1. Essential Question:
What was life like in the antebellum South?

2. The Southern Antebellum Economy: King Cotton & Slavery
Ante means “before”
Bellum means “the war”

3. The Rise of “King Cotton”
Southern cotton fueled both the English & American Industrial Revolutions
“King Cotton” was the dynamic force driving the American economy from :
The South provided ¾ of world’s cotton
Southern cotton stimulated the growth of Northern textile industry, shipping, & marketing
Slave population grew 300%
"Cotton Is King!"
Eli Whitney's 1793 cotton gin invention revolutionized the Southern economy. Added to mechanical jennies to spin yarn, power looms to weave, and sewing machines to sew, .
Southerners scrambled to plant more cotton.
The land was usually worn out then discarded ("land butchery"). The result was a Southern thirst for still more land.
The demand for slaves to work the land also increased.
The "Cotton Kingdom" benefited the North as well since most of the South's cotton was woven on Northern looms.
In 1845, cotton made up over ½ of the nations exports. (Also 1/2-3/4 of the world’s cotton came from the south-These numbers would each swell to 2/3 in 1861, the year the Civil War began).
Notably, Britain relied heavily on Southern cotton. About 1/5 of the British population made their living in the cotton textile industry. 3/4 of the British cotton came from the American South.
Southerners believed their importance in the world's economy was set in stone. , though sensible based on the numbers, .

4. The Value of Cotton Exports as a Percentage of All U.S. Exports

5. The Rise of “King Cotton”
The introduction of short-staple cotton strengthened the economy
Cotton could now be grown anywhere in the South
The cotton gin (1793) made seed extraction easy
The potential for profits led to a cotton boom & the expansion of slavery in the South
“Southern way of life”
White Southerners perceived their economic interests to be tied to slavery

6. Slaves Using the Cotton Gin

7. Southern Agriculture
Cotton expansion led to “Alabama Fever” from 1816 to 1820
Southern expansion boomed again from 1832 to 1838 into Mississippi, Louisiana, & Arkansas
…and again in the mid-1850s into Texas

8. Slave Concentration by 1860
The “Black Belt”

9. The Internal Slave Trade
The Upper South grew tobacco & was less dependent on cotton & slave labor
As slave prices rose, Upper South developed an internal slave trade to provide “surplus” slaves to the Lower South
Virginia, Maryland, & Kentucky began to take on characteristics of the industrializing North & became divided in their support of slavery

10. Slavery in a Changing World
Antebellum regional differences:
By 1820, all Northern states abolished slavery
The South lagged behind the North in cities, industry, & railroads
Southern population grew slower than in the North & West
The South lagged by choice because these were risky investments, but cotton was safe
Southern politicians feared being permanently outvoted in Congress
The King Cotton economy had faults…
Debts began to run high since many people over-speculated in land or in slaves. Slaves were profitable (due to their value), but were also risky since they might run away or die.
The Southern economy was based on one crop only—cotton. This was profitable, but also risky by "putting all their eggs in one basket."
Similarly, Southerners relied on the North for nearly everything, from manufactured goods to food.
Also, immigrants did not go to the South. The reasons were (a) labor competition from slaves, (b) the high price of land, and (c) ignorance of cotton cultivation. These hard-working immigrants wound up helping the North solely, at the South's expense.
By 1860, only 35% of railroads were in the South
By 1860, only 15% of U.S. factories were in the South

11. Antebellum Southern Society: Whites

12. The Divided Society of the Old South
American slavery was deeply rooted in the Southern economy; but slavery divided the South:
By “caste”—black or white
By “class”—ownership of slaves
By region—slavery was more deeply entrenched along the “Black Belt” from GA to TX

13. Southern Society in 1850
“Slave-ocracy” (plantation owners)
6,000,000
The “Plain Folk” (small slave-owners & yeoman farmers)
250,000
Black Freemen
3,200,000
Black Slaves
U.S. population in 1850 was 23,000,000 9,500,000 lived in the South (40%)

14. Southern White Class Structure, 1860
The Planter “Aristocracy”
The antebellum (pre-Civil War) South was an oligarchy (government by a few elite).
. They ruled the South in a "cottonocracy."
Southern society is shrouded in myths. The scene, often shown in movies, of huge plantations with the Greek-columned "big house" overseeing hundreds of slaves was true, but only for those 1,733 families.

15. White Society in South
Only a small percentage of whites owned large plantations:
Less than 1% of the white population owned 50+ slaves
Most whites were yeomen farmers who supported slavery because they hired slaves or felt reassured that there was a lower class than them
These elite families sent their sons off to Ivy League schools or to military schools like West Point, the Citadel, or VMI. The Southern belles were expected to marry and eventually run the plantation household.
Education in the South was lacking. This was because the rich elite simply hired private tutors and were thus unmotivated to establish free public schools.
Sir Walter Scott was the author of Ivanhoe and was very popular to Southerners. They liked the medieval world described in the novel and especially its code of chivalry with knights and damsels. . Though real in the elite Southern mind, this society was also myth. And even if it came close to being real, it was still built on the backs of slaves.

16. Small Slaveholders
Only about 25% of the Southern white population owned slaves
88% of slave owners had fewer than 20 slaves (most 1-2 slaves)
But slave conditions were worse because slaves shared their master's poverty
Most slaves would have preferred the economic stability & kinship of the plantation

17. If these were the living conditions for slaves on a plantation, what were conditions like on small farms?

18. Yeomen Farmers
About 75% of Southern whites were small, yeoman farmers who did not own slaves:
Most yeomen resented the aristocratic planters but hoped to become wealthy planters
Many saw slavery as a way of keeping blacks “in their place”
Many saw abolition as a threat to their Southern way of life
Most of these whites were very poor. They were sneered as "poor white trash," "hillbillies," and "crackers."
They were called "clay eaters" because they chewed clay to get minerals they lacked in their diet. They also got hookworm from the clay.
Though slave-less, these whites were very racist. Their thinking was that no matter how poor or how bad off they had it in life, they still viewed themselves as being above the slaves.
Whites that lived in the mountains (hillbillies) likely had the toughest life of all whites. They were incredibly isolated, living in coves and hollows separated from the rest of the nation. They were extremely poor and scratched a living out of the mountains.
were not strong supporters of slavery, if even supporters at all. They (a) had no need for slavery in the mountains and (b) despised the wealthy white plantation owners who usually ran their state.
The fact that mountain whites didn't support slavery can be seen when the Civil War broke out. West Virginia broke away from Virginia over this matter. And, many whites from the hills "volunteered" to fight for the North (as in Tennessee, the "Volunteer State").

19. Antebellum Southern Society: Slaves

20. The World of Southern Blacks
While very few whites were plantation owners, most slaves lived on plantations:
90% of slaves lived on farms in which owner had 20+ slaves
15% of slaves served as “house slaves” (domestic servants)
10% of slaves worked in industry, lumbering, construction
2.4% of slaves worked on large plantations with 200+ slaves

21. Distribution of Slave Labor, 1850

22. 50% of all slaves lived in the Black Belt (“Cotton Belt”)
Generally, life in the Deep South was tougher than the upper South.
The Deep South (the Cotton of Slave Belt) accounted for about 75% of the black population.
On the good side, slave life and families tended to be more stable there.

23. Slaves Picking Cotton on a Mississippi Plantation
“Hauling the Whole Week’s Pickings” William Henry Brown, 1842

24. Slaves Working in a Sugar-Boiling House, 1823
Some slaves could hire out their overtime hours for pay (“Underground Economy”)

25. Slave Families & Community
Normal family life was difficult:
Families were vulnerable to breakup by their masters
On large plantations, slaves were able to retain their African cultures & were mostly part of two-parent families
But on smaller farms, extended families provided support or “adoption” of unrelated slaves

26. A Slave Family

27. African American Religion
Black Christianity was the center of African-American culture
Richard Allen created African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church but was largely composed of free & urban African-Americans
On plantations, whites supervised religious messages, but the “real” slave religion was practiced at night in secret; preached about the inevitable day of liberation
Slaves had no part in the "American dream" that nearly all other Americans enjoyed.
To "fight back," slaves employed techniques such as simply working very slowly.
The ultimate goal of slaves, unsurprisingly, was freedom.
This is seen in slaves' preference in religion for Moses' story of delivering the Israelites from bondage and in hymns that emphasized "flying away" or the freedoms provided by Jesus and of Heaven.

28. Supervised Plantation Religion

29. Free Blacks in the Old South
Southern free blacks were severely restricted:
Had to register with the state & carry “freedom” papers
Were excluded from certain jobs
Subjected to re-enslavement & fraudulent “recapture”
By 1860 some states proposed laws to force free blacks to leave the state or be enslaved

30. Defending Slavery?

31. Defending Slavery
Southern planters feared revolts & the growth of abolitionism & used a new defense slavery:
It was sanctioned in the Bible
Constitution did not prohibit it
Slavery was a “natural” way of life for “inferior” Africans
Slavery was more humane than Northern industrial exploitation

32. Pro-Slavery Propaganda

33. Defending Slavery
Proslavery Southerners protected South against anti-slavery ideas:
Feared abolitionist propaganda would inspire slave rebellions or inspire the yeoman to support abolition
Increased restrictions on blacks by making it illegal to teach slaves to read & write
Banned church services & meetings without supervision

34. Slavery in the North: Early Emancipation Movements
In 1787, the Articles of Confederation outlawed slavery in the northwest
By 1804, nine states emancipated slaves or adopted gradual emancipation plans
Before the American Revolution, slaves were present in each of the 13 American colonies
In 1817, a group of ministers & politicians formed the American Colonization Society to resettle free blacks in West Africa
In 1808, the USA & Britain in outlawed the African slave trade

35. Anti-Slave Arguments Leg Irons Slave ID Tag Slave muzzle
Life Under the Lash
Life as a slave is hard to pin down. Sometimes a slave had a kind master, sometimes the master was extremely cruel.
In all situations, a slave was expected to work hard and abide by the rules.
Whippings were not uncommon.
On the one hand, whippings were a disincentive to getting "out of line."
On the other hand, excessive whippings left scars which would hurt a slave's resale value.
Slave muzzle

36. Resistance & Rebellion
The most common form of slave rebellion was passive resistance:
Work slowdowns & sabotage
Poisoning of masters
Running away was common among slaves; Runaway slaves were aided by the Underground Railroad

37. Quilt Patterns Showed Secret Messages
The Drunkard Path design warned escapees not to follow a straight route
The Monkey Wrench pattern told slaves to gather up tools and prepare to flee

38. Resistance and Rebellion
At the last minute, the plan failed, Prosser was captured, & no whites died
Between , 3 major slave revolts occurred:
Gabriel Prosser (1800) planned a violent march on Richmond
Denmark Vesey (1822) created an extensive plot to arm & free slaves in SC (no white deaths)
Nat Turner (1831) led a band of slaves from farm to farm & killed 60 whites
A change discovery revealed the plot & no whites died
Also, slave revolts occurred.
Gabriel led a revolt in Virginia.
Denmark Vesey led a revolt in South Carolina.
Nat Turner was considered something of a prophet and led a revolt in Virginia.
All of these were unsuccessful and wound up terribly for the leaders. The overall .

39. Slave Rebellions in the South: Nat Turner, 1831

40. Conclusions: Worlds in Conflict

41. Conclusions
The post-1793 cotton boom transformed the American economy & Southern society:
Cotton facilitated westward expansion & the entrenchment of African slavery in the South
In the 1830s, the South became increasingly defensive about perceived Northern attempts to end slavery

42. Early Abolitionism
Moderate anti-slavery supporters backed emigration to Liberia to avoid a race war when slaves were gradually emancipated
Theodore Dwight Weld
“The Lane Rebels”
The Beecher Bunch!
Early Abolitionism
The abolition of slavery began in America with the Quakers.
The American Colonization Society started with the .
It succeeded in starting Liberia on the West Africa coast.
It failed because (a) most blacks considered themselves African-Americans, not Africans and (b) finances for the entire venture were very short for the huge task.
The 2nd Great Awakening of the 1830's fueled a surge in the abolition movement.
Theodore Dwight Weld was inspired by Charles Grandison Finney's preaching and became a leading anti-slavery spokesman.
Weld attended the Lane Theological Seminary which was headed by Lyman Beecher, the father of novelist Harriet Beecher Stowe, reformer Catharine Beecher and preacher-abolitionist Henry Ward Beecher.
The "Lane Rebels" fought slavery with words. Weld wrote a propaganda pamphlet titled American Slavery as It Is.

43. Early Abolitionism
But radical abolitionists, led by William Lloyd Garrison, called for immediate slave emancipation via his American Anti-Slave Society & The Liberator newsletter
Radical Abolitionism
William Lloyd Garrison published a radical abolitionist newspaper titled The Liberator.
It made its debut on New Year's Day, 1831, and forcefully shouted against slavery for the next 30 years. Garrison's famous battle cry was I WILL BE HEARD!
Critics charged that Garrison fanned the flames of anti-slavery, but offered no real solution.

44. William Lloyd Garrison
Garrison became the most popular abolitionist in the North
In 1860, there were 250,000 free blacks in the South.
Slaves may have been freed by one of many methods…
By a movement of emancipation after the American Revolution (usually the upper South).
By the slave owner. These were usually mulattoes, often the child of a white owner and black mistress.
By purchasing one's freedom. If a slave could save enough money, he could just buy himself, so to speak and thereby free himself.
Many freed blacks owned property, as in New Orleans. A few blacks even owned slaves.
Free blacks were 2nd, or 3rd, class citizens. The pro-slavery crowd didn't like them since they represented the possible end of slavery. Also, free blacks rights were certainly limited compared to whites.
Northerners disliked free blacks as well. The Irish especially disliked blacks since both were in competition for the lower paying jobs.
When the North stood up to stop the expansion of slavery into western lands, it was perhaps motivated more by economics of labor competition than by the desire to stop slavery.
The idea that the South hated blacks and the North loved them is a myth. Anti-black sentiment in the North was often fiercer than the South. It was said that

45. Abolitionism
Former slaves, like Frederick Douglass & Sojourner Truth, became important abolitionists:
They were able to relate the realities of slavery through Freedom’s Journal & North Star
Blacks were the leaders in the Underground Railroad
Blacks formed vigilante groups to protect fugitive slaves in North

46. Frederick Douglass & Sojourner Truth
Another black abolitionist, Sojourner Truth, was a tireless spokeswoman for abolition and women's rights.
The greatest abolitionist was Frederick Douglass.
Douglass was a former slave who escaped to Massachusetts and became the cause's leading spokesman.
His autobiography Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass became a classic and remains so to this day.
Unlike Garrison, Douglass was more practical. He supported the Liberty Party, the Free-Soil Party, and then the Republican Party.
> The Narrative of the Life Of Frederick Douglass
> “The North Star”
R2-12

47. The Underground Railroad

48. Abolitionism
Abolitionists most appealed to small town folk in the North
Not all Northerners supported abolition; Opposition came from:
Urban areas & from people who lived near the Mason-Dixon line
Racism, fears of interracial marriage, & fear of economic competition from freed blacks

49. Abolitionism
Radical abolitionists were hurt by in-fighting & many people criticized Garrison for his views:
He elected a woman to the executive committee of his American Anti-Slave Society
Called for Northern secession & boycotts of political elections
Some abolitionists broke off & formed the Liberty Party in 1840
The extreme-abolitionists up North, like William Lloyd Garrison, were not popular amongst most Northerners.
Garrison's views were seen as annoying, disruptive, and divisive to Daniel Webster's calls for union.
Northerners also knew they had a very real stake in the South—Southern cotton helped fuel the Northern textile industry. For this reason, many Northerners sought to quiet the loud abolitionists.
Garrison was roughed up several times up North.
Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy offended Catholic women and saw his printing press destroyed four times then was murdered by a mob.
Still, abolitionists had imprinted into Northerners' minds that the South was the land of the "unfree". And, there was a . This "free-soil" position would soon be taken up by Abraham Lincoln.