Ch. 10

Antebellum Society

Standards

• SS8H5 – Explain significant factors that affected the development of Georgia as part of the growth of the U.S. between 1789-1840

• SS8E1 – Give examples of goods and services produced in Georgia in different historical periods

Section 1: Southern Culture• Antebellum means “before the war”• Antebellum society was based on cotton.• Eli Whitney designed cotton gin. Worker

could clean one pound a day.• Gin could clean 50 pounds a day.• Cotton Gin made harvesting cotton more

efficient and increased the state’s dependence on the crop.

• Farmers could process cotton more quickly

• Everyone started planting cotton.

Cotton Boom

• Cotton required a large work force so slavery continued to be a source of labor in the south.

• More farms meant more slaves, increased population. (3/5 Compromise) Which gave the south more power in the House of Representatives.

• Cotton was planted over and over, taking nutrients out of the soil and making the soil unusable. In order to plant more cotton, more land had to be bought, causing plantations to grow

Industry

• Georgia had little industry. A few cotton mills and a few iron industries.

• Timber continued to be an important industry.

• Why weren’t industries growing? • Farmers would take money and invest it

in more cotton• Knew they would make money off cotton.

Transportation

• Rivers were Georgia’s main source of transporting goods until the 1850’s.

• Samuel Howard launched Georgia’s 1st steamboat, The Enterprise, in 1816.

• This made river transportation among the rivers much quicker. Can move more goods quicker, which leads to more jobs, which helps the economy.

Transportation

• Railroads allowed goods from the Midwest to be brought to Georgia.

• All railroads in Georgia would pass through a town called Terminus – changed name to Atlanta.

• These goods will bring goods and new jobs to Georgia and help the economy

• Atlanta became known as the “Gate City”

Transportation

• Steam boat and Railroads made transportation of goods (cotton) much easier.

• Allowed cotton plantations to grow, which caused the need for more slaves.

Education in Georgia

• Georgia had many private schools in 1780’s, mostly for rich families.

• Most people felt it was the family’s responsibility to educate their children

• 1785 1st state university in the nation was chartered– Franklin College in Athens.

• Later became University of Georgia (1801)

Religion in Georgia

• The Great Revival was occurring in the South. Increase in religion in the south.

• Slaves were forced to adopt Christian beliefs. Religion helped control slaves.

• Georgia Baptist Convention was created at this time.

• It unified all Baptists under one organization.

The “Old South”

• Old South was based on cotton plantations and slavery.

• About ¼ of the South’s population owned slaves, but most whites saw themselves as “better” than African Americans.

• Planters – people who owned large plantations. Top of social class.

• Yeoman Farmers – most whites were Yeoman Farmers.

“Old South”

• Yeoman farmers owned just a few acres and owned a few slaves or none at all.

• Poor whites – Did not own land and worked for other people

• African Americans – most were slaves, but there were about 3500 free African Americans in Georgia in 1850.

Growth of Railroads

• As America moved closer to Civil War, Georgia began to build railroads all over the state.

• Georgia built these railroads to ship cotton and other agricultural products to seaports.