Life in the South 14 4 The Cottonocracy

Life in the South– 14. 4 The Cottonocracy power and chivalry 1

The Cottonocracy • Planters - owned at least 20 slaves • Less than 1% owned more than 50 slaves • Only 8% owned more than 5 slaves 2

The Cottonocracy • Planters were very wealthy • Controlled economic and political life in the South • Built large expensive homes 3

Small Farmers Yeoman farmer • About 75 % were small farmers • Owned their own land • Owned few slaves if any • Yeoman farmers – worked the land 4

Poor Whites • Did not own their own land - Rented land • Lowest whites on social ladder Poor whites owned no land • Subsistence farming • Cattle – pigs - vegetables • Usually lived in upland regions 5

Free African Americans • 1860 – 200, 000 free blacks in South • Most in Maryland Delaware • New Orleans - Richmond • Faced discrimination • Slave Owners did not like having them around Free blacks set a bad precedent 6 in the South

Enslaved African Americans • About 1/3 of South’s population – about 3. 5 million • Most worked as field hands – women & children too • 12 -14 hours a day 7

Enslaved African Americans • Some – but very few were skilled • Some slave owners treated slaves reasonably well • Other were unreasonably cruel 8

Slave Codes • Local laws designed to keep slaves from escaping or rebelling • Limited places they could go without passes • Not educated – illiterate • Education was often illegal 9

Family Life & Religion • Families frequently broken up • Marriage not recognized in law • Might stay together on large plantations 10

Family Life & Religion • Many slaves find comfort in religion • African Americans had their own preachers 11

Slave Rebellions • Nat Turner – most famous in 1831 • Kills more than 57 whites in Virginia • Revolts were actually very rare • Most escapees were from Upper South Nat Turner 12