Unit 3

Transportation Revolution

A dramatic increase in the exchange of goods and services that occurred between 1820 and 1850. It linked rural producers on the American frontier with the worldwide marketplace. This was largely fostered by the (partial) implementation of Henry Clay's American System. The construction of canals and other internal improvements in transportation such as the advent of the steamboat allowed goods to reach markets more quickly and cheaply and transformed the more isolated "household economy" of the 1700s into a market-based economy in which people bought and sold goods for profit in distant markets. This was both a national and international development as the use of clipper ships shortened the amount of time it took to transport goods across the ocean and increasingly integrated America into the global economy especially via the export of cotton. Railroads and the telegraph diminished the isolation of the west and united the country economically and socially. Perhaps most astonishing was the Erie Canal which turned New York City into the nation's economic center while also promoting the growth of midwestern cities like Chicago.

Lowell System

A factory system developed by Francis Cabot Lowell and implemented in Massachusetts. Lowell aimed to enhance industrial productivity and efficiency through the use of mechanical looms, water-power, and other labor-saving machinery. However, conscious of American distrust of industrialization and the economic transition to wage work, he hoped that his mill towns would also serve as a model industrial community. Lowell hired young women to work in the mills because they accepted lower wages and were more willing to endure the mind-numbing boredom of operating spinning machines and looms for hours. The young women slept in comfortable boarding houses, ate communal meals, attended church on Sundays, formed study groups, and published literary magazines. Lowell argued that this system of factory labor was inherently more democratic than that which existed in England and would allow the United States to industrialize without the abuse of workers and soul-sucking factory labor that had accompanied the industrial revolution in Britain. However, as Lowell grew, the quality of life in the mills deteriorated and when this coupled with economic panics (such as the Panic of 1837), the girls went on strike demanding that the rates charged by the boarding houses be reduced and that their wages be raised to keep pace with the cost of living. Following this incident, the mill-owners began to increasingly turn to hiring Irish immigrants as workers who were less likely to complain about wages or working conditions

Cotton Gin

A machine for cleaning the seeds from cotton fibers, invented by Eli Whitney in 1793. It turned the cultivation of cotton into a highly profitable enterprise and led to an increased reliance on slave labor in the American south

Transcendentalism

A philosophy embraced by a group of New England writers, ministers, and reformers who responded to industrialization, scientific rationalism, and Christian orthodoxy by embracing Romanticism. Romantics emphasized individualism, non-conformity, mysticism, emotional honesty, and exploring one's own emotional world often by immersing yourself in nature or contemplating beauty. The transcendentalists believed that truth was best understood when you transcended (rose above) the limits of reason and logic. Above all, they affirmed the importance of self-reliance and crafting a personal spirituality uncontaminated by theological dogma or interdenominational bickering. Leading transcendentalists included Ralph Waldo Emerson who championed self-reliant individualism and Henry David Thoreau. Thoreau rejected the comfort, ease, and modernity associated with the industrial revolution and spent an experimental year living in a tiny cabin on the banks of Walden pond. There, he wrote his memoir Walden where he affirmed the value of simplicity, community with nature, and deliberate living. He went on to become an outspoken critic of slavery, and in his 1849 essay "Civil Disobedience," he argued that if a law is unjust, it is the responsibility of a person to break it. This work would inspire the social justice efforts of civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr.

Paternalism

A philosophy embraced by southern planters used to justify slavery. In colonial times, planters readily admitted that they owned slaves for profit and that the institution rested on force and violence. However, as slaveowners encountered sharper moral criticism based on Enlightenment ideals and evolving ethical frameworks, they began to explain their relationship to their slaves as providing care to individuals who couldn't look after themselves. Planters characterized African Americans as childlike and in need of instruction, arguing that they were providing African Americans a service by giving them food, shelter, and productive work. This narrative affirmed white supremacy, demeaned black culture, rationalized an economic system based on the exploitation of people held in bondage, and dehumanized the men and women who labored as slaves. It also did not alter the behavior of overseers who used violence and cruelty to enforce plantation discipline and elicit obedience

Second Great Awakening

A series of religious revivals that swept the United States in the first three decades of the 19th century. In New England, Unitarians and Universalists rejected the existence of hell, and challenged the Christian notion of predestination and advocated that all humans (not just a select few) were capable of good deeds and could receive salvation. The preachers of the Second Great Awakening echoed these ideals and emphasized the role of human reason and free will in their sermons. Passionate and emotional in their delivery, the preachers of the Second Great Awakening led mass revivals where people embraced the message that God cared deeply for them and was calling them to dedicate their lives to his service. Instead of insisting that humans were incurably evil and desperately in need of salvation, the preachers of the Second Great Awakening stressed the role that humans had to play in creating a better wold on earth. God called people to partner with Him in creating a world characterized by justice, peace, harmony, dignity, and joy. An essential part of the Christian life was partnering with God to see his will be done on earth, which meant aiding the poor, caring for the sick, reforming the prison systems, and advocating for the oppressed. Out of this message sprung robust social reform movements. The Second Great Awakening has a particular impact on women and African Americans. The organizational needs of large revivals offered ample opportunities for women to grow as leaders, fund-raisers, book-keepers, and administrators, which reinforced their growing sense of self-confidence and independence. The Second Great Awakening also attracted African Americans who were stirred by the emotional preaching and the anti-slavery messages of Baptists and Methodists.

William Lloyd Garrison

A white man from Massachusetts, Garrison was an outspoken activist who pushed the conversation surrounding slavery from focusing on gradual emancipation to immediate abolition. Uncompromising in his criticisms of slavery as an institution and the American laws which sanctioned its continued existence (he called the Constitution a pact with the devil) Garrison forced slavery to become a part of the national conversation. He launched an antislavery newspaper called The Liberator and worked alongside other abolitionists like Arthur and Lewis Tappan, Angelina and Sarah Grimke, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Frederick Douglass to advocate for immediate emancipation. A Quaker and pacifist, Garrison rejected the use of violence to end slavery. Instead, he emphasized taking the moral high-ground and essentially shaming the south into rejecting slavery.

Pet Banks

After rejecting the bill to recharter the Bank of the United States, Jackson ordered that all federal funds be transferred into 23 state banks. Though the B.U.S. would naturally expire in 1841, Jackson wanted to finish it off more quickly. Jackson's critics called the banks to which the president transferred the funds "pet banks" because they were operated by Jackson's friends and allies. Prominent Senators (Henry Clay and Daniel Webster) argued that the transfer of government cash to the pet banks was illegal. These Senators led the formation of the Whig Party in opposition to Jackson's exercise of executive power which they felt had gone too far.

Utopian Communities

Amid the climate of reform unleashed by the Second Great Awakening, some people, inspired by the notion that humans had the power within them to achieve perfection sought the creation of ideal communities, or utopias. More than 100 utopian experiments emerged between 1800 and 1900, many of which were deeply communitarian in nature - emphasizing the welfare of the entire community rather than individual freedom. Of these 100 experiments the most famous included the Shakers, led by Mother Ann Lee; the Oneida community established by John Humphrey Noyes, and Brook Farm, created by Massachusetts transcendentalists like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Margaret Fuller. Each community folded within a few years.

Market Revolution

An economic transformation in the United States in the first half of the nineteenth century sparked by a series of innovations in transportation, communication, and industrialization. Technological developments such as the steam engine and internal improvements such as roads and canals fostered greater exchange and integrated (to a certain degree) the northern and southern economies. Especially important was the textile industry which depended on cultivation of cotton in the south. Cotton produced in the south was shipped north via the Mississippi River and was turned into textiles in factories located primarily in New England. These mills and factories were initially powered by water, but following the advent of the steam engine they spread-rapidly. They were nurtured by a protective tariff implemented by the federal government which promoted domestic manufacturing. The mills located in Lowell, MA were especially famous for hiring young women who worked for a few years before marrying and becoming homemakers. While they were exposed to unhealthy working conditions and long hours, these women also enjoyed economic independence and freedom which they had not experienced while living in rural farming communities.

Frederick Douglass

An escaped slave who became an effective spokesman and leader for the abolitionist movement. His personal autobiography, A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (1845) highlighted the dehumanizing nature of slavery and the courageous steps that slaves took to resist oppression. No body of work more exemplifies the faith in human potential celebrated by the Americans during this period than the writings of men and women who escaped from slavery and used their voices to challenge the continued survival of the institution. Douglass travelled internationally telling his story, and raising support among British abolitionists for the cause of ending slavery in America. He also started an abolitionist newspaper titled The North Star, named for the star runaway slaves used to guide them towards freedom. Douglass' widespread travel, and his publication of a well-circulated newspaper highlight the significance of the communications and transportation revolution and the role that these technological developments played in facilitating nationwide reform movements. He became a powerful voice for the rights of African Americans during and after the Civil War

Jackson's Bank Veto

Andrew Jackson detested banks and bankers and argued that the Bank of the United States (B.U.S.) was inherently undemocratic and favored the interests of the rich and powerful. Distrusting paper money, Jackson believed that gold and silver coins should be used for all transactions. He failed to comprehend the important role that the B.U.S. played in controlling inflation and promoting investment and economic growth. In 1832, when Congress passed a bill re-chartering the B.U.S., Jackson vetoed the bill insisting that he was protecting average citizens from a nefarious institution that would make the "rich richer and the potent more powerful"

Dorothea Dix

Born in Massachusetts, Dorothea Dix became the most important figure in boosting awareness of the plight of the mentally ill. Dix was troubled by the fact that people who suffered from mental illness were often held in prison-like settings where they suffered abuse and neglect. Determined to change this, she launched a 2-year investigative campaign. In 1843, she sent a blistering report to the Massachusetts state legislature revealing the terrible treatment to which people with mental illness were subjected, reporting that she had seen people confined "in cages, closets, cellars, stalls, and pens. Chained, naked, beaten with rods, and lashed into obedience." Her reporting initiated a gradual shift in social attitudes towards mental illness and the beginning of the asylum movement whereby those who suffered from mental illness were given professional medical care rather than confined and neglected.

Sojourner Truth

Born into slavery, Sojourner Truth became an outspoken advocate for abolitionism and women's rights after obtaining her freedom in 1827. A powerful and charismatic speaker, Truth highlighted the intersection of abolitionism and feminism, highlighting the special energies that women brought to the cause of extending justice in the United States.

Nullification Crisis

By the late 1820s, South Carolina was suffering a severe economic downturn because of a global collapse in cotton prices. They blamed their sluggish economy on a tariff passed in 1828, which they called the "tariff of abominations." In 1828, James C. Calhoun published a pamphlet called the South Carolina Exposition and Protest where he argued that the tariff favored New England and the expense of the south. He also put forward the idea that South Carolina could nullify (or veto) the tariff. Then, he threatened to nullify the tariff. Massachusetts Senator, Daniel Webster (Whig) protested that nullification was unlawful and would lead to disunion and civil war. Andrew Jackson sided with the nationalists and though he valued states' rights, he believed that Calhoun had gone too far in proposing nullification. By 1832, the conflict had grown into a crisis. South Carolina declared that the federal tariffs were null and void within their borders and refused to pay the tax.

Log Cabin Campaign

Conscious that they were vulnerable to being critiqued as the "party of the elite," Whigs in the Election of 1840 nominated William Henry Harrison as their presidential candidate. Though nationalist in outlook, Harrison resembled Jackson in many ways - he was a former soldier who had defeated the Western Confederacy at the Battle of Tippecanoe as well as a westerner who hailed from Indiana. In the electoral campaign, Whigs emphasized Harrison's western roots and argued that he, too, was a candidate who would serve the interests of the common man. They chose the log cabin as Harrison's symbol because it associated him with traditions of simple republicanism and frontier life. However, this was all a charade. Harrison was a profoundly wealthy man and had been born into one of Virginia's most prominent families. However, the campaign worked and elicited the highest voter turnouts in American history: 80% of white American men voted and Harrison won.

The Old South

Even as the rest of the nation embraced revolutions in industry, communications, and transportation, the South remained rural and agricultural. The region's climate favored the growth of cash crops such as tobacco, rice, indigo, and increasingly, cotton. These crops led to the spread of the plantation system of large commercial agriculture dependent on enslaved labor. Despite some efforts made to diversify the economic base, the wealth and status associated with cotton prompted the westward expansion of the plantation culture into the "cotton belt" of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. By 1860, this "cotton kingdom" stretched from the Carolinas and Georgia all the way to Texas. More than half of all slaves worked on cotton plantations. The profitability of cotton prompted southern planters to continually place new land under cultivation and invest in acquiring more slaves to increase output. The violence and cruelty associated with slave discipline impacted the overall culture of the south where disputes were often settled through duels, brawls, shootouts, and knife fights.

The Trail of Tears

Following Andrew Jackson's refusal to honor the decision reached by the Supreme Court in Worcester v. Georgia, a minority of Cherokee leaders decided that they would only be able to maintain their sovereignty as a nation if they left Georgia and relocated west, in keeping with the plan outlined in the Indian Removal Act. They signed the Treaty of New Echota where they agreed to vacate the lands, but the treaty was deemed fraudulent and rejected by 90% of the tribe. However, by 1838, Jackson's successor, Martin Van Buren, was determined that the Cherokees be evicted and he forced their removal to Oklahoma. The 800-mile forced journey was poorly planned and implemented and some 4,000 Cherokees died on the trail.

The Whigs

Founded by Daniel Webster and Henry Clay in response to what they felt was an abuse of executive power by the Jackson administration, the Whigs were economic nationalists who wanted the federal government to promote manufacturing, support a national bank, and finance a national road network. While the Democrats by and large approved of America just as it was (largely agrarian), the Whigs possessed a robust vision for America's transformation into a modern, industrialized, commercial nation. While Democrats wanted to expand America's geographic reach, the Whigs insisted that geographic extension meant little if infrastructure was not put in place to ensure long-term development and prosperity. Whigs tended to have a strong sense of CIVIC VIRTUE. In other words, while they valued the rights of the individual, they felt that individual rights meant little if they were used to abuse the rights of others. For them, the development of the entire society mattered. Democrats, on the other hand, believed that the right of the individual person (read: white man) to do whatever they want was most important. Whigs tended to be church-goers and social reformers, who insisted on America's moral development (i.e. temperance, abolition, education) while Democrats charged that the arm of government should not be used to enforce such moralistic policies.

Jacksonian Democracy

Jackson presented himself as the president of the "common man" and argued that every white American man should have an equal chance to compete in the marketplace and the political arena. However, this vision of democracy came at the expense of women and people of color. For example, in order to promote democracy in Georgia, Jackson supported the removal of the Cherokee tribe. Even for white men, this vision of democracy emphasized equality of opportunity, NOT equality of outcome. Social stratification, and the boundary between rich and poor widened during the Jacksonian era, in part because of economic crises like the Panic of 1837 - caused by Jackson's war on the national bank.

Maysville Road Veto

In 1830, Congress passed a bill authorizing the use of federal funds to construct a 60-mile road across Kentucky. This was part of Henry Clay's scheme to build up the American System. Reflective of his desire to limit federal power and reduce taxation, Andrew Jackson vetoed the bill, arguing that internal improvements of this sort ought to be managed by local government.

Worcester v. Georgia (1832)

In 1830, Jackson submitted to Congress the Indian Removal Act, which authorized him to ignore treaty commitments made by pervious presidents and require Native Americans remaining in the East and South to move to federal lands west of the Mississippi River. The Cherokee Nation, who lived in Georgia, tried to defy the federal removal policy as well as attempts made by the state of Georgia to force them off their land by passing discriminatory laws aimed at turning the Cherokees into second-class citizens. Georgia argued that because the Cherokees resided in the state, they were subject to state law. The Cherokees claimed that they were a sovereign nation and not subject to Georgia law. When the state of Georgia made a string of arrests on Cherokee land, the Cherokees sued the state. In Worcester v. Georgia (1832), Chief Justice John Marshall ruled in favor of the Cherokees, stating that Georgia laws had no force on Cherokee land. Andrew Jackson refused to honor the court's decision though and swore to support the state of Georgia. Thus, the Cherokees were faced with a choice: submit to the discriminatory state laws, or relocate to the federal lands to the west, designated in the Indian Removal Act.

Seneca Falls Convention

Inspired by their work for abolition of slavery, many women began to advocate for greater social, political, and economic rights for themselves. Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton (both Quaker abolitionists) called a convention in Seneca Falls, New York to discuss the rights of women in America. The activists at the convention issued the Declaration of Rights and Sentiments where they affirmed that "all men and women are created equal" and that thus far, U.S. law had situated women as second-class citizens. They closed their declaration by demanding the right to vote. So radical was this demand that only 1/3rd of the people who attended the convention signed the declaration and it would be another 60 years before women won suffrage on the national level but the convention signified a bold appropriation of the democratic principles so loudly articulated by men like Andrew Jackson and challenged U.S. citizens to honor ideals such as the fundamental equality of all people.

Telegraph

Invented by Samuel Morse in the 1830s the telegraph allowed for speedy communication and was foundational in the Communications Revolution. It aided the growth of the American economy, the organization of political parties across large distances, and the expansion of participatory democracy

Temperance

Led by women in the rising urban middle class, the temperance movement sought to curb alcohol abuse in the United States. The American Society for the Promotion of Temperance sponsored lectures and press campaigns, and urged people to take a pledge promising "total abstinence" from alcohol. Those who chose to give up alcohol were called teetotalers. Though some extremists in the movement wanted legislation passed to reduce the availability of alcohol, most members in the movement emphasized the importance of voluntary reform.

Nativism

Nativists were people born in the United States who resented to rising tide of immigration from Ireland and Germany. The new wave of immigrants especially concerned Protestants who felt that the Catholic beliefs held by many migrants threatened republicanism. The Nativists launched organized political campaigns to promote anti-immigrant legislation. Members of the Order of the Star-Spangled Banner pledged never to vote for any foreign-born or Catholic candidates. As membership of the organization grew, they evolved into a powerful voting bloc which was referred to as the Know-Nothing Party. By the 1850s, the Know-Nothings won the majority of seats in the Massachusetts state legislature. Their demands included excluding Catholics and immigrants from public office and extending the naturalization period from five years to twenty-one. None of this legislation made it through Congress, however, and in the 1850s, anti-immigrant agitation subsided as slavery took center stage as the main political issue.

Slave Rebellions

Originally, slaves were treated more as indentured servants and were eligible to earn their freedom after a specified number of years. But slave codes eventually codified the practice of treating slaves as property rather than as people. Slaves responded in a variety of ways. Although many attempted to escape, only a few openly rebelled because of the harsh consequences. In 1822, a free black man named Denmark Vesey hatched a plan to capture the city arsenal in Charleston, South Carolina. He then planned to distribute rifles to free and enslaved blacks, kill the white residents of the city, set Charleston on fire, and then sail to Haiti to become citizens of the black republic. However, the plot was uncovered before Vesey had a chance to take action and 136 African Americans were arrested and put on trial. Following the trials, South Carolina executed Vesey and 35 other co-conspirators, and imposed stricter restrictions on the mobility of free blacks and black church meetings. Frightened by this planned revolt, John C. Calhoun began to abandon the nationalism of his early political career and become a staunch defender of states' rights and slavery. In 1831, a man named Nat Turner organized a slave revolt in Virginia where a group of slaves armed themselves and killed 57 whites. The rebellion was put down by the Virginia militia and federal troops and executed 20 African Americans. Following the rebellion, Virginia passed laws making it illegal for a slave to read or write and banned the religious meetings that had previously been held by slaves on Sundays. Organized rebellions of this sort were rare, and most slaves survived by relying on their own communities, family ties, Christian faith, and by developing their own culture, such as the singing of spirituals to express frustration, sorrow, and hope for their eventual deliverance.

Walker's Appeal

Published in 1829 by a free black man named David Walker, the "Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World" denounced the hypocrisy of Christians in the South for defending slavery and urged slaves to follow the example of the Haitian rebels and revolt against the planters. Walker argued that violent rebellion was a noble and necessary step that African Americans must take if they wished to end slavery. The Appeal was banned in the south, but copies were sewn into the coat-lining of black sailors and smuggled into southern port cities to be distributed to African Americans living there.

The Mormons

The Second Great Awakening had an especially powerful impact in upstate New York. There, so many revivals took place that the region became known as the "burned-over district." It was in this region that a new religion emerged: Mormonism. Founded by Joseph Smith, Mormonism illustrated the democratic and utopian impulses that characterized religious movements of the period. Following an encounter with an angel named Moroni, Joseph Smith discovered several golden plates inscribed with an ancient language telling the story of how a group of people from ancient Israel had settled American 2000 years before the arrival of Christopher Columbus. Joseph Smith's message criticized the sins of the rich, preached universal salvation, denied that there was a hell, urged his followers to practice a strict code of personal morality by avoiding liquor, tobacco, and caffeine, and asserted that the Second Coming of Christ was imminent. He gathered thousands of followers but due to their refusal to adhere to local laws and the practice of polygamy, the Mormons were forced to flee to the west to escape religious persecution. Following Joseph Smith's murder by an angry mob, the Mormons fled to Utah where they established Salt Lake City and envisioned the creation of an independent state called Deseret which would include what is now Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, and parts of California. However, in 1848, the region came under the control of the United States government

American Colonization Society

The first organized emancipation movement, the American Colonization Society was formed by Henry Clay in 1816 and supported by politicians like James Madison, James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, and Daniel Webster. Members of the colonization movement were troubled by the continued existence of slavery in the United States and argued in favor of "gradual emancipation" which would allow slave owners to slowly transition from dependence on slave labor to other labor sources, and to receive financial compensation for the loss of property. Deeply racist, members of the American Colonization Society did not want freed blacks to become permanent members of the American civic body. Instead, they proposed that the United States sponsor the creation of a new state in Africa - Liberia - where former slaves would be resettled.

Panic of 1837

The pet banks, to which Jackson had transferred federal cash did not operate according to the same rigorous standards of integrity that had been enforced within the Bank of the United States. They issued bank notes that weren't backed with gold and silver and extended loans to people who didn't have the economic capacity to pay back their debts. This was coupled with a global market crash which originated in Britain and caused demand for southern cotton to dry up. The value of cotton (America's primary export) collapsed and British money stopped flowing into American coffers. In response to the money shortage, the 40% of state banks failed and by the fall of 1837, 90% of the nation's factories had closed down. Critics of Jackson argued that such a crisis could have been avoided if the Bank of the United States had been maintained and state banks had been prevented from issuing worthless paper money without adequate backing in gold and silver.

Spoils System

The practice of granting lucrative government jobs to individuals who support your political campaign. For example, if a newspaper editor used their platform to actively campaign on Andrew Jackson's behalf, he may be granted a position as postmaster in the new administration. The Democratic Party in particular used this method to enforce discipline within the party - loyal members could look forward to promotions to better positions. Whigs charged that this practice undermined the professional nature of the civil service and led to inefficiency and corruption. From their point of view, people were now occupying government offices who lacked the skills necessary to do their jobs. Leading Democrats like Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren justified the practice by saying that it was more inherently democratic - if the Whigs had their way only people from the upper classes who were well-educated could acquire government jobs. They way Jackson saw it, a healthy "rotation in office" (turnover, in other words) allowed more people the opportunity to rise through the ranks. He also justified the practice by famously saying "to the victor goes the spoils." From his point of view, the victorious political party has a right to purge government workers who do not toe the party line.

Immigration Tends

The promise of cheap land and good wages drew millions of immigrants to America. By 1844, about 14.5% of the population was foreign born. The devastating potato famine led to an influx of destitute Irish Catholic families. By the 1850s, they represented a significant portion of the urban population in the United States, constituting a majority in New York and Boston. German migrants, many of them Catholics and Jews, migrated during the same period.

Force Bill

When South Carolina refused to pay the federal tariff, claiming right to nullification, Andrew Jackson accused South Carolinian leaders of treason and requested from Congress the authority to use the U.S. Army to "force" compliance with the federal law. Congress brokered a compromise wherein they reduced the tariff and passed the Force Bill. South Carolina, feeling like their voices had been heard, complied with the lower tariff and a constitutional crisis was averted

Southern Social Structure

White society in the south was divided between the planter elite (who owned twenty slaves or more) and all the rest. Planters represented around 4% of the white population, but they exercised a disproportionately powerful political and social influence. A minority of other whites owned a few slaves, but most owned none. A majority of whites were considered "plain white folk" - simple farmers who raised corn, cotton, hogs, and chickens. Southern farmers were highly mobile and eager to move west in search of greater economic and political opportunity which was denied to them by the planter elite who maintained a stranglehold on their political and economic power. Southern white women spent most of their time on household chores. White supremacy permeated southern culture and even if they didn't own slaves, most whites were fiercely invested in the institution of slavery and willing to defend it. Poor whites feared the competition for wages they believed they would face if slaves were freed, and they enjoyed the privileged status that race-based slavery gave them.