Chapter 16
THE SOUTH AND SLAVERY, 1793–1860

1. Part Three Introduction This introduction gives you a preview of the authors’ answers to certain key questions about the causes and consequences of the nation’s “awesome trial by fire,” the Civil War. Look at this section and list three major questions you think the authors will be addressing in the next seven chapters.

(1)

(2)

(3)

2. Southern Economy and Social Structure
a. Explain the connection between the invention of the cotton gin by Eli _________ in 17___ and the rapid expansion of short-staple cotton production based on slave labor in the South. If the cotton gin actually made picking seeds from cotton much easier, why did planters perceive a vastly increased need for slave labor?

b. Cotton was king in both the South and in Britain. By 1840, cotton amounted to _____percent of U. S. exports and accounted for more than _____percent of the world’s supply. Britain’s economy was based on cotton textiles, and Britain got _____percent of its fiber supply from the South. (No wonder Southerners thought England would “be tied to them by cotton threads” in the event of conflict with the North.)

c. List two negatives of this Southern plantation economy mentioned by the authors.

(1)

(2)

d. Although most slaves were owned by the large-scale planters, most slave-owners held only a few slaves each, and often worked together with them in the fields. The chart on p. 353 shows that, out of about 345,000 slave-owning families, only about ________ families owned fifty or more slaves, representing about ____percent of the total. Fully _____percent of Southern whites owned no slaves at all. List two reasons cited by the authors to explain why many poor whites without slaves remained staunch defenders of the slave system.

(1)

(2)

3. Conditions of Slavery
a. If northerners were really against slavery, why do you think they treated individual free blacks with such disdain?

b. With slave importation outlawed since 1808, the slave population grew to a total of __ million by 1860 primarily by natural reproduction. Unlike the North, wealth in the South was not held in monetary form, but rather in the form of land and _________. What did it mean to sell a slave “down the river”? Slaves were being sold from where to where?

c. List two examples of the fact that slaves had absolutely no political or civil rights.

(1)

(2)

d. What do the authors conclude about black family and religious life?

e. *** Did anything surprise you about the extent of slave resistance and rebellion?

4. Abolitionism
a. The _____________ (a religious sect) were among the first to advocate abolitionism. In the early 1820s, the emphasis was on sending ex-slaves back to Africa, especially to the West African country of ____________. A small minority of fervent abolitionists emerged in the 1830s, encouraged by the freedom given by ___________ (a country) to its West Indian slaves, and by the religious spirit of the Second Great ______________. What is the essential difference between a radical abolitionist, such as William Lloyd ___________, and a more practical or political abolitionist, such as the ex-slave Frederick ___________? *** Had you been against slavery at the time, put an (*) by the approach you would have favored.

(1) Radical:

(2) Political/practical:

b. *** If you had been a moderate Southerner at the time, list two legitimate arguments you might have used against the call of the radical abolitionists for the immediate release of all slaves with no compensation to their owners.

(1)

(2)

c. Look at the cartoon in this section. In reaction against increasingly perceived threats to their way of life, Southerners began advancing arguments as to why slavery was a “positive good.” *** What do you think of the argument that the North was hypocritical because southern slaves had it better than did the “wage slaves” of the North? Was there any truth in this charge?

d. Were the abolitionists popular or unpopular in the North? Why?

VARYING VIEWPOINTS

Nature of Slavery

Read the Varying Viewpoints essay and address ONE of the following questions:

1. According to historian Eugene Genovese, what motivated southern slave-owners to embrace “a strange form of paternalism” toward their slaves? *** Do you agree with the authors that this paternalistic attitude had the effect of subverting the “racist underpinnings” of the slave society?

2. Although economic historians have demonstrated that slavery was still a profitable proposition at the time of the Civil War, it was dying out as an institution in other places around the world. *** Do you have any thoughts as to what would have happened to slavery in America in the absence of a Civil War?

3. Slaves were purposefully kept illiterate and therefore left few written records of their life on the plantations. Technology for audio and video recordings was unavailable and few travelers from the North recorded observations on slave treatment, lifestyle, or culture. *** If you were a historian trying to make conclusions about these subjects, what types of sources would you consult? Do you think an “objective” picture of southern slavery is possible to construct?

Chapter 16 Term Sheet
THE SOUTH AND SLAVERY

Eli Whitney- A mechanical genius who invented the cotton gin, which was machine that separated the cotton from the seed. This greatly improved efficiency, and the South was able to clear more acres of cotton fields, which also increased the demand for slaves. created the idea of interchangeable parts.

“Cotton Kingdom”- Areas in the south where cotton farming developed because of the high demand for cotton.

Planter aristocracy- Planter Aristocracy refers to farmers in the south who maintained their wealth through planting crops and slavery.

Sir Walter Scott- This 19th century British novelist was a favorite author of the southern aristocrat with his writings about castles, manors, jousting, and other aspects of medieval life.

“Poor white trash”/“hillbillies”/“crackers”-Term for some of the least prosperous nonslaveholding whites who were even scorned even by slaves

Free blacks-Slaves basically without masters. even though considered "free" still didnt have the right to vote. didnt get jobs of choice (Frederick Douglass) and were treated like third class citizens.

Sold “down the river”- This phrase originated in the Mississippi region of the USA during slave trading days. Slaves who caused trouble were sold from the northern slave states into the much harsher conditions on plantations in the lower Mississippi.

Harriet Beecher Stowe-Novelist. wrote uncle tom's cabin, a book about a slave who is treated badly, in 1852. the book persuaded more people, particularly northerners, to become anti-slavery.

Denmark Vesey (1822)- The free black who led a slave rebellion in Charleston in 1822.

Nat Turner (1831)- The black preacher who led an 1831 slave uprising in Virginia in which 60 whites (mainly women and children) were killed.

Abolitionism- The emancipation of the slaves, accomplished by the Emancipation Proclamation issued in 1863 and ratified in 1865.

American Colonization Society (1817)- Founded to aid the early abolitionist movement dedicated to shipping slaves back to Africa.

Liberia (1822)- The country established on the west coast of Africa as a place for ex-slaves to live.

British emancipation (1833)- The Emancipation of the British West Indies was proposed as early as 1787, but was not achieved until the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 (effective 1834).

Theodore Dwight Weld- This leading abolitionist wrote American Slavery As It Is. He was a passionate soul whose conscience had been deeply aroused by the Second Great Awakening.

Lyman Beecher- Presided over Lane Theological Seminary and father of a remarkable brood of abolitionist women.

William Lloyd Garrison/The Liberator (1831)- He was the most conspicuous and most hated of the abolitionists. He favored northern secession from the South and managed to antagonize both North and South with his intemperate language.

American Anti-Slavery Society (1833)- Was an abolitionist society founded by William Lloyd Garrison and Arthur Tappan. Frederick Douglass was a key leader of the society and often spoke at its meetings. William Wells Brown was another freed slave who often spoke at meetings. Its headquarters was in New York City. From 1840 to 1870 it published a weekly newspaper, the National Anti-Slavery Standard.

Wendell Phillips-This Garrison associate of pre-Civil War fame was a Boston patrician and renowned orator who came to be known as "Abolition's Golden Trumpet."

David Walker- He was a black abolitionist who called for the immediate emancipation of slaves. wrote pamphlet on black pride. he wrote the "appeal to the colored citizens of the world." it called for a bloody end to white supremacy. he believed that the only way to end slavery was for slaves to physically revolt.

Sojourner Truth-The freed black woman of New York of the mid-1800s who, though illiterate, was eloquent in her fight for black emancipation and women's rights.

Martin Delaney-One of the few black leaders that took the notion of a mass recolonization of Africa seriously.

Frederick Douglass-The eloquent ex-slave and abolitionist who suffered frequent mobbings by northern rowdies and was known to say that slave holders forfeit their right to life.

Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy (1837)-The abolitionist preacher who not only attacked slavery but also impugned the chastity of Catholic women. This man had his printing press destroyed four times before being killed by a mob in 1837.

“Free-soilers”-The anti-slavery political movement of the mid-1800s that, while not for abolition, was for preventing the extension of slavery to any new territory.\
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