7.2 King Cotton & Life in the South

1. 7.2 King Cotton & Life in the South • A. Cotton Gin, Cotton Boom • 1. Eli Whitney, a young CT schoolteacher, invented the cotton gin, a machine that removed the seeds out of cotton fiber. • 2. The simple cotton gin had an enormous effect on the southern economy. • a) A single cotton gin operator could do the work of 50 people cleaning cotton by hand. • b) Because of the cotton gin, growers could harvest cotton at a huge profit. • 3. The cotton gin led to a boom in cotton production.

2. 7.2 King Cotton & Life in the South • 4. Planters learned that soil wore out if cotton was planted year after year. • a) Planters decided to search for new farmland out West. • 5. By the 1850s, cotton plantations were spread out between SC TX. • a) This area was known as the Cotton Kingdom. • 6. Slavery spread with the Cotton Kingdom. • a) Cotton still had to be planted and picked by hand. • b) The work of slaves led to big profits for plantation owners.

3. 7.2 King Cotton & Life in the South • B. An Agricultural Economy • 1. Cotton was the South’s most profitable cash crop. • a) Cotton could only be grown in the deep South. • b) In other areas of the South, rice, sugar cane, and tobacco were major crops. • c) The South raised much of the nation’s livestock. • 2. Rice was an important crop along the coasts of SC and GA. • a) Sugar cane was important in LA and TX. • b) Rice and sugar cane required expensive irrigation and drainage systems. • c) The plantation system dominated rice and sugar cane production.

4. 7.2 King Cotton & Life in the South • 3. The South also led the nation in livestock production. • a) The pinewoods NC • b) Kentucky specialized in horses. • 4. Most of the industry in the South remained small and existed only to meet the needs of a farming society. • a) Cotton gins, planters, plows, and other farm tools were manufactured. • 5. The South also developed a few other successful industries. • a) Tredegar Iron Works, VA.

5. 7.2 King Cotton & Life in the South • b) Flour milling was another important southern industry. • 6. The South still lagged behind the North in manufacturing. • 7. Slavery also reduced the need for southern industry. • a) There was plenty of demand for factory made goods in the North, but in the South slaves could not buy anything so the demand in the South was less. • 8. Although the South was mainly rural, there were some cities. • a) New Orleans, LA; Charleston, SC; and Richmond, VA.

6. 7.2 King Cotton & Life in the South • b) Fewer than 8% of white southerners lived in towns of more than 4,000 people. • C. Economically Dependent • 1. With little industry of its own, the South became more dependent on the North and on Europe. • a) Southern planters often borrowed money from Northern banks. • b) Many southerners resented this situation. • c) Still, most southerners were proud of the booming cotton industry in their region.

7. 7.2 King Cotton & Life in the South • D. White Southerners • 1. A planter was somebody who owned at least 20 slaves. • a) In 1860, only one white southerner in 30 belonged to a planter family. • b) 1% owned 50 or more slaves. • c) These wealthy families were called the “cottonocracy” because they made huge amounts of money from cotton. • d) Their views and ways dominated the South. • 2. The rich planters liked to live and dress like European nobility.

8. 7.2 King Cotton & Life in the South • 3. Many planters became political leaders. • a) Many planters hired overseers to run the day to day operations of their plantation. • 4. About 75% of southern whites were small farmers. • a) These “plain folk” owned the land they farmed. • b) They might have owned one or two slaves and they worked with their slaves in the field. • c) Neighbors helped their neighbors. • 5. Lower on the social scale were poor whites. • a) They did not own the land that they farmed.

9. 7.2 King Cotton & Life in the South • b) They rented the land and paid the owner a share of their crop. • c) These poor whites lived on hilly wooded area and planted vegetables. • E. African American Southerners • 1. Most free African Americans were descendants of slaves freed during and after the American Revolution. • a) In 1860, over 200,000 freed blacks lived in the South. • b) They were concentrated in DE and MD or in southern cities. • 2. Slave owners did not like free African Americans living in the South.

10. 7.2 King Cotton & Life in the South • a) Southerners feared that free African Americans set a bad example , encouraging slaves to rebel. • b) Southerners justified slavery by claiming that African Americans could not take care of themselves. • 3. Southern states passed laws to make life difficult for free African Americans. • a) No voting or free travel. • b) Some southern states even forced them to move to other states. • 4. Some free African Americans did well despite of these laws. • a) Norbert Rillieux = sugar cane refiner • b) Henry Blair = seed planter machine

11. 7.2 King Cotton & Life in the South • 5. By 1860, slaves in the South made up 1/3 of the South’s population. • 6. On large plantations, some African Americans became skilled workers, such as carpenters and blacksmiths. • F. Life Without Freedom • 1. Southern states passed laws known as slave codes to keep slaves from running away or rebelling. • a) They could not gather in groups more than three. • b) They could not leave the owner’s property without a pass. • c) They could not own guns.

12. 7.2 King Cotton & Life in the South • 2. Slave codes also made it illegal for slaves to learn how to read and write. • 3. Some laws protected slaves only from the worst kind of abuse. • a) However, they were not allowed to testify in court. • 4. Even the kindest owners insisted that slaves work long hard days. • a) 16 hour days. • 5. It was hard for slaves to keep their families together. • a) Slave children were often taken from their mother and father and sold. • b) Some slaves who lived on large plantations were able to preserve their extended family.

13. 7.2 King Cotton & Life in the South • 6. Enslaved African Americans preserved other traditions like songs, folk tales, stories, African history, and moral beliefs. • 7. By the 1800s, many enslaved African Americans were devout Christians. • a) Religion helped African Americans cope with the harshness of slave life. • b) Bible stories about how the ancient Hebrews had escaped from slavery inspired a new type of religious song called a spiritual. • c) While working in the fields, slaves would sing these songs of future freedom. • G. Resistance Against Slavery

14. 7.2 King Cotton & Life in the South • 1. Enslaved African Americans struck back against the system that denied them both freedom and wages. • a) Broke tools, destroyed crops, and stole food. • 2. Many slaves tried to escape to the North. • a) Very few made it to freedom. • 3. A few African Americans used violence to resist the brutal slave system. • a) Denmark Vesey, a free African American, planned a revolt in 1822 which was unsuccessful, he and 35 others were executed.

15. 7.2 King Cotton & Life in the South • 4. In 1831, an African American preacher named Nat Turner led a major revolt. • a) Turner was from Southampton, VA. • b) Turner led his followers through VA and killed 57 whites. • c) Terrified whites hunted for two months killing many innocent African Americans, finally catching Nat Turner and hanging him. • 5. Nat Turner’s revolt increased southern fears of an uprising of enslaved African Americans. • a) Revolts were rare since whites were well prepared and well armed.