Cotton, Slavery and the Old South

Chapter 11

Early South

Upper South - tobacco

*market unstable

*uses up soil

*some shift to

Other crops

Lower South:

Rice – possible in few places

Sugar – labor intensive, need $

Many turn to Short-Staple Cotton

*Grows in variety of climates

Problem:

Hard to get out seed

Production is limited by ability to clean cotton

Cotton Ginby

Eli Whitney

Cotton Gin solves final bottle neck in textile production, enough cotton

Effect of IR on Cotton Production

1820 500,000 bales

1850 3,000,000 bales

1860 5,000,000 bales 2/3 of total exports

$200,000,000

KING COTTON

Cotton production in the deep South lead to shift in slave population away from Chesapeake region

Southern Industry and Trade

Majority of trade in South due to cotton

Planters use a broker or ‘factor’ to find a buyer for the cotton

Since the South had not developed a merchant class, most brokers were found in the North

South did not develop a complex banking system-often went to factor for loans

Transportation limited

$ not put into canals and railroads

What track they have is not a network

Why not a diverse economy?

*Lots of $ in cotton & other crops

*Legacy of Jefferson anti big city and industry

James De Bow

*De Bow’s Review

*Economic Independence from North

SOUTHERN SOCIETYSouthern Society

Nottaway Plantation

Percent of Southern Population that owned Slaves

5%

383,637

Percent of Families that owned Slaves

20-25%

LARGE PLANTER

•At least 800 acres

•At least 50 slaves

•2,292 owned over 100

•Top of society – have power

Southern Women

*Less educated *Less involved *More subservient *More involved in farm

Education

*Beyond basic ed only for sons of wealthy

*Many educated at military schools VMI

Thomas Jackson

Stonewall

Plain Folk

*Most small farmers

*Few own slaves *Connected to large planters:need access to Gins, markets, credit

*Limited chance of advancement

Hill People

*Live in Hill country or backwoods-Appalachian/Ozarks *Subsistence farming *Dislike slavery and Planters

POOR WHITE TRASH* ½ million *Worst land-few own land *renters, squaters *Hunt, forage, work as common laborer

LOVE SLAVERY

THE PECULIAR INSTITUTION

Slave Laws

*Can’t own property *Can’t leave w/o permission *Can’t be out after dark * Can’t congregate with other slaves * Can’t carry firearms * Can’t strike whites * Can’t testify against whites * Can’t teach slaves to read/write

Cotton Gin increases value of slaves

A slave in 1800 that cost $200-300 by 1840 cost $500-1700

Working conditions for slaves based on where you are owned & work performed

*large plantation vs. small farm*plantation vs. city*field vs. house

About 250,000 free blacks in the South

Laws that restrict them *outlawed from certain occupations *can’t supervise whites

Domestic slave trade important to the system

Need to transfer slaves to growing parts of the South

835,000 shipped to deep South from Chesapeake 1790-1860

Planters need this trade but show guilt by assigning slave traders a low social position

Justification of Slavery

1.Positive good

2.Necessary evil

SLAVE REBELLIONS

1800-Gabriel Prosser 1000 slaves

1822-Denmark Vesey

1831-Nat Turner Virginiakilled 60 whitesover 100 executed