Ch 11 APUSH Vocab

Short staple cotton

A relatively harder and coarser breed of cotton that could grow successfully in a variety of climates and soils, but was harder to process than long-staple cotton

Cotton Kingdom

A nickname for the Deep South, based on its optimal conditions for cotton cultivation

De Bow’s Review

A magazine which advocated for the South to expand commercial and become economically independent from the North

Cavalier Image

Planter aristocracy’s feeling of superiority, involving reluctance/refusal to do any work and feeling chivalrous and elegant

Planter Aristocracy

Southern plantation owners who were very wealthy and usually had around 50 slaves and hundreds of acres, and who determined political, economic, and social life in their region

Preston Brooks/Charles Sumner Incident

An incident in a senate chamber where a Massachusetts senator was beaten with a cane by a South Carolina congressman who believed he was defending his “southern honor” by avenging an insult

Southern Lady

High class women in the south, usually wives and daughters of planters, who led refined lives which emphasized subordination and domesticity

Plain folk

Term for the common farmer in the South, who possibly owned a slave or two and mainly farmed for subsistence, as they could not build up operations enough to repay debts

Hill people

Southern highlanders who lived in the Appalachian ranges east of the Mississippi and backcountry areas. They were proudly secluded, opposed the Southern aristocracy, and practiced subsistence farming

Poor white trash

A term for southerners who lived in marshes or swamps (uncultivatable lands) and hunted or foraged to support themselves

Task system

A labor system where slaves were assigned a job in the morning and were free for the day after it had been completed

Gang system

A labor system where slaves were divided into groups directed by an overseer, and forced to work for however many hours the overseer felt was reasonable

House slaves

Slaves who did domestic work like nursing, cooking, or being a butler/maid

slave traders

People who transported slaves over long distances to take them to auction or a new owner

Sambo

A term for a slave who would pretend to be incompetent or not understand to try and avoid doing a task

Gabriel Prosser

A Virginian free Black man who attempted to free over 1000 slaves but was caught and executed by Virginia militia

Denmark Vesey

A formerly enslaved free black man who was accused of trying to lead a slave revolt in Charleston, South Carolina; he was arrested before his revolt could even begin

Nat Turner

a slave preacher who led a group of armed slaves and killed 60 white people before being overpowered by state and federal troops

Slave music

spirituals and work songs that were used to retain and express culture and religion among the enslaved population in America

pidgin

A language that mixed English and African languages to confuse masters and communicate with other slaves