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