Chapter 16 The South and the Slavery Cotnroversy

What became the dominant crop of the south?

It was cotton. This is due to Eli Whitney’s cotton gin, invented in 1793, which made possible its wide-scale cultivation.

How did Northern shippers benefit from the Cotton KIngdom?

They reaped a large part of the profits from the Cotton trade. They loaded bales of cotton at southern ports, transported them to England, sold their cargo for sterling, and bought needed manufactured goods for sale in the US.

What did the prosperity of the North, South, and England rest on?

slaves

What accounted for half the value of all American exports after 1840?

cotton—the South produced more than half of the entire world’s supply of cotton.

Who was the leading industrial power after 1840?

It was still Britain. It’s most important single manufacture in the 1850s was cotton cloth, from which about 1/5 of its population drew its livelihood. About 75% of the supply of fiber came from the South.

How did southern leaders view cotton?

They saw cotton as king. Southerners believed that if a war ever broke out with the North, Northern ships would block Southern cotton exports. This would leave British factories without cotton, causing them to shut down and leaving many workers unemployed. In desperation, the British government might be forced to intervene by breaking the blockade, helping the South win the war. This belief made cotton seem like an incredibly powerful force in the world.

What is an oligarchy?

a form of government where power is concentrated in the hands of a small, elite group of individuals, typically wealthy landowners or a ruling class, effectively meaning "rule by the few.

How was the South more an oligarchy than a democracy in some respects before the Civil War?

It was heavily influenced by a planter aristocracy. In 1850, only 1,733 families owned more than 100 enslaved people each. This small, wealthy group held the most power in Southern society and politics, even influencing the nation. They represented the stereotypical image of the South—large, elegant plantation homes with white columns, where the richest cotton plantation owners, known as the "cottonocracy," lived in luxury.

What type of lifestyle did the planter aristocrats have?

Wealthy Southern plantation owners, known as the planter aristocracy, controlled most of the South’s wealth. They lived in luxury, owning prized horses and fine furniture. With their wealth, they could send their children to the best schools, sometimes in the North or even overseas. Their financial security also gave them time for education, politics, and leadership. Prominent figures like John C. Calhoun, who attended Yale, and Jefferson Davis, who graduated from West Point, were examples of this elite class. These aristocrats believed it was their duty to serve in government, which is why Southern states like Virginia produced more high-ranking political leaders before 1860 than the more business-focused North.

Why was dominance by an aristocracy bad?

It widened the gap between rich and poor. It hampered tax-supported public education, because the rich planters could and did send their children to private institutions.

Who was Sir Walter Scott?

Wealthy Southerners loved the novels of Sir Walter Scott, which featured grand castles, noble knights like Ivanhoe, and elegant ladies like Rowena. His stories made them romanticize a feudal society, where aristocrats ruled over loyal subjects. This idealized vision shaped how they saw themselves, even though their economy was actually driven by profit and capitalism.

Why did Mark Twain accuse Sir Walter Scott of having a hand in causing the Civil War?

Mark Twain later blamed Sir Walter Scott for influencing the South’s mindset leading up to the Civil War. Twain argued that Scott’s romanticized tales of knights and aristocracy encouraged Southerners to cling to an outdated and crumbling social order. He criticized this as a “sham civilization,” suggesting that the South fought to preserve a way of life that was unrealistic and unsustainable.

How did the plantation system shape the lives of southern women?

The plantation system greatly influenced the lives of Southern women. The wife of a wealthy plantation owner oversaw a large household, managing a staff of mostly enslaved women. She was responsible for giving daily instructions to cooks, maids, seamstresses, laundresses, and personal attendants, maintaining the operation of the household.

How did relationships between southern women and their slaves fare?

Relationships between mistresses and slaves ranged from affectionate to atrocious.

How did slavery affect women in the south?

Slavery created tensions even among women. Most white women in slaveholding families did not support ending slavery, and few spoke out when enslaved families were separated through sale. Despite being women themselves, they did not extend sympathy or solidarity to enslaved women.

What was bad about plantation agriculture?

Plantation farming was highly wasteful because cotton growers prioritized short-term profits over sustainability. They overworked the land, depleting its nutrients—a practice known as "land butchery." As soil became exhausted, many people moved westward and northwestward in search of fresh, fertile land.

How did the economic structure of the South become increasingly monopolistic?

The Southern economy became more dominated by large plantation owners over time. As soil exhaustion made farming harder, many small farmers were forced to sell their land to wealthier neighbors and move north or west. This led to a system where the rich grew richer, while small farmers struggled. By the time the Civil War began, many Southern farms were no longer owned by the families that had first settled and cleared them.

What was dangerous about King Cotton?

Dominance by cotton led to a dangerous dependence on a one-crop economy, whose price level was at the mercy of world conditions. The system discouraged a diversity of agriculture and manufacturing.

How did the Cotton KIngdom discourage European immigration?

In 1860, only 4.4% of the South's population was foreign-born, compared to 18.7% in the North. German and Irish immigration to the South was discouraged due to competition from slave labor, high land costs, and Europeans' lack of knowledge about cotton farming. As a result, the South became the most Anglo-Saxon region of the U.S. because non-British immigrants mostly went to the North.

4o mini

What was the hierarchy of the Cotton KIngdom like?

In 1850, only a small number of Southern whites lived in large mansions, and about 1,733 families owned 100 or more slaves. Below them were 345,000 families, or about 1.7 million people, who owned fewer slaves. Two-thirds of these families had fewer than ten slaves each. Overall, only one-fourth of white southerners owned slaves. Most of the smaller slave owners were small farmers, whose lives were similar to northern farmers, except for owning a few slaves. Below the slave owners were the majority of whites, about 6.1 million, who didn’t own slaves. These people lived in the backcountry or mountain valleys, where they farmed corn and hogs. They rarely participated in the market economy and often lived isolated lives. Some were scorned—even by slaves— as “poor white trash,” “hillbillies,” or “crackers,” and were seen as lazy or sick due to malnutrition and parasites like hookworm.

Why did whites without slaves defend the slave system?

The hope of one day owning a slave and gaining wealth kept many poorer whites invested in the system, in line with the “American dream” of upward mobility. They also took pride in their racial superiority, which they feared would be undermined if slaves were freed. Many of these whites were barely better off than slaves, and some were worse off. Yet, even the poorest whites found comfort in knowing they outranked African American slaves, reinforcing the system through a mix of economic logic and racial prejudice.

WHo were the mountain whites?

The mountain whites, living in the Appalachian range from western Virginia to northern Georgia and Alabama, were isolated from the rest of Southern society. They lived in harsh, frontier conditions and maintained old Elizabethan speech and customs. As independent small farmers far from the Cotton Kingdom and rarely encountering slaves, they had little in common with the planters. Many, including future president Andrew Johnson, disliked both the wealthy planters and slaves. They saw the war as “a rich man’s war but a poor man’s fight.” When the Civil War began, these mountain whites were crucial in supporting the Union and played a key role in weakening the Confederacy. Their loyalty to the Union party continued after the war, with Republican strength remaining strong in the southern highlands for generations.

What were the free blacks of the South like?

By 1860, there were about 250,000 free blacks in the South. In the upper South, many were freed due to ideals from the Revolutionary era, while in the deeper South, many were mulattoes, often the children of white planters and black mistresses. Some free blacks bought their freedom through earnings from after-hours labor, and many owned property, especially in New Orleans, where a sizable mulatto community thrived. Some, like William T. Johnson, even owned slaves. Despite their freedom, free blacks were considered a “third race” and faced restrictions, such as being barred from certain jobs and unable to testify against whites. They were vulnerable to being re-enslaved by slave traders and were resented by pro-slavery advocates as living examples of what emancipation could achieve.

What are mulattos?

a person of mixed African and European ancestry, typically the offspring of a Black enslaved person and a white enslaver during the colonial era in the United States

How were free blacks in the North treated?

Free blacks were also disliked in the North, where about 250,000 lived. Many Northern states prohibited their entry, denied them the right to vote, and excluded them from public schools. Northern blacks were especially disliked by Irish immigrants, with whom they competed for low-paying jobs. Much of the Northern opposition to the spread of slavery in the 1840s and 1850s was driven by racial prejudice, not humanitarian concern. In fact, anti-black sentiment was often stronger in the North than in the South.

How did white southerners and white northerners hate on blacks differently?

White southerners liked individual blacks but despised the race, while white northerners often claimed to like the race but disliked individual blacks.

Who was Frederick Douglass?

He was a former slave and powerful abolitionist.

When did legal importation of African slaves into America end?

1808—when Congress outlawed slave imports. Additionally, Britain abolished the slave trade (but not slavery itself) in 1807.

What did the Royal Navy’s West AFrica Squadron do?

They seized slave ships and freedom captives.

How did the slave trade still continue even after it was banned?

Despite efforts to end the slave trade, around 3 million enslaved Africans were shipped to Brazil and the West Indies after 1807. In the United States, the price of enslaved people, called "black ivory," was so high before the Civil War that thousands were smuggled into the South, even though slavers faced the death penalty. Many slave traders were caught, but southern juries often acquitted them. Only one slave trader, N.P. Gordon, was executed, and that happened in New York in 1862, during the second year of the Civil War.

How did the suppression of the international slave trade foster the growth of an internal slave trade?

The ban on the international slave trade led to the rise of a strong internal slave trade, with upper South states like Virginia becoming major suppliers to the Deep South's growing cotton economy. Most of the increase in the U.S. slave population came from natural reproduction, which was partly due to the geography of the South being outside areas affected by tropical diseases. This natural growth set North American slavery apart from slavery in more southern regions of the New World and reflected the conditions of family life and the nature of the slave system in the United States.

How did planters view their slaves?

The planters viewed their slaves as investments, having invested nearly $2 billion of their capital into them by 1860. Slaves were the main source of wealth in the South, and as such, they were treated with the same care as any valuable asset by a cautious capitalist.

How did slavery affect the movement of slaves?

The profits from the cotton boom led to the migration of more slaves from the upper South to the lower South. By 1860, the Deep South states of South Carolina, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana each had a majority or near-majority of blacks and held about half of all slaves in the South.

What were slave auctions like?

Slave auctions were brutal, with humans sold alongside cattle and horses, making them one of the most horrifying aspects of slavery. Families were often separated, usually due to economic reasons like bankruptcy or inheritance divisions. The breaking up of families was perhaps the greatest emotional trauma of slavery.

What was life like for the slaves in the south?

The lives of slaves varied greatly depending on factors like location, the size of the plantation or farm, and the nature of their master. However, all slaves faced hard work, ignorance, and oppression. Both men and women worked long hours, usually from dawn to dusk, in the fields, under the supervision of a white overseer or a black “driver.” Slaves had no civil or political rights, except for minimal protections against arbitrary murder or excessively cruel punishment. Some states had laws offering additional protections, like preventing the sale of a child under ten away from their mother, but such laws were difficult to enforce because slaves couldn’t testify in court or have their marriages legally recognized.

How were slaves punished?

Floggings, the act of beating someone with a whip or lash, were common in slavery, as the whip served both as punishment and a symbol of the planter’s control. Strong-willed slaves who resisted were sometimes sent to "breakers," whose method of "breaking" a slave’s spirit involved extensive use of the lash. However, savage beatings often led to sullen laborers and reduced resale values, so most planters, while having sadistic individuals in their ranks, typically refrained from regular, brutal beatings. After all, their prosperity depended on the productivity of their slaves, and frequent abuse could harm that.

Where were most slaves concentrated in by 1860?

By 1860, most slaves were concentrated in the "Black Belt" of the Deep South, which stretched from South Carolina and Georgia into the newer southwestern states of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. This was the frontier region where the rapidly expanding Cotton Kingdom had surged in just a few decades. Life on the frontier was tough, and generally, the conditions for slaves were harsher here than in the more established areas of the Old South.

What was family life for slaves like on the larger plantations in the Deep South?

In some Deep South counties, particularly along the lower Mississippi River, blacks made up over 75% of the population. In these areas, slave family life was relatively stable, allowing for the development of a distinct African American culture.

What was family life like slaves on smaller plantations and in the upper South?

Forced family separations were more common on smaller plantations and in the upper South.

What was the household of a slave like?

Most enslaved children were raised in stable two-parent households, and family identity was preserved across generations.

What was religion like among slaves?

African influences were also evident in the religious practices of enslaved people. Although many converted to Christianity during the Second Great Awakening, they blended Christian beliefs with African traditions to create a unique form of worship. They focused on biblical themes that resonated with their experiences, particularly the story of the Israelites' captivity in Egypt.

What style of preaching did slaves practice?

African influences were also evident in the religious practices of enslaved people. Although many converted to Christianity during the Second Great Awakening, they blended Christian beliefs with African traditions to create a unique form of worship. They focused on biblical themes that resonated with their experiences, particularly the story of the Israelites' captivity in Egypt.

How did slaves try to resist slavery?

Enslaved people resisted their oppression in many ways. They often worked as slowly as possible to avoid punishment, reinforcing white stereotypes of black "laziness." Some stole food and goods produced by their own labor, while others sabotaged equipment to disrupt work. In rare cases, they even resorted to poisoning their masters' food.

How did rebellions by slaves fare?

Although enslaved people attempted armed rebellion, none of them succeeded.

What was Nat Turner’s rebellion like?

In 1831, Nat Turner, a black preacher, led an uprising in Virginia that killed about sixty people, mostly women and children. The rebellion was quickly crushed, and severe reprisals followed.

What happened to the Amistad, a Spanish slave ship?

In 1839, enslaved Africans rebelled aboard the Spanish slave ship Amistad, seizing control off the coast of Cuba. They attempted to sail back to Africa but were forced ashore on Long Island. After two years of imprisonment and trials, former president John Quincy Adams successfully argued their case before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1841, securing their freedom. The Africans returned to Sierra Leone in West Africa.

What caused the rise of antislavery groups?

The cruelty of slavery slowly led to the rise of antislavery groups. The movement against slavery first began around the time of the American Revolution, with Quakers being some of the earliest supporters of abolition.

What did some of the earliest abolitionist efforts focus on and why?

Because many people in the U.S. disliked black people, some of the first efforts to end slavery focused on sending freed blacks back to Africa.

What were the attempts at sending black people back to Africa like and was it successful?

In 1817, the American Colonization Society was founded to send black people back to Africa. In 1822, the Republic of Liberia was created on the West African coast as a settlement for freed slaves. Its capital, Monrovia, was named after President James Monroe. Over the next 40 years, about 15,000 freed blacks were sent there. However, most black people in America had no desire to move to an unfamiliar land since they had developed their own unique culture in the U.S. By 1860, nearly all southern slaves were American-born, not African. Still, the idea of colonization remained popular with some abolitionists, including Abraham Lincoln, until the Civil War.

What happened to the abolitionist movement in the 1830s?

In the 1830s, the abolitionist movement gained new energy and momentum, growing into a widespread campaign against slavery.

What happened to Britain in 1833 and how did it affect American abolitionists?

Britain ended slavery in the West Indies, which encouraged American abolitionists. This achievement was largely driven by William Wilberforce, a dedicated member of Parliament and evangelical Christian reformer. Wilberforce had been inspired by the preaching of George Whitefield and worked tirelessly to end the slave trade. His impact extended beyond Britain—Wilberforce University in Ohio, a historically black college, was named in his honor. The university later played a key role in sending African American missionaries to Africa.

How did the Second Great Awakening influence abolitionists?

The religious fervor (intense enthusiasm and devotion in religious beliefs) of the Second Great Awakening stirred many American abolitionists to take action against the "sin" of slavery.

Who was Theodore Dwight Weld?

He was a key figure of the abolitionist movement and was influenced by the famous preacher Charles Grandison Finney in New York’s Burned-Over District in the 1820s. He became a powerful voice for abolition. His simple, direct manner of speaking resonated particularly with rural farmers, who had little formal education but were moved by his passionate calls for justice and equality.

What was pamphlet: American Slavery as It is?

It was written by Theodore Dwight Weld and was a powerful propaganda pamphlet that became one of the most influential abolitionist works. Its compelling arguments made it a key piece of abolitionist propaganda. It also greatly influenced Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom Cabin.

What happened in 1831?

On New Year’s Day, 1831, a powerful abolitionist voice emerged with the publication of The Liberator by William Lloyd Garrison, a 26-year-old reformer. Garrison, who had endured a troubled childhood with an alcoholic father, was deeply influenced by the fervor of the Second Great Awakening. In Boston, he launched his newspaper with a bold, uncompromising stance against slavery.

What were the effects of The Liberator?

The Liberator was not just a newspaper, but a powerful call to action. It sparked a passionate, decades-long battle of words against slavery. With this publication, Garrison set the stage for the Civil War, establishing himself as a firm and unwavering advocate for emancipation. (basically played a role in the lead-up to the Civil War as it increased tensions)

What was the American Anti-Slavery Society?

Other abolitionists rallied to Garrison’s standard, and in 1833 they founded the American-Anti Slavery Society.

Who was Wendell Philips?

A member of the American Anti-Slavery Society, he was a a Boston patrician known as “abolition’s golden trumpet.” He wouldn’t eat cane sugar nor wear cotton cloth, since both were produced by southern slaves. He lived a life that reflected his beliefs, refusing to support industries that benefited from the labor of enslaved people. His actions and advocacy helped to raise awareness and rally support for the abolitionist movement across the North.

Who was David Walker?

He was a black abolitionist. He wrote the “Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World” (1829), which advocated a bloody end to white supremacy.

Who was Sojourner Truth?

She was a black woman in New York who fought for black emancipation and women’s rights.

Who was Martin Delany?

Martin Delany was one of the few black leaders who seriously considered the idea of mass recolonization of Africa. In 1859, he traveled to West Africa’s Niger Valley to explore potential sites where freed African Americans could relocate. Delany believed that Africa offered an opportunity for African Americans to establish their own independent communities away from the oppression they faced in the United States.

Who was the greatest of the black abolitionists and what was he like?

The greatest of the black abolitionists was Frederick Douglass. He escaped from slavery in 1838 at the age of twenty-one and was “discovered” by abolitionists in 1841 after delivering a powerful, impromptu speech at an antislavery meeting in Massachusetts. From then on, Douglass became a prominent speaker for the abolitionist cause, despite enduring frequent beatings and life-threatening threats. In 1845, he published his influential autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. The book recounted his incredible journey, from being born to a black slave mother and a white father, to his struggle to learn to read and write, and finally, his escape to the North.

What were the differences between Douglass and Garrison?

Douglass was more flexible and practical compared to Garrison, who was stubbornly principled. While Garrison focused on his own moral righteousness, often criticizing the South and demanding the North secede from it, he didn't provide a clear solution to the problem of slavery. Many critics, including some of his former supporters, argued that Garrison was exposing the moral crisis of slavery without offering a practical solution. On the other hand, Douglass and other abolitionists increasingly turned to politics to address slavery. They supported political abolitionist parties such as the Liberty Party in 1840, the Free Soil Party in 1848, and eventually the Republican Party in the 1850s.

What similarity did most abolitionists share (including Garrison, who had been pacifistic)?

They supported the Civil War as they recognized it as the necessary price to pay for emancipation (the act of freeing enslaved people).

What was the turning point of slavery that occurred in the South and what were the effects?

Antislavery sentiment did exist in the South, and in the 1820s, there were actually more antislavery societies in the South than in the North. However, after around 1830, the voice of white southern abolitionism was silenced. A final attempt at questioning slavery took place in the Virginia legislature in 1831–1832, where various emancipation proposals were debated but ultimately defeated. This marked a turning point. After this, southern states tightened their slave codes and worked to prohibit any form of emancipation, whether voluntary or compensated (voluntary: slaveowners choosing to free their slaves. compensated: paying slaveowners to free their slaves).

What were the effects of Nat Turner’s rebellion?

It caused widespread panic—planters recalled the slave revolt in Haiti in the 1790s.

What were the effects of the nullification crisis of 1832?

The Nullification Crisis of 1832 deepened fears among white Southerners—some feared the federal government would next take additional action against the South, including the abolition of slavery (cuz it's a state’s rights issue)—who became increasingly anxious about slave uprisings and abolitionists. Efforts to discuss slavery in the South were met with violence, including jailings, whippings, and lynchings.

How did proslavery whites defend the institution of slavery?

Proslavery whites strongly defended slavery as a positive good, ignoring their past doubts about its morality. They claimed it was justified by the Bible and Aristotle and that it benefited Africans by bringing them Christian civilization. Slaveowners promoted religion among slaves and argued that master-slave relationships were like family. On some plantations, especially in Virginia and Maryland, this claim had some basis. Southern whites compared their "happy" slaves to northern factory workers, including women and children, who labored in harsh conditions. They argued that slaves worked in fresh air, never faced unemployment, and were cared for in sickness and old age, unlike northern workers who were left to fend for themselves.

What was the Gag Resolution?

The debate over slavery also threatened free speech across the country. In 1836, under pressure from proslavery southerners, Congress passed the Gag Resolution, which required all antislavery petitions to be ignored without debate. This violation of the right to petition angered former president and Representative John Quincy Adams, who fought for eight years to have it repealed—and ultimately succeeded.

How did the conversation around abolition threaten freedom of the press?

Southern whites resented the flood of abolitionist literature in their mail, fearing that even illiterate slaves could understand the violent images depicting their suffering. In 1835, a mob in Charleston, South Carolina, raided the post office and burned abolitionist pamphlets. Bowing to southern pressure, the Washington government ordered southern postmasters to destroy such materials and even called for the arrest of federal postmasters who refused. So much for the Constitution’s guarantee of freedom of the press.

How were abolitionists viewed in the North?

Abolitionists, especially the radical Garrisonians, were long unpopular in many parts of the North. Northerners saw the Constitution’s slavery clauses as a permanent agreement and deeply valued the Union, reinforced by the powerful speeches of figures like Daniel Webster. Garrison’s extreme calls for secession clashed with these beliefs and irritated many Northerners.

What was the North’s economic relationship with the South like?

The North had a major economic interest in the South. By the late 1850s, southern planters owed northern banks about $300 million, a sum that would be lost if the Union broke apart. Northern textile mills depended on slave-grown cotton, and any disruption could lead to shortages and job losses. The Union was, in many ways, held together by cotton, linking northern industrialists with southern slaveholders. Given these ties, many Northerners resented the radical abolitionists for threatening stability.

How did the North react to extreme abolitionists?

Extreme abolitionists provoked violent reactions in the North. The radical abolitionists were so unpopular that even ambitious politicians like Abraham Lincoln avoided being associated with them.

Who were some of the radical abolitionists?

Lewis Tappan, Garrison, Reverend Elijah P. Lovejoy

How did the view on slavery in the North change by the 1850s?

By the 1850s, abolitionist arguments had deeply influenced Northern views. Many saw the South as a land of slavery, a hateful institution. While most Northerners weren’t ready to abolish slavery outright, more and more, including Abraham Lincoln, opposed its expansion into western territories. These individuals, known as "free-soilers," grew in number as the Civil War drew near.