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THE ANTEBELLUM SOUTH, 1800-1860 APUSH Lecture 3C (covers Ch. 11 & 12) Mrs. Kray Some slides taken from Susan Pojer
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“THE SOUTH” Included any state that permitted slavery
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THE COTTON ECONOMY
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GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS Primarily agrarian – “Cotton is King!” Economic power shifted to the “lower South” Limited industrialization Rudimentary financial system Inadequate transportation system
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KING COTTON Cotton became the most important crop in the South as tobacco prices declined & economic factors limited the growth of rice and sugar. Invention of the cotton gin + demand for cotton in textile factories = increasing cotton production
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COTTON PRODUCTION
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COTTON BOOM REINFORCES THE NEED FOR SLAVES
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WHITE SOCIETY IN THE SOUTH
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THE SOCIAL HIERARCHY Planter Elites Small farmers Poor whites and Mountain people Freed Blacks/Slaves Dominated the South socially & politically
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THE SLAVE-OWNING SOUTH Very few Southerners actually owned slaves Even though 75% of Southerners owned no slaves at all, they defended the slave system.
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THE SOUTHERN GENTLEMAN Southern chivalry Gentleman should be chivalrous, leisurely, and elegant Public dignity, morality, and bravery were badges of honor Defense of women Only acceptable professions: soldier, farmer, lawyer Commerce was frowned upon
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THE SOUTHERN BELLE Household-centered lives paralleled women in the North Southern ideas of chivalry however placed women in an even more subordinate role b/c viewed women as defenseless Reality: women lived on isolated farms and participated actively in household production Education was not emphasized Defenders of the slave system
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SLAVERY: THE “PECULIAR INSTITUTION” Slavery created a bond between black and white and also created two distinct cultures based on racial separation
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AFRICAN AMERICAN POPULATION IN THE SOUTH 1 million slaves in 1800 by 1860 4 million High Birth Rate 1808: Asiento system outlawed In Deep South slaves made up more than 50% of the population of some states
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THE “PECULIAR INSTITUTION ” Wealth in the South measured in terms of slaves 1800-1860: cost of slave labor rose sharply Slaves treated as a form of property 2 common slave stereotypes Sambo: slow, obsequious, deferential slave The rebel Slave codes regulated both slave and free behavior by law, and served to maintain a superior position for whites Enforcement of these codes varied widely
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THE LEDGER OF JOHN WHITE J Matilda Selby, 9, $400.00 sold to Mr. Covington, St. Louis, $425.00 J Brooks Selby, 19, $750.00 Left at Home – Crazy J Fred McAfee, 22, $800.00 Sold to Pepidal, Donaldsonville, $1200.00 J Howard Barnett, 25, $750.00 Ranaway. Sold out of jail, $540.00 J Harriett Barnett, 17, $550.00 Sold to Davenport and Jones, Lafourche, $900.00
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SLAVE AUCTION IN SOUTH CAROLINA, 1856 With new cotton lands opening in the Southwest the trade in slaves between the upper and lower South flourished.
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THE LIFE OF A SLAVE Slaves were employed doing whatever their owners demanded of them Majority worked in the field Many became skilled craftsmen Others worked as house servants, in factories, or on construction gangs Many slaves sold from the Upper South to the cotton-rich Deep South
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SLAVES WORKING IN A SUGAR BOILING HOUSE, 1832
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SLAVE LIFE: ON THE PLANTATION Size of the plantation often the main factor in determining the relationship between master and slave Large plantations: overseers or drivers employed to supervise slaves; the master was remote Task system -- slaves given a task to accomplish in a certain period Gang system – slaves worked in groups overseen by a driver who determined when work began and ended**
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SLAVE RESISTANCE Vast majority of slave resistance was subtle Slow work, breaking tools, performing task incorrectly Fed Sambo stereotype Escape via the Underground Railroad Slave revolts Very rare
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THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD Secret messages in the quilts
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1800: Gabriel Prosser in VA 1822: Denmark Vessey in SC SLAVE REVOLTS 1831: Nat Turner’s Revolt Killed 60 whites in VA 100 of his followers were executed
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IMPACT OF SLAVE REVOLTS All revolts were quickly & violently suppressed Gave hope to enslaved African Americas Drove southern states to tighten already strict slave codes Demonstrated to many, especially Northerners, the evils of slavery
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FREED BLACKS IN THE SOUTH By 1860, as many as 250,000 Emancipated during the Am. Rev. Mulatto children whose white fathers liberated them (manumission) Purchased their freedom Most lived in cities They were not equals w/southern whites State laws barred them fr. voting & certain jobs In constant danger of being kidnapped had to show legal papers to prove free status
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THE CULTURE OF SLAVERY
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SLAVE CULTURE Creating their own culture was a survival mechanism Pidgin or Gullah languages Music played an important role in their lives Black Christianity (Baptist or Methodist) Black churches held illegal services at night More emotional worship service Negro Spirituals – imbued faith, combined hope for freedom, and a lament of servitude
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FAMILY LIFE Nuclear family with extended kin links when possible The family was central to black culture Illegal for slaves to marry Families could be separated at any time Women subject to sexual exploitation Miscengenation
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THE CRUSADE AGAINST SLAVERY
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SOUTHERN THOUGHTS ON SLAVERY Colonial Times slavery justified as an economic necessity Antebellum Era used historical and religious arguments Bible justified slavery Slavery good for the slave (paternalism) Relations between slave and master were complex
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THE ABOLITIONIST MOVEMENT IN AMERICA Abolitionist movement did not gain prominence in the U.S. until after 1830 Abolitionists were always a minority in ALL regions of the country 2 nd Great Awakening turns slavery into a moral issue Provoked a powerful reaction by those who feared the political consequences of growing sectionalism and those who feared the social consequences of a great number of free blacks
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EARLY ABOLITIONIST EFFORTS 1816: American Colonization Society founded 1830: Liberia founded Few freed slaves every settled there
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WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON Radical abolitionist favored immediate emancipation of slaves with no compensation for slave owners “Let Southern Oppressors tremble…I will be as harsh as truth and as uncompromising as Justice…I am in earnest – I will not retreat a single inch – and I WILL BE HEARD 1831: Began publication of The Liberator 1833: Founded American Anti-Slavery Society
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“THE TREE OF SLAVERY, LOADED WITH THE SUM OF VILLAINIES”
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MODERATE ABOLITIONISTS Founded the Liberty Party Pledged to end slavery by political and legal means Lewis Tappan Arthur Tappan James Birney
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FREDERICK DOUGLASS, 1817-1895 Radical Black Abolitionist Early follower of Garrison 1845: Published Narrative Life of Frederick Douglass 1847: Began publishing North Star Anti-slavery journal
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SOJOURNER TRUTH, 1787-1883 Freed slave Eloquent anti-slavery advocate 1850: Published Narrative of Sojourner Truth
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VIOLENT BLACK ABOLITIONISTS Black Abolitionists David Walker Henry Highland Garnet Argued slaves should not wait for whites, instead should rise up in revolt against their masters 1829 – Walker wrote Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World
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ABOLITIONIST SUCCESSES Personal Liberty Laws passed in Northern states Forbid officials to assist in the capture and return of runaway slaves 1852: Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin Novel changed the nature of the slavery debate Sold more than 300,00 copies Expanded the abolitionist audience
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SOUTHERN REACTION TO ABOLITIONIST MOVEMENT Southerners alarmed to see northern reformers join forces to support the anti-slavery movement Increasingly, viewed social reform as a northern conspiracy against the southern way of life No longer argued slavery was a necessary evil but a moral good Paternalism and biblical implications Attacked capitalist system of the Industrial Revolution as worse than slavery – wage slaves
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“So you’re the little woman who wrote the book that made this great war” - Abraham Lincoln “So you’re the little woman who wrote the book that made this great war” - Abraham Lincoln
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Helped over 300 slaves to freedom. $40,000 bounty on her head. Served as a Union spy during the Civil War. “Moses”
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“Conductor” ==== leader of the escape “Passengers” ==== escaping slaves “Tracks” ==== routes “Trains” ==== farm wagons transporting the escaping slaves “Depots” ==== safe houses to rest/sleep
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