Standard 8.9

Slavery in the South

The Cotton Boom• Eli Whitney invents cotton gin -- machine that cleans

cotton (1793)• Makes cotton cleaning more efficient, changes Southern

life• Cotton plantations spread west, triggers a move westward• Planters grow more cotton than other goods, cotton

exports increase• Native Americans driven off land taken over for cotton

plantations• Slaves from the east are sold to work on new cotton

plantations

The Cotton Gin

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Slavery Expands

• From 1790 to 1860, cotton production increases greatly

• As cotton earnings rise so does price of slaves

• Expansion of slavery has major impact on South’s economy, people

Slavery Divides the South

• Slavery divides white Southerners into:– Those who have slaves– Those who do not

• One-tenth of white families have plantations with 20 or more slaves

• Most white Southern farmers have few, no slaves, but support slavery

• Slavery has become necessary to increase profits

African-Americans in the South• Slavery divides black Southerners into:

– Those who are enslaved– Those who are free

• Enslaved African-Americans are one-third of South’s population (1840)

• Most work on plantations, some work as domestic servants, craftsmen

• 8 percent of African-Americans in South are free (1840)

• Some states make blacks leave after they gain their freedom

• Most states do not permit free blacks to vote, receive education

Slaves working• Most slaves in the

south worked in the fields.

Slave auction• Slaves were bought

and sold. Families were often separated.

Sales receipt for a slave

Slave families• Some slave families

were able to stay together.

Slave cabins• Slave cabins were

generally small and in poor condition.

Slave quilt• Slave women made

quilts from scraps of cloth. Some quilts held secret codes for escaping in the their patterns.

Slave punishment• Punishment for

running away or not working could be brutal.

Religion

Slaves and Religion•Enslaved African-Americans rely on their culture to endure hardships

Culture filled with religious convictions, close personal bonds, music•Slaves express religious beliefs in folk songs (spirituals) and tales help pass down culture and beliefs to the next generation

•Spirituals often contain coded messages about a planned escape

Slavery religion

Slave revolts

Gabriel Prosser• Gabriel Prosser

organized one of the first slave revolts in the south near Richmond, Virginia in 1800.

Denmark Vesey• Denmark Vesey

planned a revolt to stop slavery. His plan was stopped when a slave spy told of the plan to his master. Vesey was arrested, tried and hanged as a message to others.

Nat Turner• Nat Turner’s rebellion

left 60 whites dead and caused 100 innocent slaves to be killed. The rebellion forced southern whites to enact slave codes to further restrict the movement of slaves.