Southern Economy & the Slave System
Economy AGRICULTURE Tobacco Rice Indigo Grew cash crops on plantations: Tobacco Rice Indigo
Which one do you like more ? WOOL COTTON Why were clothes mostly made from wool then?
Economy Very difficult to remove the seeds from the cotton!!! How easy was it to remove the seeds from the cotton??? Very difficult to remove the seeds from the cotton!!! Cotton Seeds Southern farmers did not plant cotton until…
Cotton Boom invented Eli Whitney Cotton Gin 1793 invented Cleaned cotton faster= price of cotton lower= demand from textile industry higher Eli Whitney
This made cotton very profitable Cotton Boom Cotton Gin 1793 invented This made cotton very profitable Eli Whitney
Farmers grew more cotton… Cotton Boom NEED FOR SLAVES INCREASED!!! Farmers grew more cotton…
Cotton Belt
Better Farm Equipment John Deere made a steel-bladed plow Cyrus McCormick designed a mechanical reaper
Slavery Divides Society Planters owned plantations and 20+ slaves- had power in society THE HAVES Yomen owed few or no slaves- worked the land themselves- lower class THE HAVE NOTS
The Slave System Bought and sold at auctions- considered “property” Lived on owner’s property- poor conditions in slave cabins Worked in fields, in master’s house, even some as skilled laborers
Nat Turner’s Rebellion Deeply religious slave- considered prophet Intelligent despite no formal education Believed God wanted him to start a rebellion
Nat Turner’s Rebellion August 1831 South Hampton County, Virginia
Nat Turner’s Rebellion 40+ Slaves killed 55+ Whites in 1 day
Nat Turner’s Rebellion Hundreds of innocent slaves were killed trying to stop the rebellion!!
Nat Turner’s Rebellion Southern states began passing repressive state laws against African Americans PANIC!
Nat Turner’s Rebellion Delaware 1832 Forbade free Negroes, under a five dollar fine, to keep firearms without having a license Ten dollar fine – For all the meetings of more than a dozen free Negroes continuing past 10 P.M. Unless these were directed by at least three white men A free Negro who did not reside in the state was not to preach or exhort unless he had a license – Penalty of fifty dollars
Nat Turner’s Rebellion Maryland Immigration of free Negroes was forbidden No free Negro was allowed to own arms Slaves and free Negroes were permitted to have religious services only with whites No foodstuff or tobacco was to be bought from any Negro North Carolina Forbidden for free Negroes and slaves to preach – 39 lashes If a Free Negro had a fine and could not pay for it he would be sold as a slave for the lowest bid at auction South Carolina Free Negroes could not make or sell spirituous liquors
Nat Turner’s Rebellion Alabama Anyone who attempted to teach any Negro to spell, read, or write was to be fined not less than $250, nor more than $500 Persons circulating or publishing pamphlets, etc, among the slaves shall suffer death Illegal for 5 male slaves to congregate off their plantation without their master No free Negro was to settle in Alabama in 1832 – 39 lashes and to be sold as a slave thereafter Free Negroes were not to trade or associate with slaves without written permission from the master
The Underground Railroad X The Underground Railroad X
The Underground Railroad Network of people who arranged transportation and hiding places for fugitives, or escaped slaves, on their journey to freedom. - Led to Northern states or Canada
The Underground Railroad Harriet Tubman Most famous conductor Ex-slave “Moses” 19 Trips back into the South- helped over 300 slaves escape