THE SOUTH AND THE SLAVERY CONTROVERSY

The Cotton Gin  Late 18 th century – slavery dying out  Overused land, Prices falling, Unmarketable goods  1793 – Eli Whitney’s cotton gin  Cotton becomes profitable

King Cotton  More slaves were needed to harvest cotton  South – ½ the world’s cotton supply  England bought most Would they side with the South?  North – transported the cotton

The Planter “Aristocracy”  Southern elite – Only 1733 families owned more than 100 slaves  Gap between rich & poor widens  Private schools

Sir Walter Scott  Favorite among Southerners  Author of Ivanhoe & Rob Roy  Stories of feudalistic society

Southern Women  Mistress was in charge of female house slaves  None were perfect  All abused or punished slaves

Slaves of the Slave System  Cotton production constantly required new land  Smaller farmers sold land to bigger ones  Overspeculation in land & slaves risky  Reliance on cotton only  Southerners resented North  Immigrants primarily stayed in the North

The White Majority Southern Social System Aristocracy (50 to slaves) Small Slave Owners (1 to 5 slaves) Slaveless Whites (Poor White Trash, Hillbillies, Clay- eaters) Mountain Whites (Hated Aristocrats & Blacks) Free Blacks Slaves White Trash?

Free Blacks  1860 – Free blacks in South (250,000)  Upper South – Freed during Revolutionary War  Deep South – Mulattos  Owned property, slaves  Had restrictions  Jobs, education, voting, testifying  Northern blacks unpopular as well  Irish hated them "How you find yourself did hot weader Miss Chloe?" "Pretty well I tank you Mr. Cesar[,] only I aspire too much!"

Plantation Slavery  Slave importation banned 1808  Smuggling continued  Slave society increases due to natural reproduction  Seen as investment  Protected them from harm  Women who had many children prized  Slave auctions  Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Life Under the Lash  Hard work, no rights, few protections  Beatings not common  Forced separation  Stable family life  First cousins didn’t marry  Religion & song mixture of Christian & African hymns  Signals & codes

The Burdens of Bondage  Slaves kept downtrodden & illiterate  Fought back by  Working slow  Sabotage  Thievery  Some poisoned master  Gabriel Prosser leads slave revolt in 1800

Denmark Vesey  1822 – Leads slave rebellion in Charlestown

Nat Turner Rebellion  Led 1831 slave revolt in Virginia  Killed over 50 people

Early Abolitionism  1817 – American Colonization Society  Transporting blacks to Africa  1822 – Liberia, Africa  1830s Abolitionism popular  Theodore Dwight Weld American Slavery As It Is

William Lloyd Garrison  Boston abolitionist  Published the Liberator for 30 yrs  Favored Northern secession

Other Radical Abolitionism  Wendell Phillips – Boston, “abolition’s golden trumpet”  Refused sugar or cotton cloth  David Walker – Black abolitionist  Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World, 1829 Wanted war  Sojourner Truth  Black emancipation  Women’s rights

Frederick Douglas  Former slave, author, and abolitionist leader  Editor of the North Star  Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglas  Used politics

The South Lashes Back  Southern abolitionists under attack  South promotes slavery  Religion  Civilized them  Nutured them  Happy lives  South’s blacks better off than North’s  1836, “gag resolution”  Antislavery appeals had to be tabled

The Abolitionist Impact in the North  Abolitionists unpopular in North  Mob violence Garrison Elijah P. Lovejoy  South owed North $300 mil  North depended on cotton  By 1850s, North more willing to listen