PATTERNS OF DEVELOPMENT IN THE SOUTH

The British textile mills needed more and more supplies of cotton

Since it was not an easy task, cotton plantations needed workers

Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas made slavery a stronger presence

This became known as the Rise of the Cotton Kingdom

WHY DID COTTON BECOME THE SOUTH’S MOST IMPORTANT CROP?

Invention of cotton gin revolutionized cotton production How did it work? Removed seeds from the cotton fibers One worker could only clean 1 pound of cotton per day

by hand- but the cotton gin could clean 50 pounds a day Led to need of more workers

ELI WHITLEY

Food for Thought:

“Was it a good thing for the Southern Economy to be dependent on cotton and only cotton?”

INDUSTRY IN THE SOUTH

NO!!!!

Because cotton was so profitable, they did not think twice about expanding upon other industries

Money to invest in business was just not there Market for manufactured goods was small, this

discouraged industrial development

INDUSTRY IN THE SOUTH

“Did everyone who worked on a farm or owned a farm have

slaves?”

FARMS

69% Had No Slaves

Less than 1% owned more than 50 slaves

Small Farms:Only the privileged had enough money to own a plantation and to own slaves to work the land

Most just grew crops for themselves and to sell or trade with those living around them

FARMS

Tenant Farmers: Rented land and worked on landlord’s estates

Yeomen Farmers: Made up of largest groups of whites in the South Had 50-200 acres and grew food for themselves and

those around them

Rural Poor: Planted corn and fished and hunted for food. Refused

any work that appeared to resemble enslaved labor

FARMS

Made to earn profits buy growing, manufacturing, and selling cotton

Sold cotton to agents

Agents: Held cotton until price was high and then sold it

Plantations did not get any money until cotton was sold- so they were always in debt

Prices varied from season to season and market to market

FARMS: PLANTATIONS

Life was full of hardships and misery. Enslaved African Americans worked long hours, earned no money, and had little hope of freedom

Cabin Life: Only bare necessitiesHad dozens living together in a single room

LIFE UNDER SLAVERY

SLAVE CABINS

Southern laws protected the plantation owner and allowed him free reign over his slaves

Children born into slavery were instant property of plantation owners

Sale of slaves and separation of families were legal

Some were forcibly separated

LAWS ON SLAVERY

As no new enslaved Africans entered the United States because the slave trade was outlawed in 1808, most enslaved people by 1860 were born in America

Many slaves kept their African elements that included song, dance, and folk tales

Most adopted Christianity and became either Baptists or Methodists

SLAVE CULTURE

Women: Usually worked just as hard as men in the fields Were often cooks, seamstresses, and caretakers of white

owner’s children

Children: By ages 6-8, children were put to work No ‘real’ childhood

WOMEN AND CHILDREN UNDER SLAVERY

AIN’T I A WOMAN?

That man over there say a woman needs to be helped into carriagesand lifted over ditches and to have the best place everywhere.Nobody ever helped me into carriages or over mud puddles or gives me a best place. . .

And ain't I a woman? Look at meLook at my arm! I have plowed and plantedand gathered into barns and no man could head me. . .And ain't I a woman? I could work as muchand eat as much as a man-- when I could get to it--and bear the lash as well

and ain't I a woman?I have born 13 children and seen most all sold into slaveryand when I cried out a mother's grief none but Jesus heard me. . .and ain't I a woman? that little man in black there saya woman can't have as much rights as a man cause Christ wasn't a womanWhere did your Christ come from? From God and a woman!Man had nothing to do with him! If the first woman God ever madewas strong enough to turn the world upside down, all alonetogether women ought to be able to turn it rightside up again.

Sojourner Truth