one group or area to the detriment of the whole
The southern economy was based on the production of cash crops. • Md., Va., Ky., and Te., tobacco • S.C. and Ga. coastal regions rice production • La. and eastern Texas sugarcane • Inland S.C. west through Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and into eastern Texas the most important crop- cotton
1793, Eli Whitney a tutor for the children o of Catherine Greene, widow of Revolutionary War hero Nathaniel Greene in South Carolina, • built a cotton gin to remove cotton seeds from the bolls • One slave by hand could separate only a pound a day • The machine combed the seeds of over fifty pounds of cotton per day
The invention of the cotton gin coincided with the expansion of textile mills in Europe • England and France bought all of the cotton they could get • 1792, 6,000 bales produced in the South • 1801, 1,000,000 bales • Cotton the major southern cash crop • Late 1840s 4,000,000 bales produced, sold for $191 million in Europe
Cotton accounted for almost 2/3rds of the total export trade of the United States • Cotton made interior southern states prosperous • Cotton gin made planters rich and strengthened the institution of slavery • Spread of cotton plantations across the south increased the demand for slave labor
Congress outlawed the importation of slaves in 1808. • The high birthrate of enslaved women enabled slaveholders to sell new laborers at high prices • 1820-1850, the slave population in the South rose from 1.5 million to almost 4 million
Southern Industry • Industrial growth in the South fell behind industrial growth in the North. • The South prospered from agriculture, did not industrialize as fast as the North. • The South remained rural with small villages and plantations. • Three large southern cities, Baltimore, Md., Charlestown, S.C., and New Orleans, La.
Southern industry in the South, coal, iron, salt, copper mines, ironworks, and textile mills • The South largely dependent on imported goods • Most of the products in the US were produced in the North • 1860, the southern share of US manufacturing was about 16%
The planter was at the top of the antebellum southern class structure • 1850 census, white population of 6 million in the south, 347,725 families were slaveholders • Only 37,000 planters who owned 20 or more slaves • 11 owned 500 or more slaves • Very few lived in mansions, most lived in cottages
The cotton boom allowed small scale planters to climb the social ladder, acquire social refinements and the expansion of land holdings • Wealthy planters less than one half of one percent of the white families, a little over 2% of the slaveholding families- but dominated the economic, political, and legal systems of the South
Yeoman farmers, ordinary farmers made up the majority of the white population, owned 4 or fewer slaves, most owned no slaves and worked the land themselves • Near the bottom of the social ladder, the rural poor- lived on barren land, hunting, fishing, grew vegetables in small gardens, raised half-wild hogs and chickens, made up 10% of the white population
At the very bottom of Southern society, African Americans, 98% were enslaved • By 1850 almost 3.6 million African Americans lived in the South • Made up around 37% of the total southern population • The rest of southern society comprised of urban professionals, lawyers, doctors, merchants- many city dwellers invested in or owned farms to produce cotton
The rice and cotton plantations needed slave labor to exist • Most slave worked in the fields • Some slaves worked in factories • Some slaves were skilled workers, blacksmiths, carpenters, coopers, or house servants
There were two basic slave labor systems • The Task system • Each individual assigned tasks, worked until tasks completed, spend the remainder of the day on their own, earn money as skilled artisan, work in personal gardens to grow food The Gang System -cotton production increased, slavery more widespread, large plantations organized slaves into groups where they were taken into the fields
They worked from sunup to sundown • The Driver / overseer directed the work of the gang, the Driver/overseer may also be a slave, ensured slaves worked the entire day
Slavery was a degrading experience • Slaves had few legal rights • Southern states had slave codes • Could not own property • Could not leave the slaveholder’s premises without permission • Could not possess firearms • Could not testify against whites • Could not be taught to read or wri
Free African Americans in the South • By 1850, 225,000 free African Americans • Lived in the towns and cities of the Upper South • Some were descendents of African indentured servants in the 1700s before the slave system was in place • Some earned freedom by fighting in the Revolutionary War
Some were the half-white children of the slaveholder who granted them freedom • Former slaves who bought freedom • Former slaves freed by their owners • Some freemen in larger cities prospered and often became slaveholders themselves • Requirement/restrictions on freedmen varied from state to state
May need a license to preach or own weapons • Had to act humble and subservient in front of whites • In the North 196,000 freedmen, slavery was outlawed, there they were subject to prejudice and discrimination • In the North they could organize churches and organizations, hold jobs and earn money
African American Culture • Songs, used to pass the long workday, sing about bondage and hopes of freedom • Songs, key role in religions, 1800s large number of slaves were Christians, often included religious traditions from Africa • Religious services centered around prayer, pray about a specific concern, freedom or a better life
To deal with the horrors of slavery, slaves used language, music, and religion to develop a culture that gave them a sense of pride, unity, and mutual support
To oppose conditions imposed on them slaves • Engaged in work slowdowns • Broke tools • Set fire to houses and barns • Ran away at risk of beatings and mutilations • More violent rebellions
1822, Denmark Vesey, a free African American in Charleston, SC. accused of planning an armed revolt to free area slaves • Tried, convicted, and hanged
August, 1831, Nat Turner, enslaved minister • Turner felt the Lord wanted him to lead his people to freedom • Turner led an armed revolt that killed 50 white women, men, and children • Local troops put down the rebellion, tried Turner and sentenced him to hang
EQ: How did political decision making add to sectional tension?
Monroe’s Era of Good Feelings ended in sectional conflict- main issue slavery • 1819, Missouri applies for statehood • National issue, should slavery expand westward? • 1819, 11 free states and 11 slave states • North held the majority of the seats in the US House of Representatives, admitting a new state, free or slave would upset the balance of political power in the US Senate
Missouri asked to be admitted as a slave state, 1823 • Congressman James Tallmadge of NY proposed no new slave enter Missouri and enslaved children in Missouri be freed at age 25 • The proposal was rejected by the Senate • Maine asked to be admitted as a separate free state, Senate put both together and the balance of power was preserved
Senator Jesse Thomas of Illinois proposed an amendment to the bill to prohibit slavery in the Louisiana Territory north of Missouri’s southern border • Allow slavery to expand to Arkansas but not the rest of the territory • The common thought was that the land north of Missouri, the Great Plains, not good for farming
It appeared the South benefited the most from the compromise, Henry Clay of Kentucky helped push it through the House of Representatives • The hope was to quiet the slave and anti-slave issue with the admission of one free and one slave state • Many felt the Missouri Compromise would not be a permanent solution to the slave issue
The election of 1824 reflected the sectional interests of the time period • The election divided the Democratic-Republican Party • Four candidates ran for the presidency • The Favorite Sons, supported by their state or region • Henry Clay, Kentucky
Andrew Jackson, Tennessee (both Clay and Jackson represented the West) • John Quincy Adams, Massachusetts (Monroe’s Secretary of State) • William Crawford, Georgia (South) • Crawford, State’s Rights and strict interpretation of the Constitution • Clay, national bank, protective tariff, American System, roads, canals
Adams, internal improvements, no protective tariff • Jackson, avoided the issues focused on his role in the Battle of New Orleans • Election day, Jackson won the popular vote, no electoral majority
Corrupt Bargain • The election of 1824, no electoral majority • The election went to the House of Representatives • The top three vote getters were considered • Clay fourth in electoral votes was the Speaker of the House with great influence, popular thought Clay would determine who won • Jackson and Clay rivals from the West did not like each other
Adams won • Clay appointed Secretary of State, in that time period a stepping stone to the Presidency • Jackson accused Adams and Clay of cutting a deal “The Corrupt Bargain”
Jackson and supporters now called the Democrats • Adams and supporters the National Republicans • Bitter campaign • Jackson fought hard to win election he felt he won in 1824 • Both sides resorted to mudslinging
