American Stories THIRD EDITION By: Brands By: Brands Chapter 11 Slaves and Masters 1793 ‒ 1861

Slaves and Masters, 1793 ‒ 1861 The World of Southern Blacks What factors made living conditions for southern blacks more or less difficult? White Society in the Antebellum South What divided and united white southern society?

Slaves and Masters, 1793 ‒ 1861 Slavery and the Southern Economy How was slavery related to economic success in the South? 11.3

Video Series: Key Topics in U.S. History 1.The Antebellum South: 1790 ‒ Slave Life and Culture 3.The Cotton Gin 4.Nat Turner Home

Nat Turner’s Rebellion: A Turning Point in the Slave South Nat Turner led slave rebellion for freedom Killed sixty whites Rebels executed 48 hours later White southerners believed abolitionist propaganda caused rebellions New laws restricted slaves’ rights Restrictions on white dissenters Home

The World of Southern Blacks Slaves’ Daily Life and Labor Slave Families, Kinship, and Community Resistance and Rebellion Free Blacks in the Old South Home

The World of Southern Blacks Slave masters tried to make slaves docile and obedient Physical and psychological means African Americans managed to retain some dignity Asserted desire for freedom Showed disdain for idea that slavery was a positive good Made world for themselves The World of Southern Blacks

Slaves’ Daily Life and Labor Slave life varied based on location Large plantations Slaves on small farms Work other than field work Almost three-quarters were field hands Outside labor Inside labor Served community Slaves in city Worked for own well-being The World of Southern Blacks

Slave Families, Kinship, and Community Nature of families varied Large plantations with stable populations Farms and small plantations, especially Upper South Kinship extended beyond primary family Not limited to blood relations New slaves adopted Helped transmit African American folk traditions The World of Southern Blacks

Resistance and Rebellion Open rebellion More dramatic form of slave resistance Gabriel Prosser rebellion March on New Orleans Denmark Vesey - the Vesey conspiracy Nat Turner’s revolt Second Seminole War Black fugitives fought alongside Indians Allowed to move West The World of Southern Blacks

Resistance and Rebellion (continued) Less risky resistance Running away Underground Railroad Indirect or passive resistance Work-related resistance Folktales - stories and songs Revealed slave attitudes and feelings Slave religion Encouraged community The World of Southern Blacks

Free Blacks in the Old South Repression increased as time passed Racist attitude emphasized dual image Southern free blacks severely restricted New laws Sense of solidarity with slaves Fugitive slave laws Could do very little to help Movement to force free people of color to leave or be enslaved The World of Southern Blacks

Discussion Question What factors made living conditions for southern blacks more or less difficult? The World of Southern Blacks

White Society in the Antebellum South The Planters’ World Planters, Racism, and Paternalism Small Slaveholders Yeoman Farmers A Closed Mind and a Closed Society Home

White Society in the Antebellum South Only a small percentage of slave owners lived in aristocratic mansions Only 25 percent of southern whites owned slaves Less than 1 percent of the white population owned 50 or more slaves White Society in the Antebellum South

White Society in the Antebellum South

The Planters’ World Big planters influenced southern life Less wealthy hoped to imitate style Held political power Many were self-made Plantations managed as businesses Entrepreneur skills needed Woman’s role Romantic ideals imitated only by richest White Society in the Antebellum South

White Society in the Antebellum South

Planters, Racism, and Paternalism Paternalism Moral inferiority – racism Better living standard for southern slaves Limits seen in slave trade Violent coercion accepted by all planters Planters actually dealt little with slaves Slaves managed by overseers Interactions with only a few slaves White Society in the Antebellum South

Small Slaveholders Slave conditions worse for slaves where slaveholders held fewer than 20 slaves percent owned fewer than 20 Slaves shared master’s poverty Slaves at complete mercy of master Masters often worked alongside slaves Most slaves would have preferred economic and cultural stability of plantation More intimate relationship White Society in the Antebellum South

Yeoman Farmers Yeoman farmers – worked own land Not the same as “poor whites” Could be tenant farmers Mostly in backcountry Role of women Yeoman did not support abolitionism Some aspired to planter status Slavery supported role in social class White Society in the Antebellum South

A Closed Mind and a Closed Society Planters feared growth of abolitionism Planters encouraged closing of ranks American Colonization Society Slavery defended as a positive good Contrary points of view suppressed White Society in the Antebellum South

Discussion Question What divided and united white southern society? White Society in the Antebellum South

Slavery and the Southern Economy The Internal Slave Trade The Rise of the Cotton Kingdom Home

Slavery and the Southern Economy White southerners perceived their economic interests to be tied to slavery Included all classes and regions Beliefs Lower South: Slave plantation society Cotton-growing areas Upper South: Farming Slave-trading region Moved away from slavery Slavery and the Southern Economy

Slavery and the Southern Economy

The Internal Slave Trade Mixed farming in Upper South Kentucky, Virginia and Maryland Needed less labor, more capital More rapid urban and industrial development than lower South Upper South sold slaves to Lower South Profitable business for slaveholder Sectional loyalty of Upper South uncertain Slavery and the Southern Economy

Table 11.1 U.S. Slave Population, 1820 and 1860 Slavery and the Southern Economy

The Rise of the Cotton Kingdom Plantation agriculture in Lower South Warmer climate and good soils Rice, “long-staple” cotton, and sugar Limited to semitropical areas Invention of cotton gin Invented by Eli Whitney “Short-staple” cotton drove cotton boom 1860 – cotton was 58 percent of all U.S. exports Slavery and the Southern Economy

What Fueled the Domestic Slave Trade Before the Civil War? How did the size of a slave-holder’s farm often relate to the number of enslaved? In what ways did the distribution of U.S. slave population change between 1808 and the 1860s? How did the closing of the Trans- Atlantic slave trade affect the price of slaves? Slavery and the Southern Economy

Slavery and the Southern Economy

Slavery and the Southern Economy Figure 11.1 Cotton as a Percentage of all U.S. Exports, 1800 ‒ 1860

Slavery and the Southern Economy

Discussion Question How was slavery related to economic success in the South? Slavery and the Southern Economy

Conclusion: Worlds in Conflict South was divided by class, race, culture, and geography Held together by a booming plantation economy Web of customary relationships could obscure underlying antagonisms Fragile society would become apparent under pressures of civil war