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The “Old South”: An Illusion of Unity

The “Old South”: An Illusion of Unity. The “Solid South” has always been more fiction than fact—even in the years just prior to the Civil War. I. The Unifying Element: Slavery. Reason for slavery in the Antebellum Deep South Slavery in the Upper South

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The “Old South”: An Illusion of Unity

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  1. The “Old South”: An Illusion of Unity The “Solid South” has always been more fiction than fact—even in the years just prior to the Civil War.

  2. I. The Unifying Element: Slavery • Reason for slavery in the Antebellum Deep South • Slavery in the Upper South • Population growth lagging behind the North • Distinctively Southern

  3. II. Geographic Divisions

  4. A. Upper South • What states are we talking about? • Agricultural diversity • Important source of slaves for the Deep South -- “Sold down the river” • A lot in common with the Northwest—Where did the future lie for this region?

  5. B. The Cotton Kingdom • What states are we talking about? • Climate suitable for plantation agriculture and the growth of predominantly cash crops • Economies of scale in cotton production • Cotton was an economical crop to keep gang labor busy • Cotton belt moved westward over time

  6. B. Cotton Kingdom (cont.) • Explosion in the production of cotton • Boom and bust cycles in cotton production • Deep South agriculture was anything but a single crop system • Calls for southern industrialization (more true of the Upper South) • Was slavery profitable? • Deep South remained backward economically

  7. III. Slaveholding Society: “Hidden Fracture” in the Class Structure

  8. A. The Planter Class • Slavery created the illusion of white equality while actually creating severe inequality • Number of southern planters • Picture of the typical southern planter

  9. A. The Planter Class (cont.) • Aspired to a social status similar to European nobility • The Planter’s Family • Southern “cult of honor” • The violent side of southern plantation life

  10. B. Planter/Slave Relations • A paternalistic relationship • Slaves treated on the whole better than in other slaveholding societies • Length of a slave’s day • Problems with disease • Feeding and clothing the slaves • The circumstances for slave children • Varying relationships with the master • Disciplining Slave Labor

  11. C. The World of the Non-Planter Whites • The life of the Non-Planter, slave-owning whites • Most slave preferred life on the larger plantations • The life of the non-slaveholding family farmer—the “yeoman” farmer • The People of the Pine Barrens • Why no opposition to slavery in the south?

  12. IV. Ideological Tension in the Old South • Defense of slavery before 1830 -- “necessary evil” • A crucial shift: 1831 • Defense of slavery after 1831 -- “a positive good” -- Cannibals All! Or Slaves Without Masters (1857) • The inherent problem with “states rights” thinking

  13. V. The World the Slaves Made

  14. A. Slave Resistance • Open Rebellion --Richmond, Va. (1800): Gabriel Prosser --Charleston, S.C. (1822): Denmark Vesey --Southampton, Va. (1831): Nat Turner • Run Away • Passive Resistance -- “Puttin’ one over on Ole Massah”

  15. B. The Free Black Experience • Number of Free Blacks in U.S. in 1860 • Social and political outcasts wherever they lived • Semi-slaves in the south • Large number of mulattoes in southern cities • Famous Free Black Abolitionists

  16. B. The Free Black Experience (cont.) • Douglass’ North Star (1847) • Freedom always at risk • Some slaves and Free Blacks in the south supported the planter regime • Dramatic rescues of fugitive slaves -- Rescue of Shadrack (1851)

  17. C. African-American Slave Religion • Inner resources and dignity to resist slavery • Cornerstone of emerging African-American culture • Free Blacks formed the first African-American denominations --A.M.E. Church (1816) • Slave Religion • Popular Themes

  18. D. Slave Family Life • Strength of slave marriages • Close, affectionate relationships • Greatest fear = break-up by sale • Importance of extended families • Vehicle for the transmission of the African-American folk tradition

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