Southern Institutions Continued… Cotton Kingdom

1. Southern Institutions Continued… Cotton Kingdom What were some basic understandings regarding Southern the stratified hierarchy in the South during the antebellum period?

2. Cotton Kingdom Antebellum South • Aristocracy- feudalism & chivalry (duels etc..) • Myth of the Southern aristocrat • Mostly self made (attorney’s, soldiers, marriage) • Leisure time? finances and managing plantation • Non planter class- predominate but supported slavery for economic and social reasons

3. Planter Paternalism • Notion of benevolent masters- slaves were like children that depended upon their masters • Economic yet family investment (“our people) • Firm discipline was necessary for sound economic investments • Ban of the slave trade made reproduction a must in order to perpetuate slavery • Comparatively (world wide) fairly well cared for

4. But… • Not all planters followed this axiom • Many slaves were malnourished and tortured • Did not have a close relationship with the actual owner- mostly the drivers • Selling of slaves for economic reasons contrasts the paternalism • Basis for authority was “fear” • Whipping, threat of sale • Bad treatment- torture, rape etc. had no recourse • There was “absolute power” over the slaves- major critique of slave power • Uncle Tom’s Cabin

5. Small Slave-owner • Most of the population did own large amounts of slaves • Generally small merchants • Lived in relative closeness but with Spartan like conditions

6. Yeomen Farmer • The “shiftless poor whites” • Did not have the same economic opportunities do to a lack of development • Mostly located in the backcountry • Similar to the later homesteads of the west • Reliance on subsistence farming- therefore grew corn and other crops • Accepted slavery but some voiced concern about the planter control over society- Hinton Helper • Jacksonians who feared “cotton snobs” • But also did not abolition for fear of economic competition from slaves: slavery kept “them in their place”

7. Closed Minded Society • Fear of a slave uprising • Fear of abolition- equal footing with the lower class • Debate over gradual emancipation (Virginia) • American Colonization Society: • But defeated by the notion of slavery being a “positive good” • 1) slavery was natural and the proper social status • 2) slavery was sanctioned by the Bible (Saint Paul- obey your masters) • 3) Family government- slaves were incapable of supporting themselves Slavery was more humane than northern industry- Cannibal’s All • Intimidation and isolation of anti-slavery ideals also prevailed • Cassius M. Clay: anti-slavery intellectual fired from University of North Carolina for stating he would vote for a moderate Republican view of emancipation

8. Nat Turner • Effects… • Stringent anti-education laws • Curfews • Patrols • Attacks on anti-slavery propaganda • Talks of secession due to onslaught of propaganda

9. King Cotton • 1810-1860: slavery tripled to 4 million slaves • Cotton? Or the reliance on the institution of slavery?- regional dichotomy • Decrease in the need for slaves in the upper South with an increase in slaves for the lower South (cotton belt) • Led to an increase in the internal slave trade • Upper South became somewhat of a breeding ground for slaves to be sent South • Cotton became king due to ease of growth, cotton gin and westward expansion (13,000 to 4.8 million bales by 1860).

10. Slavery Reliance • Cotton growth ruined the land: what options? • Hard times- big planters could diversify crops (keep the slaves); other planters may move west or sale the slaves (need to retain slaves). • Motivation is to keep slavery as an institution • Industrialization- should remain free whites, but also posed a threat to slavery (demands for wages etc.): South failed to industrialize as a whole.

11. Was Slavery Profitable • Read the section regarding profitability on pages 324-326… • What were the arguments for and against the profitability of slavery?