The Slave South

1. The Slave South American Studies I (Honors) Mr. Calella

2. Introduction to Unit • BIG IDEAS • Sectionalism • Slavery • Culture • ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS • How and why did the South rely upon slavery? • What effects did slavery have upon both blacks and whites of the South?

3. Revival of Slavery • Revolutionary War and slavery • Cotton Gin and revival • John Locke’s philosophy (life, liberty, property) • Used by abolitionists • Used by pro-slavery advocates • Fear of rebellion, especially in LA and SC • The Negro Problem • Colonization seen as viable (Lincoln) • Free blacks 1st and buy freedom of the others • 1817 Liberia (Madison, Monroe, Marshall)

4. Cotton Revolutionizes the South • Industrial Revolution creates huge demand • Tropical vs. Southern cotton (frost and seeds) • Eli Whitney’s cotton gin creates a sea change • 50x faster • THINK-PAIR-SHARE (Demand for slavery • Cotton becomes “KING” cash crop • THINK-PAIR-SHARE (How cotton benefited entire country: North, South, West) • Southerners push westward into Texas to find more land suitable for cotton

5. Cotton Boom=Slave Boom • Cotton value makes whites less likely free blacks • Cotton comparable to oil today • 1808 Trans-Atlantic slave trade ends • Why didn’t the South care? • Free blacks face discrimination in North • Free blacks in South and whites’ fears • North fills vacuum for South’s finance and transportation needs • THINK-PAIR-SHARE: How did the ownership of slaves exacerbate the South’s economic problems?

6. The Southern Economy • South does not experience same revolutions as North (Slavery keeps things rural, agri-based) • Industrialization • Some (flour, lumber, cotton products, iron, rope) • Less than 15% of the US manuf. goods 1860 from South • THINK-PAIR-SHARE: How did this stat affect the Civil War? • Urbanization • Transportation • Immigration • Communication • Education

7. The Economics of Slavery • Slaves become more expensive as cotton becomes more expensive • Also sugar, tobacco and rice to a lesser extent • Interstate slave trade=ripped families apart • THINK-PAIR-SHARE: What effect does the destruction of family structure have upon a people? Can they quickly come back from something like that? • Only rich owned slaves (1 in 4 families in 1860) • 75% cotton grown by slaves on plantations • 4 million slaves by 1860 (1 in 3 Southerners was black)

8. Antebellum Plantation Life • Typical plantation- small, self-sufficient village • Main function to grow 1 or more cash crops • Most slaveholders owned fewer than 5 slaves • Planters- 12% of slave owners who owned 20+ • Master- all outdoor work and economy • Overseers, so can focus general plantation affairs • Chivalry and strict honor code • Mistress- all domestic activities • Expected to possess feminine virtues of piety, purity, chastity, and obedience

9. The Sociology of Slavery • Why would masters want to protect/care for slaves? • Contradiction (high mortality rate & lower lifespan) • Dynamic social setting • Slave family structures (not respected by owners) • Over 300K marriages ended by way of sale • Rape to show total dominance of husband and wife • Firm belief of white supremacy to justify all acts • Af-Am contribute to Southern culture • Slave Classes- Field hands, house slaves, artisans, slave drivers • Discrimination among slaves; rivalry between farms

10. Slave Religion • Form of Christianity mixed with African traditions • Owners did not object • Offered form of emotional release • Also possible propaganda • “Obey your master” • “Slavery is in the Bible” • Slaves used religious meetings to advantage • Organize (escape, rebellions, education) • Keep up spirituality (spirits cannot be enslaved)

11. Southern Whites’ Views on Slavery • “Laziness Myth”- What did slaves have to work for? • Dawn to dusk with Sat afternoon and Sundays off • Whites convinced that slavery was better than freedom’s uncertainties • THINK-PAIR-SHARE: Why would Southerners claim that slaves were “happier” than peasantry in England? • Paternalistic views- slaves seen as “children” • Proven incorrect during the Civil War • Religious, political and historical justifications created by whites to justify slavery • “Christian guardianship,” but kindness not source

12. Rebellion and Runaways • Mere threat of rebellion punishable to death • THINK-PAIR-SHARE: WHY? • Very rare occurrence • Population stats terrified white Southerners • Nat Turner’s Rebellion- Va 1831, 57 whites killed • Very difficult to escape, especially from Deep South • THINK-PAIR-SHARE: Why runaways dealt with severely? • Underground Railroad • Fugitive Slave Act

13. Psychological Effects of Slavery • Broke psyches of blacks and whites in the South • Some preferred death, most accepted fate • Southern white stereotypes of black slaves made to justify slavery • “Sambo” (male) lazy, so must be whipped • “Buck” (male) aggressive, dangerous, so must be bonded • “Mammy” (female) maternal, so domestic work • Caring for the master and his family as a surrogate mother • “Jezebel” (female) seductive, so could have way with her • THINK-PAIR-SHARE: Negative affects white psyche? • Poor whites supported slavery even though they would never be able to afford slaves, WHY

14. Continued… • THINK-PAIR-SHARE: Why did poor whites in South support slavery? Jobs? Swell Confederate army? • Expansion of democracy • Rich planters still called all shots (aristocracy) • Belief of “self-made man” and “American Dream” • In sum, the rise of the “common man” in Antebellum South occurred alongside the growing power of the planter class, but the politics of slavery helped knit together all of white society.