Lesson 11.2 – Cotton and the Plantation System

1. Lesson 11.2 – Cotton and the Plantation System Today’s Essential Question: How did the cotton boom make life harder for slaves?

2. Vocabulary • boom – rapid growth in value or popularity • agrarian– related to farming • divisions – parts of something that is divided • society – the ways in which a group of people who live together relate to each other

3. Check for Understanding • What is today’s Essential Question? • What would happen during a construction boom? • Name something that is organized into divisions. • What does the term ‘society’ refer to? • What is an agrarian society?

4. What We Already Know By introducing the use of inter–changeable parts, Eli Whitney revolutionized the manufacturing process in the North.

5. What We Already Know Southern society was a stratified (layered) society. Planters Small farmers & businessmen Poor whites Free blacks and slaves

6. What We Already Know Cleaning the cotton fibers by hand was a tedious, even painful process for slaves.

7. Why is it important to understand the connection between the cotton boom and slavery? • The cotton boom caused slavery to spread in the South. • The spread of slavery led to tension between Americans. • This tension will be an important cause of the Civil War.

8. The Cotton Boom Textile mills in Britain and New England had created a huge demand for cotton, but much of the cotton that grew in the South was hard to clean by hand.

9. All cotton must be cleaned, which means separating the seeds from the fibers.

10. Long-fiber cotton is easier and quicker to clean than short-fiber cotton, but it only grows in the cooler areas of the South along the coast. All cotton must be cleaned, which means separating the seeds from the fibers.

11. Short-fiber cotton could be grown in most parts of the South, but it was hard to clean by hand. A worker could clean just one pound of this cotton in a day. To clean it in large quantities required the use of many slaves, making cotton very expensive.

12. The Cotton Boom In 1793, Eli Whitney invented a machine for cleaning cotton after visiting a Georgia plantation. Whitney’s cotton gin (short for “engine”) made the cotton-cleaning process far more efficient.

13. The Cotton Boom With the new machine, one worker could now clean as much as 50 pounds of cotton a day.

14. The cotton gin made it economically possible to grow cotton as a cash crop. The Cotton Boom

15. Check for Understanding • B ask A: What does it mean to clean cotton? • A ask B: How is long-fiber cotton different from short-fiber cotton? • B ask A: Where was long-fiber cotton grown? Be sure to re-state the question in your response!

16. Get your whiteboards and markers ready!

17. 12. Who was Eli Whitney? • He invented the steam–powered boat. • He invented thetelegraph. • He invented thecotton gin. • He invented thesteel plow.

18. What did the cotton gin do to cotton? • It removed the tough seeds from cotton fibers. • It made it easier to ship cotton to market. • It cured raw cotton more efficiently than before. • It turned cotton fibers into cotton cloth.

19. The Cotton Boom The cotton gin changed Southern life in four important ways.

20. 1. It triggered a vast move westward, beyond the Atlantic coastal states where only long-fibered cotton could grow.

21. The Cotton Boom 2. Planters grew more cotton instead of other crops, and cotton exports increased.

22. The Cotton Boom 3. Native Americans were driven off their land as plantations took it over.

23. The Cotton Boom 4. Slavery grew, because cotton cultivation required a large work force.

24. Slavery Expands From 1790 to 1860, cotton production rose greatly. As cotton cultivation grew, so did the number of enslaved people in the South.

25. Slavery Expands Millions of bales of Southern cotton went to the textile mills of Britain and New England each year.

26. Slavery Expands • In 1820, the South earned $22 million from cotton exports. • By the late 1830s, earnings from cotton exports were nearly ten times greater, close to $200 million.

27. Slavery Expands As cotton earnings rose, so did the price of slaves, tripling by the late 1830s.

28. Slavery Expands The expansion of slavery had a major impact on the South’s economy. But its effect on the people living there was even greater.

29. Check for Understanding A ask B: How did cotton production affect slavery in the South? As cotton production expanded, so did slavery in the South. Be sure to re-state the question in your response!

30. Get your whiteboards and markers ready!

31. 13. How did the cotton gin change Southern life? • Slavery expanded across the South. • People moved westward away from the coast. • Native Americans lost their land. • Planters grew cotton instead of other crops. • The value of Southern tobacco fell on world markets. Choose the answer that is NOT true!

32. Lesson 11.2b –Slavery in Daily Life Today we will examine the daily life of slaves in Southern society.

33. Southern life was based on an agrarian economy. An agrarian economy is one that is based on farming. Even though almost all Southerners earned their living from the land, they could be separated into two groups.

34. Slavery Divides the South • Slavery divided white Southerners into those who held slaves and those who did not. • Slaveholders with large plantations were the wealthiest and most powerful people in the South, but they were relatively few in number. • Only about one-third of white families owned slaves in 1840, and only about one-tenth had 20 or more slaves.

35. Check for Understanding Be sure to re-state the question in your response! A ask B: What fraction of white families owned slaves in 1840? Only about one-third of white families owned slaves in 1840.

36. Slavery Divides the South • Most white Southern farmers who owned few or no slaves still supported slavery. • They hoped someday to buy slaves, raise more cotton and become rich.

37. Slavery Divides the South Slavery had become necessary for increasing profits.

38. Get your whiteboards and markers ready!

39. 14. How did slavery divide white Southerners? • They were divided into landowners and renters. • They were divided into those who owned slaves and those who did not. • They were divided into pro-slavery groups and anti-slavery groups. • They were divided into agriculturalists and industrialists.

40. African Americans in the South • Slavery also divided black Southerners into those who were enslaved and those who were free. • Enslaved African Americans formed about one-third of the South’s population in 1840.

41. About half worked on large plantations with white overseers.

42. Most plantation slaves were field workers.

43. Check for Understanding B ask A: What fraction of the South’s population were slaves in 1840? About one-third of the South’s population were slaves in 1840. Be sure to re-state the question in your response!

44. City slaves did not face the back-breaking conditions of plantations. • In cities, enslaved persons worked as domestic servants, skilled craftsmen, factory hands, and day laborers. • Sometimes they were hired out and allowed to keep part of their earnings. • Compared with a slave on the plantation, a city slave was almost a freeman, but they were still enslaved.

45. In 1840, about 8 percent of African Americans in the South were free. • They had either been born free, been freed by an owner, or bought their own freedom. • A significant number of free blacks in the South overcame great obstacles to become skilled workers.

46. In 1840, about 8 percent of African Americans in the South were free. • Some did well enough to become planters. • Many others lived in cities such as Baltimore and Washington, D.C.

47. Check for Understanding B ask A: What percentage of Southern blacks were free in 1840? In 1840, about 8 percent of Southern blacks were either been born free, had been freed by an owner, or bought their own freedom. Be sure to re-state the question in your response!

48. Free blacks faced many problems. • Some states made them leave once they gained their freedom. • Most states did not permit them to vote or receive an education. • Many employers refused to hire them. • But their biggest threat was the possibility of being captured and sold into slavery.

49. Check for Understanding A ask B: How did free blacks earn a living in the South? Free blacks earned a living in the South either as skilled workers in cities, or as small farmers. Be sure to re-state the question in your response!

50. Get your whiteboards and markers ready!