The South Introduction Nat Turners Rebellion Aug 1831

The South

Introduction • Nat Turner’s Rebellion • Aug. 1831 • 60 whites were killed • Created a panic among whites about slave insurrections

Introduction (cont. ) • The Upper South relied less on slavery and cotton than the Lower South • Upper South seceded from the Union more hesitantly • From 1832 on, what united and created the region the “Old South” was its defense of slavery • Its “peculiar institution”

Introduction (cont. ) 1. ) How did the rise of cotton cultivation affect the society and economy of the Old South? 2. ) What major social divisions segmented the white South? 3. ) Why did nonslaveholding whites feel their futures were tied to the survival of slavery? 4. ) What were the distinctive features of African-American society and culture in the South?

King Cotton • Introduction • The main cash crop of the colonial South was tobacco • Tobacco declined in the late 1700’s • Cotton culture revived southern agriculture • Encouraged rapid expansion southward and westward • Cotton growing was stimulated by: • the growth of the British textile industry • Development of the cotton gin • Removal of Indians form southern and western lands

The Lure of Cotton • The climate of the Lower South was ideal for growing cotton • Intense demand in Britain kept prices high • Cotton could be grown profitably on any scale • With or without slave labor • Cotton cultivation and the institution of slavery did increase side by side • Cotton and corn were often grown together so that the South did not have to spend money on imported food

Ties Between the Lower and Upper South • The Upper South identified with the Lower South rather than the free states: • Many of the Lower South residents had migrated from the Upper South • All southern whites benefited form the 3/5’s clause in the Constitution • Almost all southerners resented the criticism form northern abolitionists • The residents of the Upper South enjoyed a large, profitable business in the sale of slaves to the Lower South

The North and South Diverge • While the North was rapidly industrializing and urbanizing, the South remained primarily rural and agricultural • Slaves could be and were employed in southern factories • Much of the South’s capital was tied up in slave ownership • Not available for investment in industrial development

The Social Groups of the White South • Introduction • In 1860 • 1/4 of southern whites owned slaves • 1% of southern whites owned 100 or more • The whites of the Old South fit into 4 classes: • 1. ) planters • Owners of more than 20 slaves • 2. ) small slaveholders • 3. ) yeoman • Nonslaveholding small family farmers • 4. ) people of the pine barrens

Planters • The plantation was almost a factory in the field • High degree of division of labor • The pursuit of profit led planters to: • look constantly for additional and more fertile land • Organize their slave crews as efficiently as possible • Seek favorable merchant-banker connections

Planter and Plantation Mistresses (cont. ) • Psychological strains that plantation agriculture placed on planters and their wives included: • Isolation from other whites of their class • Frequent moves • Crude living conditions • Especially those who lived on the new frontier • Responsibilities of running a major economic enterprise

The Small Slaveholders • There were many more small slaveholders than planter • “In 1860, 88% of all slaveholders owned fewer than 20 slaves. ” • In the upland regions • Small slaveholders tended to identify with the more numerous yeomen • In the low country and delta • They identified with the planters • Aspired to rise into that class • Sometimes they did

The Yeoman • Nonslaveholding family farmers • Largest group among southern whites • Most yeoman grew some crops for sale • A few were only subsistence farmers • Farms ranged in size from 50 to 200 acres • Congregated in the upland, hilly, and less fertile regions • Proud • Self-sufficient

The People of the Pine Barrens • Made up about 10% of white population • Did not own land or slaves • Squatted on unfenced land • Subsistence farming • Grazed hogs and cattle • Grew corn • Refused to work as hired help for others • Survived in this manner

Social Relations in the White South • Introduction • Southern white society showed a mixture of aristocratic and democratic elements • There were great differences in wealth between classes • Most whites did own land • Planters were overrepresented in state legislatures

Conflict over Slavery • There was a potential for conflict between slaveholders and nonslaveholders • But the majority of nonslaveholding southerners supported slavery • Why? • Some hoped to become slaveholders • Many feared freedmen would demand social and political equality with whites • Feared a race war

Conflict over Slavery (cont. ) • Throughout the South there was a fear of a race war • Many whites also shared racist beliefs about blacks • Feared that emancipation would be followed by a race war • Which would endanger the lives of all whites

The Proslavery Argument • The proslavery argument was also used as a tool to unite southern whites behind the institution • The proslavery argument was constructed by southern intellectuals between 1830 and 1860 • The argument claimed that slavery was a positive good rather than a necessary evil

The Proslavery Argument (cont. ) • It claimed that slavery was sanctioned by history and the bible • Southern slaves were treated better than northern factory “wage slaves” • By the 1830’s, most southern churches had adopted the proslavery position

The Proslavery Argument (cont. ) • Southerners persuaded themselves of the righteousness of their “peculiar institution” • They also increasingly suppressed all public criticism of slavery • They seized and destroyed abolitionist literature mailed to the South • Smashed the presses of southern antislavery newspapers

The Maturing of the Plantation System • The institution of slavery changed between 1700 and 1830 • In the earlier period • the majority of the black population was recent African or Caribbean arrivals • Disproportionately young males • Spoke little English • Isolated on small farms

The Maturing of the Plantation System (cont. ) • By 1830 • There was a more even balance between males and females • Most were American born and English speaking • Most worked on large plantations • These changes facilitated a more rapid natural increase in the black population

Work and Discipline of Plantation Slaves • No other 19 th century Americans worked as many hours under as harsh discipline as slave field hands • Either worked in gang labor or under the task system • Slave craftsmen and domestics on the plantations • had higher status • easier work • but also were subjected at times to physical brutality

Life on the Margin: Free Blacks in the Old South • Not all blacks in the Old South were slaves • More than 250, 000 free blacks in 1860 • From the 1830’s on, the position of the free black in the South deteriorated • Southern law forbade teaching blacks (free or slave) to read

Life on the Margin (cont. ) • Obstacles were put in the way of manumission (freedom) • Free blacks were barred from entering or remaining in many states • Many of the post-Civil War black leaders came from this group

Slave Resistance • Nat Turner’s 1831 rebellion was the only one in which whites were killed • 2 earlier planned insurrections were betrayed before they got underway • Gabriel Prosser’s (1800) • Denmark Vesey’s (1822)

Slave Resistance (cont. ) • The Old South experienced far fewer uprisings than South America and the Caribbean • Slaves did not form a large majority anywhere in the South • Whites had all the weapons and soldiers • Blacks were reluctant to endanger their families • Black rarely had allies in southern Indians and never in nonslaveholding whites

Slave Resistance (cont. ) • More than be either running away or violent revolt, • slaves resisted slavery by furtive means: • Theft • Negligence • Arson • Poisoning • Work stoppages and slowdowns

The Language of Slaves • During the colonial period, verbal communication between slaves was difficult • Variety of African languages they spoke • By the time most slaves were American-born, they had developed their own language • Pidgin English • This was an indispensable tool for communication • A bridge to a distinctive black culture

African American Religion • By 1800 many had been converted to Christianity • Methodists and Baptists • Masters hoped that by preaching Christian humility and acceptance to their slaves, they could make blacks docile and obedient • This did not work • Many of the rebels and their followers were devout Christians • It did serve as a unifying force • A source of hope and comfort

Conclusion • Slavery is what unified the Old South • Though the majority of white southerners owned no slaves, they had become convinced that the perpetuation of the “peculiar institution” was in the best interests of the entire South • Northerners believed that slavery made the South backward and bankrupt • Southern whites reacted to outside criticism by defending slavery as a benevolent way to handle the innate inferiority of the black race

Conclusion (cont. ) • While most of slaves did not revolt or escape successfully, they did engage in covert resistance • White masters hoped black conversion to Christianity would render their slaves submissive • When blacks accepted Christianity, they read into it the message that slavery was an injustice