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The Land of Cotton. Ch. 7 Sec. 3. The Southern Economy. The South fully relied on cash crops to maintain its economy. Indigo, Rice, Tobacco None more important than cotton. Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin maximizes production.
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The Land of Cotton Ch. 7 Sec. 3
The Southern Economy • The South fully relied on cash crops to maintain its economy. • Indigo, Rice, Tobacco • None more important than cotton. • Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin maximizes production. • Made up 2/3 of exports to Europe”Cotton is King”
Society in the South • Southern Social Class Structure: • 1. Planters- <5% of pop. • Dominate economy and politics. • 2. Yeoman Farmers- >50% of pop. • Ordinary farmers, usually no slaves. • 3. Rural Poor- <10% of pop. • Hunter/Gatherers • 4. African-Americans (Enslaved and Free)
Cotton is King • Industrialization did not take hold as quickly in the South as it did in the North. • Most areas=rural farms. • However, there was some coal, iron, salt, and copper mines. As well as ironworks and textile mills. • South relied heavily on imports.
Slave Work Systems • Most enslaved Africans worked in the fields. • Two basic labor systems: • 1. Task System • Workers given specific jobs to finish each day. • Some even earned money for their jobs. • 2. Gang System • Groups of slaves performing one task all day led by a slave driver.
Slavery • Frederick Douglass was a former slave who became a leader of the antislavery movement. • State slave codes forbade enslaved persons from owning property or from leaving their owner’s land without permission. • They could not own firearms or testify in court against a white person. • They could not learn to read and write.
Free African Americans • There were free African Americans in the North and the South. • Descendents of indentured servants, earned freedom during American Revolution, were half white, or bought their freedom.
Coping With Enslavement • African Americans developed a culture that provided them with a sense of unity, pride, and support. • Songs, religion, African traditions
Coping With Enslavement • Many enslaved persons rebelled against their forced lifestyle. • They held work slowdowns, broke tools, set fires, or ran away. • Some killed their slaveholders. • In 1821 Denmark Vesey, a free African American who had a woodworking shop in Charleston, South Carolina, was accused of planning a revolt to free the region’s slaves. • Before the revolt, however, Vesey was arrested and hung.
Nat Turner Rebellion • In 1831 Nat Turner, an enslaved minister who believed that God chose him to free his people, led a group of African Americans in an uprising. • Turner and his followers killed more than 50 white people before he was arrested and hung.
