African Americans North vs. South What was life like? Where was the better place to live?

Essential Questions What aspect of daily life did slaves or free slaves play in the role of everyday life in Northern States? What was life like for Negros (Free Slaves) in New England compared to Southern States during the mid 1800s?

A tale of two lifestyles! Urban - cities with lots of people VS Rural - farms and places without a lot people in one spot.

Comparison of North and South Life

Comparison of North and South Life

Compare the following pictures Looking at the way a person clothing can tell a lot about a person. These next few slides will provide some insight as to the daily lives of slaves.

What social class is this person in? What is this person’s job?

What social class is this person in? What is this person’s job?

What social class is this person in? What is this person’s job?

What social class is this person in? What is this person’s job?

What social class is this person in? What is this person’s job?

What social class is this person in? What is this person’s job?

Life in The North In the North, where slavery was illegal, workers had to be paid. Conditions were often quite the working class in the North. The factory system held great promise for many: employment, the possibility of advancement, and cheaper goods.

The North Geography (where it is located) The Northern part of the United States is much colder than the South. This made farming harder in the North than in the warm South. There were a lot of cities packed closed together in the North because of the location of the original thirteen colonies.

North Cultural (the way people lived) A lot of people moved from the small farm towns to the big urban cities to work in the factories. The North was more URBAN than the South. People lived in a city where there was a lot of laborers and more money. Slavery was not really needed in the North. This fact led many people to start talking about how bad and immoral slavery was in the United States.

Northern Cultural

Abolitionist meetings in the Northern cities. Culture in the North Abolitionist meetings in the Northern cities.

African Americans in the North Chapter 14, Section 2 African Americans in the North met discrimination Discrimination is a policy or attitude that denies equal rights to certain groups of people. African Americans were denied “the ballot-box, the jury box, the halls of the legislature, the army, the public lands, the school, and the church.” African Americans had trouble finding good jobs. African Americans in the North met some success. Some African Americans found success owning their own businesses. Some African Americans became successful professionals.

Life in the South Life in the south was dominated by white vs black (slave). The roles between the two were great.

The Geography of the South The South was much warmer than the North. This made farming a lot better in the South than in the North. There were not a lot of large cities. Everything was really spread out!

The Geography of the South

The Southern Economy Many Southerners made their money by farming on plantations because the weather was better in the South than the North. The cotton gin was invented and made the farming of cotton easier. This meant more money for farmers. The White plantation owners needed a lot of slaves working in the fields in order to make money.

The Southern Economy

Southern Culture The South was RURAL because of all of the plantations. There were a lot of African Americans in the South because of all of the slaves needed on the plantations. The South was very violent in order to stop the slaves from fighting for their freedom. No abolitionists! The plantation owners wanted the slaves!

Southern Culture

The wealthy A planter was someone who owned at least 20 slaves. Less than 1 percent owned 50 or more slaves. These wealthy families were called the “cottonocracy.”

Small farmers Poor whites About 75 percent of southern whites were small farmers. They owned the land they farmed. These “plain folk” might own one or two slaves. Poor whites They did not own the land they farmed. They rented it.

African Americans in the South Slave Codes - were established to keep slaves from running away or rebelling. Enslaved African Americans were forbidden to gather in groups of more than three. They could not leave their owner’s land without a written pass.

Slaves were not allowed to own guns. It was a crime for slaves to learn how to read and write. Slaves did not have the right to testify in court.

Conditions varied from plantation to plantation. Laws and Treatment Conditions varied from plantation to plantation. Slaves generally worked long, hard days—up to 16 hours a day. Some planters allowed white ministers to preach to their slaves.

Since southern laws did not recognize slave marriages or slave families, it was hard for African Americans to keep their families together.

On some large plantations, extended families—grandparents, parents, children, aunts, uncles, and cousins—often did manage to form close-knit groups.