The Plantation South
EQ: How did cotton affect the social and economic life of
the South?
How did Americans moving west intensify the debate
over slavery?
The Life of a Slave
 Based on the movie clip jot down
information describing the plantation
South and the life of a slave.
 What is your plan to convince the
south to end slavery?
Early Emancipation in the North
The Cotton Kingdom
 Even though the
North became
industrialized, the
South remained
rural
 Boom in textiles
increased
demand for cotton
and cotton gin
made it even
more profitable
 Cotton became greatest source of wealth for
all U.S.
 From 1790-1820 cotton production
increased ten-fold
 From 1790-1860 the number of slaves
went from 698,000 to 4 million
Changes in Cotton
Production
1820
1860
Value of Cotton Exports
As % of All US Exports
 “Cotton Kingdom” – Area were owners of
large plantation dominated society and lived
in luxury
Southern Society (1850)
6,000,000
“Slavocracy”
[plantation owners]
The “Plain Folk”
[white yeoman farmers]
Black Freemen
250,000
Black Slaves
3,200,000
Total US Population  23,000,000
[9,250,000 in the South = 40%]
Southern Population
Slave-Owning Population (1850)
AF AM in the South
 Restrictions on Free AF AM
 About 6% of AF AM in South were free
 Laws restricted their lives
 Excluded from all but lowest jobs, barred
from public education, could not vote,
serve on juries, or testify
 Were restricted from traveling
 Often kidnapped and sold into slavery
AF AM in the South
 Life Under Slavery
 Slave Codes controlled
all aspects of slave
lives
 Slaves legally
considered property
rather than humans
 Majority did heavy labor
all day in fields with
overseer giving
punishment for
offenses
Slave Master
Brands
Slave muzzle
Slave leg irons
Slave shoes
Slave tag, SC
AF AM in the South
 Others were skilled workers,




housekeepers, butlers, nannies,
etc.
Families were often broken apart
through sales
Illegal to import enslaved Africans
to U.S. after 1808
Customs passed down through
the generations
Blended Biblical themes with
realities of slavery to compose
spirituals
Resistance to Slavery
 Many showed resistance through disobedience or
breaking equipment
 Others fled to North
Quilt Patterns as Secret
Messages
The Monkey Wrench pattern, on the left,
alerted escapees to gather up tools and
prepare to flee; the Drunkard Path design, on
the right, warned escapees not to follow a
straight route.
Resistance to Slavery
 Most famous slave revolt led by Nat Turner in 1831
 Killed about 60 whites
 Many innocent AF AM killed in reprisal
Life of a Slave: Your Homework
 Document A: Henry Clay Bruce
 Document B: William Wells
 Document C: Cornella (slave lady) & Mrs. Ann
Tanner
Crash Course in History: Slavery
 Please answer the questions to the Crash Course
in History: Slavery summary.
 This will serve as a quiz grade; please do not
share answers or your paper will be taken from
you and you will receive a “0”.
 Enjoy!
 Link to Crash Course in History: Slavery
The Extension of Slavery
 Slave and Free States
 In 1819 nation had a balance of 11 ‘free states’ and
11 ‘slave states’
 Missouri sought admission to the Union as a ‘slave
state’
 Northerners were against this because
 Would spread slavery
 Would make the South more powerful than the North
The Extension of Slavery
The Missouri Compromise
 Maine applied for admission as a free state which
would balance the number
 Missouri Compromise
 Proposed by Henry Clay
 Permitted Maine admitted as free and Missouri as slave
 Provided everything new territory north of the southern
edge of Missouri be admitted as free
 Gave slave owners right to pursue escaped slaves in
“free” states
The Extension of Slavery
 Continuing Problem
 Southerners angry that the Congress had given
itself the power to make laws regarding slavery
 Northerners angry that slavery was extended into
another state