GROUP 8:LIFE IN THE SOUTH AND THE COTTON BOOM
By Ilya Yashin and Carina Tomich
The two types of cotton Short-staple cotton was easier to grow
but harder to process Long-staple cotton grew well only in small
regions but was easier to process
Eli Whitney and the cotton gin.
In 1793, Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin which allowed to process short-staple cotton more easily.
Thanks to the invention, cotton exports skyrocketed.
The slave population increased dramatically because of the new cotton fields
Industrialization in the South
Reasons for slow industrialization in the South: Most southern investors put their money in land and
slaves rather than in new factories Planters used their influence to discourage states from
imposing taxes to fund improvements that might have promoted manufacturing.
Factory workers were in short supply because the region's reliance on slave labor discouraged immigrants from coming to the South.
The market for manufactured goods suffered from the fact that slaves and poor whites (the bulk of the rural population) had little or no purchasing power.
Social Classes in the pre-Civil War South
Wealthy planters
Small farmers (a.k.a. yeoman farmers)
The very poor
Wealthy Farmers Only few of them had more than 20 slaves The richest ones lived elegantly in beautiful
mansions The plantation owners were kept busy managing
the plantation The planters' wives supervised the food
preparation, housecleaning, mending, spinning; they kept track of household finances, cared for the sick, supervised the house slaves, and often taught the children
The planters' wives did not do any hard physical work
Small farmers Made up the majority of southern white
society
Most lived on fertile lands
Often lacked easy access to markets
Raised cattle and pigs; sold crops for cash
Most had no slaves, but some managed to buy a few
The very poor Farmed the least productive soil Lived in rough cabins, ate poorly,
sometimes suffered from medical problems
Owned no slaves Survived by hunting, fishing, farming, and
raising pigs
Free African Americans in the South
By 1860 some 260,000 free African Americans lived in the South
Some had never been enslaved, while other worked extra hours to earn their and their relatives' freedom
Some worked as skilled craftspeople, domestic cooks and servants
A small minority of free African Americans became landowners and some even purchased slave
Restrictions on the Right of Free African Americans
The free African Americans to carry identification passes to prove that they were not runaway slaves
They were not permitted to vote, hold public meetings, carry weapons, or testify in court against whites
In many places, free African Americans could not go into business for themselves or learn how to read and write
Unemployed African Americans could be sold into servitude for months or even years