InQuizitive: Chapter 11: The South, Slavery, and King Cotton, 1800-1860

What invention was primarily responsible for the rapid increase in cotton production over the course of the nineteenth century?

Cotton Gin

What do these two maps suggest about the impact of population growth on the South over time?

Cotton production in the larger South increased overall between 1821 and 1859, The Old Southwest saw both population growth and an increase in cotton production, and the oldest southern states experienced the slowest population growth rate.

Tobacco

Cultivation of this crop moved westward to Kentucky and as far as Missouri after fields in states like Virginia lost their fertility.

Because of their expensive habits and leisure-time pursuits, many plantation owners were also what?

Debtors

Most southern planters had some other occupation before they developed the capital required to start a plantation. What were some of the jobs that planters commonly held before beginning a plantation?

Land trader, investor, farmer, and cotton merchant

Why was the proportion of native-born Americans, both blacks and whites, higher in the Old South than other regions of the United States?

Most immigrants were poor and could not compete with slave labor to fulfill the demands of southern planters.After arriving in the United States, most immigrants did not have enough money to travel to the South. Of the immigrants entering America after the Revolution, the South received a smaller percentage because most shipping lanes connected Europe and the Northeast.

Identify the ways in which enslaved peoples created a sense of family and camaraderie within the slave system.

Older slave women were addressed as "granny.", Coworkers were referred to as "sis" or "brother.", and they emulated as best they could the way kinships were practiced in Africa.

Identify some of the peculiarities faced by female slaves.

Owners sometimes raped or ordered the raping of enslaved girls and women, Slaveholders "encouraged" female slaves to have as many children as possible, and within weeks of childbirth, mothers were sent back to the fields and forced to strap their babies on their backs.

In the South, free people of color occupied an uncertain status between slavery and freedom. However, they had more rights than slaves. Identify the various privileges NOT enjoyed by free persons of color in the South.

They were able to travel freely to other states.

Seeing themselves as the natural social, political, and economic leaders in the South, white plantation owners sought to behave like what in European nations?

Aristocrats

Which of the following characteristics did NOT make the South different from the rest of the United States during the early nineteenth century?

A highly educated white population, and a large number of European immigrants.

What factors do NOT distinguish a plantation from a farm?

A plantation tended to have fewer slaves than a farm due to better agricultural technology. Giant plantations were far more common than farms, with dozens in each southern state.

Which of the following characteristics made the South different from the rest of the United States during the early nineteenth century?

A warm, humid climate ideal for growing cotton, an extensive system of race-based slavery, and an agricultural economy with little industry.

Which of the following statements do NOT accurately describe the culture of enslaved African Americans?

African Americans abandoned their African culture and replaced it with American culture, and White slave owners remained unconcerned by the African cultural traditions of slaves.

Which of the following statements accurately describe the culture of enslaved African Americans?

African Americans created a vibrant culture that adapted their African traditions to life in America, and white society failed to rid slaves of their African cultural traditions.

What does the African American folklore story of "Brer Rabbit" reveal about life for those who were enslaved?

African Americans devised ingenious ways of resisting their confinement by forging their own sense of community and inventing stories of resistance.

Field hands were supervised by who?

Black drivers

Nat Turner's Rebellion sparked fear among southern whites in a way that no other rebellion had done before. How did southern states respond to these fears?

Bloodhounds or bounty hunters tracked down slaves who had escaped. States created armed groups of whites to patrol neighborhoods and look for runaways. Regardless of whether they were free or enslaved, blacks had to have an identity pass or official emancipation papers to travel anywhere on their own.

Which statements accurately describe the slave population distribution in 1820 and 1860?

By 1820, slaves were clustered in areas that grew tobacco and rice, and by 1860, slaves had spread west and south.

Identify the ways in which enslaved peoples did NOT create a sense of family and camaraderie within the slave system.

Children always stayed close to their parents.

The South was a primarily agricultural economy centered on the production of cotton, but a number of other cash crops were common. Identify what was NOT cash crops that were commonly grown in the American South.

Coffee

Analyze the two images below. Each represents nineteenth-century myths of the South. Based on the images, which of the following myths did white Southerners wish to convey about the South?

Enslaved African Americans lived cheerful and harmonious lives, and Plantations contributed to a peaceful, idyllic lifestyle in the South.

Analyze the two images below. Each represents nineteenth-century myths of the South. Based on the images, which of the following were NOT myths the white Southerners wished to convey about the South?

Enslaved African Americans were equal and active participants in white society. Factories treated workers well and were a central part of the southern economy.

Identify the statement that accurately describes the shift in the southern economy during the late early and mid-nineteenth century.

Europeans, primarily the British, had high demand for raw southern cotton, which resulted in a shift from rice to cotton as the most profitable cash crop in the South.

Slave beatings took place solely between slave and master, and punishment was considered a solitary process that slaves needed to endure alone.

False

Slaves were offered the sole luxury of being able to practice their religion together as a community.

False

Southern women were held to the same standard of Christian purity as their husbands because of the strict code of honor.

False

The Deslondes rebellion terrified white Southerners more than any other slave revolt and led to a statewide mandate that all white children must learn to read.

False

The rise in the slave population was a direct result of an increase in American participation in the African slave trade.

False

Many of the slaves across the South were

Field hands

plain white folk

Half of southern whites were included in this social class. They were typically small farmers who owned a few slaves.

Before the Civil War, over one million enslaved African Americans were forcibly moved from Maryland, Virginia, and the Carolinas along the Slave Trail to the Old Southwest. Which of the following contributed to the dread African Americans felt when making this trek?

Harsher working conditions, difficult travel, and separation from family and friends.

Identify what was NOT the greatest fear shared by southern whites and how this concern was dealt with in southern states.

Identify the greatest fear shared by southern whites and how this concern was dealt with in southern states, and the reproduction of enslaved peoples was the greatest fear among southern whites, as they attempted to control the African American population.

Gabriel Prosser conspiracy

In 1800, this failed rebellion attempted to arm slaves and capture Richmond, Virginia. The rebellion leaders had falsely assumed the "poor white people" would join their effort.

Charles Deslondes Revolt

In 1811, a black overseer and his fellow slaves broke into their owner's plantation house and hacked his son to death before spreading violence en route to New Orleans. This was the largest slave revolt in American history

Which statements does NOT accurately describe the slave population distribution in 1820 and 1860?

In 1820, most slaves lived in large cities, and between 1820 and 1860, the slave population expanded only marginally.

The South was a primarily agricultural economy centered on the production of cotton, but a number of other cash crops were common. Identify any cash crops that were commonly grown in the American South.

Indigo, tobacco, rice, and sugarcane.

Most southern planters had some other occupation before they developed the capital required to start a plantation. What were some of the jobs that planters did NOT commonly hold before beginning a plantation?

Innkeeper, and blacksmith

Before the Civil War, over one million enslaved African Americans were forcibly moved from Maryland, Virginia, and the Carolinas along the Slave Trail to the Old Southwest. Which of the following did NOT contribute to the dread African Americans felt when making this trek?

Isolation from any other African Americans, and the near certainty of race-based murder.

What role did respectability play in southern elite society?

Respectability served as the foundation of a social code among southern white men.

Identify what were NOT common duties of a plantation mistress.

She helped manage the financial aspects of the plantation business.

Identify the common duties of a plantation mistress.

She took care of and supervised the domestic household, oversaw the preparation of meals and prepared the linens, oversaw the care of the infirm and the birthing babies, and served as an example of Christian morality and sexual purity.

Why did many African Americans NOT embrace Christianity?

Slave owners encouraged slaves to combine African religious traditions with Christianity, and White Christian Southerners always believed that the master-slave relationship was sinful in the eyes of God.

How did Jefferson's decision to ban American involvement in the African slave trade NOT impact the institution of slavery in the United States?

Slave trading significantly diminished, and masters were stuck with large enslaved families that they could not get rid of, and slaves from the south were sold and moved to Virginia as the state attempted to reestablish its tobacco industry

Identify the greatest fear shared by southern whites and how this concern was dealt with in southern states.

Slave uprisings were the greatest fear among southern whites, and slave owners implemented brutal strategies to intimidate slaves and deter them from resistance or escape.

What do these two maps NOT suggest about the impact of population growth on the South over time?

Slavery became much less important across the South as settlers moved west in larger numbers

Identify the various activities that were forbidden to slaves through formal slave codes in each state.

Slaves could not learn to read and write, legally marry, or hit a white man, even in self-defense.

Identify the various activities that were NOT forbidden to slaves through formal slave codes in each state.

Slaves had to carry the daily haul of cotton into town for trading

Identify what were NOT different experiences shared by slaves living in southern cities rather than on farms and plantations.

Slaves in cities enjoyed less mobility and freedom due to the increased opportunities they had to escape from the "big city."

Identify some of the different experiences shared by slaves living in southern cities rather than on farms and plantations.

Slaves in cities had better food and clothes, were "hired out" and allowed to keep a percentage of their wages, and interacted with the extended interracial community, not solely their white owners.

What role did the plantation elites play in southern society, and what level of influence did they exercise?

Southern elites exercised a profound and disproportionate amount of political, social, and economic influence in southern society.

Why was the proportion of native-born Americans, both blacks and whites, NOT higher in the Old South than other regions of the United States?

Southern militias organized to send recent immigrants north by force if necessary.

In 1861, a South Carolinian stated, "slavery with us is no abstraction—but a great and vital fact. Without it, our every comfort would be taken from us."What pressing issue was he NOT referencing, and how did that issue affect southern states?

Southerners insisted that slavery be separated from the political system so that southern states would be allowed to make their own decisions regarding slavery. The issue of slavery was extremely contentious among southern states, and they varied in their support of the institution.

Nat Turner's Rebellion sparked fear among southern whites in a way that no other rebellion had done before. How did southern states NOT respond to these fears?

States created an underground railroad to transport whites that were too fearful to travel by regular railroad for fear they would encounter blacks.

Why did many African Americans embrace Christianity?

The Christian message of helping the poor and oppressed was inspiring, And christianity assured salvation and a "promised land" after a life of suffering.

Analyze the significance of the quotation and how it does NOT illustrate the dynamics of southern households." Virginian George Fitzhugh, a celebrated Virginia attorney and writer, spoke for most southern men when he explained that a 'man loves his children because they are weak, helpless, and dependent. He loves his wife for similar reasons.'"

The social code founded on honor in the South gave women more power over their husbands than the quotation suggests.

Identify some of the peculiarities that were NOT faced by female slaves.

The workload decreased for women who passed their childbearing years.

In the South, free people of color occupied an uncertain status between slavery and freedom. However, they had more rights than slaves. Identify the various privileges enjoyed by free persons of color in the South.

They could enter into contracts, they could own property, including their own slaves, and they could pass on their property to their children.

Identify the various ways that slaves resisted their masters, other than attempting to escape the confines of their farms or plantations.

They destroyed crops, faked illnesses, planned and led rebellions, and stole or broke farming tools.

By 1860, just before the outbreak of the Civil War, the total financial value of all enslaved blacks in the United States exceeded the financial value of all American banks, railroads, and factories combined.

True

During the nineteenth century, the quickest way to wealth and social status in the South was by owning, working, and selling slaves.

True

In 1861, a South Carolinian stated, "slavery with us is no abstraction—but a great and vital fact. Without it, our every comfort would be taken from us." What pressing issue was he referencing, and how did that issue affect southern states?

The ability of Southerners to own, transport, and sell slaves in the West became the paramount focus of southern politicians, and he was referring to the institution of slavery as the central issue controlling everything in the South.

How did Jefferson's decision to ban American involvement in the African slave trade impact the institution of slavery in the United States?

The average cost of slaves multiplied, and selling slaves for profit within the United States developed into big business.

What was the primary reason that the American South did not industrialize in the same way as the North?

The earlier prosperity of plantation-style cash crop cultivation did not incentivize a shift toward industrialization.

Analyze the significance of the quotation and how it illustrates the dynamics of southern households." Virginian George Fitzhugh, a celebrated Virginia attorney and writer, spoke for most southern men when he explained that a 'man loves his children because they are weak, helpless, and dependent. He loves his wife for similar reasons.'"

The head of the household in southern culture exercised firm, paternalistic control over his wife, and the head of the household in southern culture exercised firm, paternalistic control over his children.

Identify the various ways that slaves did NOT resist their masters, other than attempting to escape the confines of their farms or plantations.

They lied in their master's financial records.

poor whites

This class of white Southerners lived on the fringes of society

Sugar

This crop required expensive machinery to grind the crop so that it would release syrup.

Rice

This expensive crop needed to be cultivated in coastal areas because of the amount of water required to flood the fields

Planters

This group included members of the most elite social class in southern society.

Denmark Vesey conspiracy

This plot was hatched in 1822 in South Carolina, led by a Caribbean native who planned to kill all the whites in the city of Charleston and blacks who refused to participate in the revolt. The plot never got off the ground

Nat Turner's Rebellion

This rebellion took place in Virginia in 1831, led by a trusted black overseer who claimed God had told him to lead a slave revolt. He and a small group of slaves killed their owner's family and continued to do so at other farmhouses, where he recruited other slaves to participate.

Border South

This region could not profitably cultivate cotton on a large scale. The inability to grow cotton led to a decline in the population of enslaved blacks.

Upper South

This region had a more diverse economy made up of large commercial plantations and smaller family farms

Lower South

This region was the most heavily focused on labor-intensive cotton cultivation and subsequently had the greatest number of large plantations and black slaves.

Planter

This was the business owner and manager of a cash crop plantation

Overseer

This was usually a white laborer who supervised all slaves on a plantation to make sure they worked hard and efficiently. This position was rarely given to slaves.

Driver

This was usually the highest position that a slave could achieve. It involved overseeing a small group of slaves.

What factors distinguished a plantation from a farm?

To be a plantation owner, one had to own at least twenty slaves, and plantation owners tended to refrain from working in the fields.

Which slaves tended to be better fed and clothed overall, and they interracial community and often were allowed to keep a portion of their wages?

Urban slaves

Which of the following characterized white society on the southern frontier during the first half of the nineteenth century?

Widespread alcoholism, violence, and gambling

An enslaved person explained that as a slave they "had to work all day in de fields an' den come home an' do the housework at night." This quotation best describes the condition of which group of enslaved African Americans?

Women