The Old South and Slavery

Chapter 12

South Top Ten

• Come up with the top 10 things that you would tell someone about the South today

Nat Turner’s Rebellion (1831)

Nat Turner’s Rebellion sparked fear that more slave insurrections would occur

Slavery Reform

• Fear about slave insurrections led to debate about slavery in the South

• What was the reaction of Virginia to the thought of slave rebellions?

• After the Virginia reaction, what course did slavery take in the South?

The Slavery Issue in the South

“Freesoilers and abolitionists are the only true friends of the South; slaveholders and slave-breeders are downright enemies of their own section. Anti-slavery men are working for the Union and for the good of the whole world; proslavery men are working for the disunion of the States, and for the good of nothing except themselves.“- Hinton Helper’s “The Impending Crisis”

Cotton and Slavery

• Why did cotton become the major crop of the South in the 19th century?

• Despite not producing cotton, why did the Upper South support slavery?

• How did the slavery institution create a different social, economic, and political ideology in the South than in other areas? (Tredegar Iron Works)

King Cotton

The high demand for cotton in Britain revived agriculture in the South after the decline of tobacco and further ingrained slavery

Upper v. Lower South

The Upper South were not reliant on cotton and slavery due to colder climate and rougher terrain

The Lower South depended exclusively on cotton and the plantation system

The Old South

The Upper and Lower South combined to make the Old South (Antebellum South) which was the Southern region before the Civil War

Society of the White South

• Know the main social groups of the White South and their standard of living:

1) Plantation Owners and Wives

2) Small Slaveholders

3) Yeomen

4) Squatters (People of the Pine Barrens)

Plantation Owner/Small Slaveholder

Plantation Owners (20 or more slaves) and Small Slaveholders (less than 20 slaves) dealt with the slave trade, whereas Yeomen were not slaveholders

Squatters

The squatter symbol represents 10% of Southerners called People of the Pine Barrens, who owned no land and instead used the land of others to survive

Social Class Interaction (1840s)

• What banded the social classes together in the South?

• How did the different social classes compromise on their political differences?

• What was the pro-slavery argument used by all white southerners? (George Fitzhugh)

• How were disagreements solved in the South between social classes? What attempted to solve the issue in the 1840s?

Proslavery ArgumentGeorge Fitzhugh reasoned that wage slaves (in Northern factories) were treated worse than the slaves on plantations

Dueling

The South had a much higher murder rate (up to 10 times greater) than the North due to the “code of honor”

The best way to solve disputes in the South was dueling

Southern Evangelicals

Preached humility and self-restraint (mainly to keep slaves docile) but also encouraged whites to cut back on dueling, drinking, and gambling, which lowered the murder rate

The Social Groups of the South• In groups of up to 4, write a letter from the point of

view of white southerners that portrays the life of whites in the antebellum South (before the civil war). You must:

1)Include a planter, small slaveholder, yeomen, and squatter (mistress can count too to replace one of them)

2)Explain the feelings of individuals about at least 3 topics (Ex: Cotton, Northerners, Slavery, Politics, Violence, Church)

Slavery and Conditions

• Where did the slaves in the South come from and where could they be found?

• What were the standards of living for slaves in the South in the 1830s and 1840s?

• How did Southern slave treatment compare to treatment of slaves in other parts of the world?

Plantation SystemSlaves were most often found out in the fields, but some did work in cities and in the household

At first, most slaves were immigrants, but by the 1830s many of them were born in the United States

Percentages of Slaves (1860)

Slave Family – Waiting for Sale

Not recognized or protected in the South, slaves were often separated from their families by sale, putting increased importance on kin networks

The Slave Resistance and Free Blacks

• Revolution attempts (Denmark Vesey, Gabriel Prosser)

• Why did slave revolutions fail to catch hold in the South like in other nations?

• Despite the lack of rebellions, what actions did slaves take against their masters?

• How were free blacks treated in the South?

Slave Rebellions – Haitian Revolution (1804)

Despite the success of slave rebellions around the world, the US had very few uprisings (Denmark Vesey and Gabriel Prosser both failed)

Underground Railroad - Tubman

The best form of resistance was that of escape to the North, made possible by the Underground Railroad, though theft and work stoppages were also methods of resistance used by slaves

Underground Railroad Map

Fugitive Slaves

Slave Culture

• How did the unique slave culture get created in the South?

• Why was slave culture essential to the survival of the slaves?

• What religious principles were taught to slaves by whites and why? In reality, how did slaves view religion and what did they create using it?

Slave Culture

Slaves developed a distinctive culture drawing on African and American cultures to create pidgin English, a unique Christian religion, and Spirituals

The Spirituals of the SouthIn groups of 3 with the song you have, complete a written version of the following:

• 1)  How does your slave song bring out the African-American culture that was developing at the time? What message is it sending and how do you think both slaves and whites would have reacted to the message? (1/2 page per person)

• 2)    Create your own slave song – complete with chorus and at least 3 verses that brings out the African-American slave culture. Then, explain what hidden message your song is trying to convey. (you can do this in pairs)