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The South’s Market Revolution. Cotton, Slavery, and the Old South. Pre-1820’s Southern Agriculture. Virginia, Maryland, N. Carolina Tobacco S. Carolina, Georgia, Florida Rice Gulf Coast states Sugar. Decline of Staple Crops. 1820-1850 saw a decline in staple crops Tobacco - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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The South’s Market Revolution
Cotton, Slavery, and the Old South
Pre-1820’s Southern
Agriculture Virginia, Maryland,
N. Carolina Tobacco
S. Carolina, Georgia, Florida Rice
Gulf Coast states Sugar
Decline of Staple
Crops 1820-1850 saw a decline in
staple crops Tobacco
Notoriously unstable Price fluctuations Exhausted the land Became to expensive
Rice Lots of irrigations Long growing period (9 months) Relatively small area of growing
Sugar Very hard work Long growing seasons
Rise of “King Cotton”
Short-Staple Cotton Courser than long-
staple Could grow in a
variety of climates Harder to process
because of seeds though 1793 problem
solved with the invention of the Cotton gin
The New Market
Too meet demand of labor for new cotton market, northern slaves sent south Creates a new market
system Transportation Storage Sells Labor
Slavery expected to end by 1830 now saw with this new market the expansion of slavery
The Slave Market
Major centers were New Orleans and Atlanta
Step one: Transportation Slaves would be
sold to middle-men in Chesapeake state
Travel by wagon or foot to the markets
Slave Market Con’t
Step 2: Storage Slaves brought to
centers Put into holding
pens Prospective buyers
could view the merchandise
Slave Market Con’t
Step 3: Selling merchandise Auctions would be
held Slaves sold based
on appearance and sex
Most tried, but usually failed to keep families together
Slave Market Con’t
Step 4: Labor Sold Slaves would be either
sent to plantations or work in or around the markets
Division of labor Women
House slaves Wet Nurses Or field work
Men Sent to field Trained in trades
Black smiths, wranglers, etc Also made overseers
Market Resistance
Slaves were not docile lemmings Feigned sickness or
injury so as not to be sold to someone they disliked Opposite for those
they did like Labor resistance
Feigning sickness Breaking equipment Running away
What it Means
Historians have argued that there was no “Market Revolution” in the south True: There was no industrial
growth like the north False: The new slave/cotton
markets brought about a revolution in the south Expansion of slavery King Cotton South a economic and thus a
political power Will use that power to hold
onto slavery
White Society in the
South Only a small minority
owned slaves 1860: 383,000 owned
slaves out of a population of 8 mil.
Planter Aristocracy Owned 40-50 slaves Owned 800+ acres Dominated economic,
political, and social life in the south
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