Slavery and the Old South

Why did the South become increasingly reliant on the institution of slavery in the 1800s?

• introduction of the cotton gin

• production of short-staple cotton increased; well suited for slave labor because it required constant tending

What effect did the increased reliance on slavery have on the development of the South?

spread plantation systems across the South

What factors made cotton so profitable? How did this affect the growth of slavery in the South?

enormous demand for it outside the South

Describe the internal American slave-trade. What effect do you think this system would have on the development of enslaved people’s communities and families?

• transport of nearly 1 million slaves from the Upper South to the Deep South

• created anxiety and instability among families

What factors led to the decline of slavery in the Upper South? Why did slavery persist there despite this decline?

• Soil exhaustion

• profited off of selling slaves to the Lower South

Nat Turner’s Rebellion

• deadliest slave revolt in U.S. history

• led by enslaved preacher Nat Turner in Southampton County, Virginia

What obstacles did free people of color face in the South?

• at risk of being kidnapped and brought back into slavery

• brought to court and a white person had to testify on behalf of them

• Fugitive Slave Law made it so that assisting or affiliating with a person of color could be interpreted as a crime

Who was Dred Scott?

U.S. Supreme Court ruled that enslaved and free African Americans were not citizens and had no right to sue in federal court

What was John Brown’s Raid?

• attempt by a militant abolitionist to initiate an armed slave revolt

• captured a federal armory in Virginia to distribute weapons to enslaved people

• revolt was quickly defeated