APUSH Chapter 12 - The South Expands: Slavery and Society
Explain African American migration
2 types: Transfer and sale Transfer - Plantation owners solder their existing plantations and moved or gave slaves to their children who moved south Sale - Sold south through traders
Describe how the planter elites dominated the South's economy
5% of the white population owned 50% of the slaves
Explain the development of a homogenous African American culture
Black Protestantism and the domestic slave trade erased many regional differences
How did the domestic slave trade contribute to the economy?
Brought wealth to the US traders from 1800 to 1860
How did wealthy planters prevent poor whites from achieving success?
Slaveowners refused to pay taxes to fund public schools, planters drove up the price of slaves to prevent poor whites from being able to obtain them
Where did most free blacks live in the South?
Coastal cities (Mobile, Memphis, New Orleans) and the Upper South
Discuss percentages of slave owners in each region of the South
Cotton rich counties -> 40% Appalachian regions -> 10% (these are literally only the two regions mentioned in the book that I could find)
What were some of the ways that the rights of free blacks were limited?
Couldn't vote, attend public schools, sit next to whites in church, etc.
How did the massacre at the Alamo increase American support for Texan independence?
Deaths at the Alamo were romanticized in the American press and anti-Catholic sentiment was used to malign the Mexican government
Where did the majority of free blacks in the United States live?
Half lived in the North
Describe the characteristics of smallholding planters and yeomen
Held 1-5 slaves and owned a few hundred acres of land, somewhat inspired by the rhetoric/ideology of the planter elites
What do the authors mean whenwhen they say that "the South remained an economic colony?"
It depended completely on export of raw materials while it imported all of its manufactures, services, and shipping (foreshadowing)
How did the Alabama Constitution of 1819 lead to a change in state politics?
It granted suffrage to all white men, meaning political factions would have to compete for votes (better answers: who cares?, why did we let Alabama into the United States in the first place?)
What are the arguments that slavery is a "positive good"?
It subsidized the elegant lifestyle of the white elite and provided guardianship for the "genetically inferior" Africans
Fictive kinship
Kinship ties based neither on blood nor wedlock
What states are considered the Deep South?
Lands from Georgia to Texas
The Southern economic system is dependent on slavery. Explain how.
Large amounts of capital had been invested in them
Black Protestantism
Largely ignored doctrine of original sin and predestination and ignored passages that encouraged obedience
How were taxes levied in the South? How was Alabama different?
Legislators in Alabama refused to place large taxes on the poorer population, 70% of revenue came from taxes on slaves and land (1830-1860)
How were women treated in the South?
Lost their legal identity when they married; joined churches to gain a voice but most churches told them to remain in "wifely obedience"
How could free blacks earn a living?
Low paying jobs - in rural areas as laborers and tenant farmers, in cities as domestic servants or day laborers
National Convention of Colored People
Meetings of leaderings within the African-American community; attended by both free and fugitive African-Americans
Inland system
More extensive than coastal trade, fed slaves to cotton South, slaves marched south from rural villages
What caused the growth of domestic slave trade and where did the slaves come from?
Natural increase caused a surplus of slave labor in the Chesapeake region
What is the paradox of Southern prosperity? (all these present tense questions are scaring me a little)
On average southern white men were richer than their northern counterparts, but much of their wealth was in slaves with northern wealth increasing at a greater rate (northern wealth was in dank weed and other important technological innovations)
Gang-labor system
Organization of slaves into "teams" that were supervised by white overseers
Republican aristocracy
Planters saw themselves as nobility, contended that "inequality was the fundamental law of the universe"
How did slaves preserve memories of Africa and lost family members?
Recently brought in slaves gave their children African names; when slaves were transported they named their children afer family members they left behind
What are Free African Societies?
Schools, mutual-benefit organizations, and fellowship groups
Discuss slave marriage (Customs, legality, etc.)
Shunned incest, marriages weren't legally binding but had spiritual significance as they often took place before a minister
What enticements led Americans to emigrate to Mexican territory?
Sizable land grants were offered to American emigrants (plus everyone thought the plains weren't dank enough to settle)
What deterred Europeans from migrating to the South?
Slavery, Europeans feared competition from bound labor (possible translation: they desired to live in a society with actual class)
How did slaves rebel against their masters non-violently?
Slaves slowed their work pace by faking illness or breaking tools
What was the reaction of many southern poor whites to wealthy plantation owners' policies?
Some had satisfaction of ranking above blacks in society, though most rejected this idea and fled to Appalachia and beyond (West Virginia. Kentucky, Tennessee, Southern Indiana, Southern Illinois, Missouri) (translation: "screw this" -poor whites)
Coastal trade
Trade of slaves through auction houses in port cities
What caused African born blacks to abandon the religious practices of their homelands?
The Second Great Awakening (a bunch of ministers came and told them about how dank jesus was)
Democratic ethos
The dominant sentiments within a republican society
How are beliefs of this social class an antithesis to the American Republican Revolution we discussed during the tenure of Andrew Jackson?
The southern gentry embraced social class and feared populism would mobilize poor whites
Compare and contrast the traditional Southern Gentry with the Cotton Entrepreneurs
The southern gentry was concerned with maintaining status while the cotton entrepreneurs were solely motivated by profits
Explain how and why the southern plantation system expanded west between 1790 and 1860
The territory of the southern states expanded during this time, the area cultivated by slaves doubled
Describe the characteristics of the traditional Southern Gentry
Their families had gained wealth from tobacco and rice
How did slavery affect the family unit of blacks?
There was constant threat that family members would be sold away as punishment for bad behavior
How were wealthy southerners short sighted in how they spent their money?
They bought land and slaves without investing in Northern technological innovations that would've increased Southern productivity (translation: maybe the people who decided owning slaves was okay weren't that smart)
What caused Protestant preachers and planters to start trying to convert their slaves?
They feared for their own souls if they didn't try to convert the largely animistic (thought some were Islamic) slave population
Why didn't more slaves revolt against their owners?
They recognized that revolt would be useless, they lacked institutions necessary to organize a successful rebellion and escape often meant leaving behind family
How did some African Americans view God?
They saw themselves as the chosen people of God (idenified with the Israelites of in the Old Testament)
How did masters coerce slaves to work?
They used positive incentives such as food and special priveleges
How were free blacks both symbols of hope and symbols of danger?
They were able to fill some important jobs but free blacks were also refused jury trials and some were even forced back into slavery
Why did Van Buren refuse to annex Texas?
Van Buren feared annexation would spark war with Mexico (translation: Ted Cruz appeared in one of his dreams)
Explain the arguments of the two sides that Americans in Texas split into in 1835. Who led each side?
War party (Sam Houston) - demanded independence (he also presumably wanted war because people decided to name the armpit of Texas after him) Peace party (Stephen F. Austin) - wanted to negotiate with cental government for greater political autonomy
Describe the task system
Works has to complete a precisely defined job each day nd then usually had the rest of the day to themselves (related: AP US History)
Slave society
a society in which the institution of slavery affected all aspects of life (but of course the life of free blacks in the north was basically just as bad as free blacks in the south)
Coffles
columns of slaves bound to one another
Chattel principle
idea that slaves must see themselves as property, while also being a person
