15.2 Plantation South
MAIN IDEA
WHY IT MATTERS NOW
The invention of
the cotton gin and
the demand for
cotton caused
slavery to spread
in the South.
The spread of
slavery created
lasting racial and
sectional tensions.
CA. Standards
• 8.7.1 Describe the development of the agrarian
economy in the South, identify the locations of
the cotton-producing states, and discuss the
significance of cotton and the cotton gin.
• 8.7.2 Trace the origins and the development of
slavery; its effects on black Americans and on the
region’s political, social, religious, economic, and
cultural development; and identify the strategies
that were tried to both overturn and preserve it
(e.g., through the writing and historical document
on Nat Turner, Denmark Vesey).
Daily Guided Questions
1. How did cotton affect the social
and economic life of the South?
2. How was life different for
plantations slaves, city slaves and
free blacks in the South?
3. What were some of the ways
enslaved people resisted slavery?
Silent Read
•
•
•
•
•
Read silently pages 270-274.
Everything on those pages.
Read the Vocabulary Builders.
Read the Main Ideas.
Look and read over the graphs and
pictures.
• Read over the Check Your Progress.
The Cotton Kingdom
• Eli Whitney invented the use of
interchangeable parts, what was the
other invention of his that
revolutionized the cotton industry? How
did it work?
Eli Whitney invented the _______and it…
• Eli Whitney invented the Cotton Gin and
it worked by removing the seeds from
the cotton fiber.
Cont.
• How did cotton affect the social and economic
life of the South?
Cotton affected the social and economic life of
the South by…
• Cotton affected the social and
economic life of the South by
increasing the need for slave labor
and making large plantation owners
wealthy.
North and Slavery
• Who benefitted from cotton production
in the North?
In the North, the people that benefitted
from cotton production…
• In the North, the people that
benefitted from cotton production
were textiles owners, bankers, and
ship owners.
Southern Life
• About how many southern farmers did not
own slaves?
• More then half of the southern farmers
didn’t own slaves.
• What did they farm instead?
• These farmers grew other crops or raised
farm animals.
• What do you notice about the graphs on
page 271?
• With a greater demand for cotton, so the
demand for slave labor.
Defending Slavery
• Why did most southern white people
support slavery although many didn’t
own slaves?
Although many southern whites
didn’t own slaves they support it
because…
…they feared a violent uprisings.
Cont.
• How did the supporters of slavery compare it
to the factory system in the North, saying it
was more humane?
• Supporters of slavery defended slavery,
saying…
…slaves didn’t have to worry about
unemployment, homelessness, or
starvation.
African Americans in the South
• About what percentage of slaves were
free and what was one way they could
obtain their freedom?
About ___% were free and one way they
could obtain their freedom was by____.
About 6% were free and one way they
could obtain their freedom was by
buying their freedom.
Cont.
• Although free, free southern blacks could
not do what?
Freed African-Americans could not…
…go to school, serve on juries, or testify
against whites in courts.
• Why were free blacks in the south
discouraged from traveling?
Free blacks were discouraged from traveling
because…
…they could be captured by slave catchers and sold
into slavery.
Life Under Slavery
• What were slave codes?
Slave codes were…
-Couldn’t gather in large groups
-Free blacks couldn’t own a gun
-Slaves were not allowed to read or
write
Cont.
• What were some of the jobs of
slaves and their punishments?
-Heavy farm labor.
-House servants and cooks.
-Whippings, branding, etc.
Cont.
• What were spirituals?
Spirituals were…
…religious folk songs that blended
biblical themes with the realities of
slavery.
-Compared themselves to the ancient
Hebrews.
Resistance to Slavery
• Denmark Vesey
created a plan to
attack Charleston
S.C.
• Slave rebellion.
-Gathered guns and
ammunition.
• Betrayed by other
slaves.
Cont.
• What were some of the ways slaves
resisted slavery?
Some ways slaves resisted slavery was
by…
…working slowly, pretended not to
understand directions, broken farm
equipment, or run away.
Nat Turner
• Who was Nat
Turner and what
did he do?
• Led a slave
rebellion in
1831, killing 60
whites.
Primary Source and Questions pg. 629
• Read the primary source, Twelve
Years a Slave by Solomon Northrup,
on page 629.
• Read everything on the page and
answer the three questions at the
bottom.
Study Guide pg. 120
• Copy and complete the study
guide on page 120.
• Use your notes and textbook
pages 270-274 to complete the
study guide.
ANSWERS
1. Eliza wanted the slave owner to not just buy
her son, but the whole family. She tried by
begging and promising to be the most
faithful slave ever.
2. The slave dealer responded by threating to
beat her.
3. Answers may vary, but most readers were
effected emotionally, by the idea of breaking
up families and cruelty of slave
owners/dealers.
Essential Questions
1. Why did Americans take different paths (North, South, and
West) in the early 1800’s?
2. How did the new technology of the Industrial Revolution
change the way Americans lived? (pg. 258-261)
3. How did urbanization, technology, and social change affect
the North? (pg. 264-269)
4. What obstacles did blacks face in the North? (pg. 269)
5. How were northern textile mills and Southern cotton
plantations linked? What key invention deepened this
connection? (pg. 270)
6. How was life different for plantations slaves, city slaves and
free blacks in the South? (pg. 272-274)
7. What were some of the ways enslaved people resisted
slavery? (pg. 274)