Rise of the Cotton Kingdom

1. Rise of the Cotton Kingdom

2. Upper South • Maryland, Virginia, and N. Carolina • Produced tobacco, hemp, wheat, and vegetables

3. Deep South • Georgia, S. Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas • Rice, Sugarcane, and Cotton (depended upon cotton) • Slavery very prominent • Cotton Gin 1793 Eli Whitney

4. Industry in the South • Prospered 1820-1860 • Less manufacturing than the North • Barriers • Lack of money or capital • Large portion of population consisted of Slaves

5. Southern Transportation • Railroads but less than north, were local, problem during Civil War • Natural Waterways

6. The South’s People • Small Farms and Rural Poor • Majority of the South’s farmers • Yeomens—did not own slaves • Tenant Farmers – rented land, paid with goods or money

7. Plantations • Wealthy land owners • Several thousand acres • Very few, measured wealth by number of slaves • Fewer than 4% had more than 20 slaves

8. Plantation Owners • Fixed Costs – regular costs to run the plantation • Credit—form of loan • Many were in debt • Wives • In charge of watching over enslaved workers • Difficult lonely life • Domestic Slaves – house work • Blacksmiths, carpenters, shoemakers, or weavers…small towns..

9. Slavery • Family Life • No protection for families • Extended family (important)

10. Slave codes • Laws for enslaved people • Cannot teach to read or write • Cannot assemble in large groups

11. Escaping Slavery • Underground railroad • Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglas (abolitionists)

12. Underground Railroad • Network of routes to the North • “Follow the Drinking Gourd” • Hide in houses, barns, under wagons • Opposition in the North • Many whites still disliked the idea • South • Said they treated slaves well • Gave them food, clothes, living quarters