Slavery and Southern Culture – 1800-1860

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TwCtR0IEZ4

PBS Documentary

Africans in America

Part 4:Judgment Day

(2:00-35:00)

Africans in America: Judgment Day What was interesting about the ideas and experiences of

the people listed below as described in the film?

Consider: Pierce Butler, John C. Calhoun, Harriet Jacobs, David Walker, William Lloyd Garrison, Angelina Grimke, Fannie Kemball, Nat Turner

Extra Credit HW Opportunity – Deadline one week from today

Watch rest of Africans in America: Judgment Day (35:00 – 1:22)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TwCtR0IEZ4

Describe details discussed that were of greatest interest and why in 2 pages

or

Watch Award winning film 12 Years a Slave (rental available on line) and write a 2 page review describing what film taught you about lives of enslaved people

In Class Slavery Primary Source Readings Discussion Questions

Read primary sources and be prepared to discuss questions below as well as other aspects of document you find interesting in small groups

12-6: The Bitter Consciousness of Being a SlaveWhat are the psychological impacts of slavery on both an

enslaved person and a slave owner as described by Moncure Conway?

12-7: Memories of a Slave ChildhoodWhat violent acts are witnessed by the slave child and how might this trauma impact her?

12-11: The Enslavement of Solomon NorthupHow does Solomon Northup lose his status as a free man? What does his story and the newspaper advertisement reveal about the status of free black in the north?

“Cotton is King” of the growing Southern EconomyHigh profits & soil depletion = Desire for expansion west for more cotton production =Need for more slave labor = Slave population growing 27% a decade

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ajn9g5Gsv98&list=PL8dPuuaLjXtMwmepBjTSG593eG7ObzO7s&index=13Crash Course US History on Slavery

Expansion of “King Cotton” Pushes Internal Slave Trade

“Ohio Fever” in the North & “Alabama Fever” in the South

Domestic Sales & Transfer of Slaves to the “Deep South”Increases Greatly between 1830 and 1860

South invests capital into slaves & plantationswhile north invests in factories & railroads

Separation of Slave Families At Auctions Outrages Many Abolitionists

1 out of 3Slave

ChildrenSeparated

From One orBoth Parents

Stronger Abolition Movement Triggers Even Stronger Defense of Slavery

Historical, Economic, Religious, Social, Paternalistic & RacialArguments from those who saw the “peculiar institution”

not as a “necessary evil”, but a “positive good”

John C. Calhounof South Carolinabecomes the majorAntebellum Voice in Congress for Slavery & States Rights

Southern Planter Elite• 5% of whites own over 50% of slaves• About 3,000 elite families owned 300+ slaves each• Included “Tidewater Gentry” & “Cotton Entrepreneurs”• Aristocratic & capitalistic “Slavocracy” develops• In many ways, South a “colony” of North & Europe

Small Planters, Yeomen & Landless Whites• Majority of slave owners held 1-5 slaves• Yeomen aspired to be (but rarely became) plantation owners• Southern population overwhelmingly rural & native born• Poor whites hurt economically by slavery, but supported it socially

Antebellum African-American Culture & Religion

Evangelical Protestantism Influences African-American Culture• 2nd Great Awakening influences northern and southern blacks• Messages of salvation and liberation resonate as blacks found their own churches• African and Christian traditions blended• Unique kinship ties and ceremonies develop

Slave Resistance & Relationship with Owners “Passive” Resistance Most Common

• Ex: Slow Pace of Work & Destruction of Tools & Owners Property

Some slave owners push slaves with brutal violence• Why not all?

Some owners use “gang labor” system while others use “task labor” • Impact on enslaved people?

Some blacks act as “drivers” for white overseers or take care of white children• Why are some enslaved people “trusted” like this by owners?

Slave – Owner relationships varied and complex…

Less Common Forms of Slave Resistance – Rebellion & Running Away

Ex: Underground Railroad & Nat Turners Rebellion

Map 12.3 The Underground Railroad in the 1850s (p. 356)

Free Blacks in Antebellum America• About 10-12% (400,000+) of the black population by 1860 is free (but not socially equal)• Freedom gained by flight, manumission and emancipation• Confined to separate social , economic & political spheres in both north & south• African-American founded various businesses and institutions• Divided on efforts to aid the enslaved and assimilate into white culture