The ANTEBELLUM Period
Antebellum refers to the period
leading up to the Civil War.
What images come to mind when
you think of this time period?
On the Title page of your notes
color a picture that will remind
you what antebellum means.
Objective: To examine the impact of the cotton gin on
American society.
Do Now: Which of the following inventions has had the
largest impact on American society? Pick one, and
explain your choice.
• Refrigerator
• Train
• Telephone
• Car
• Television
• Plane
• Computer
• Other (fill in the blank)
I. Eli Whitney, The Cotton Gin and the rise of slavery
DBQ (Document Based Questions):
Part A (use these answers to answer part B):
Eli Whitney, The Cotton Gin and the rise of slavery
1. BIRTH OF THE COTTON GIN
The Cotton Gin was created in 1793 to ease the
tremendous burdens of those who labored to pick the
seeds from the cotton. Many labored under difficult
conditions, and even under good conditions, one could
manage to clean only one pound of the crop a day.
With his invention, Whitney made it possible to clean
fifty pounds per day.
1. How did the Cotton Gin change the production of
Cotton in the South? Be specific!!!!!
2.
2a. Write down a brief description of this picture.
2b. What are the slaves doing, what is the White
Man doing?
3.
Year
1790
1800
1810
1820
1830
1840
1850
1860
Cotton (bales)
3,135
73,145
177,638
334,378
731,452
1,346,232
2,133,851
3,837,402
Census Year # of Slaves
1790
697,681
1800
893,602
1810
1,191,362
1820
1,538,022
1830
2,009,043
1840
2,487,355
1850
3,204,313
1860
3,953,760
1870
0
3. What does the first chart tell about how much
cotton was grown in the south during the antebellum
period?
What does the second chart tell about who did all
the work growing the cotton?
4.
4. Why wasn’t cotton an important crop before the
cotton gin? How did the cotton gin change the
Southern economy?
DBQ Part B:
Using the documents above, your answer
to the questions in Part A , and your
knowledge of social studies, write a welldeveloped paragraph. In your paragraph
discuss how the cotton gin changed both
economic and social aspects of the south
prior to the civil war.
II. Causes of the Civil War
A. Missouri Compromise – 1820
1. Created 12 slave states and 12 free states
2. Missouri slave; Maine free.
3. No slavery north of 36 20’ latitude
B. Compromise of 1850
1. Should California be
admitted free or slave?
a. most states wanted
to keep the balance.
2. Fugitive Slave Act –
required northern states to
return run-away slaves to
their former owners.
3. California is free, Fugitive
slave law inacted.
C. Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854
1. Popular Sovereignty – People should be given the
right to vote on an issue (slavery) and make a decision.
2. These territories wanted to become states and
would have to choose slave or free.
a. This repealed the Missouri Compromise.
3. This law led to Bleeding Kansas
a. People from slave and free states lined up to
claim land in Kansas, lots of people died.
D. John Brown
1. Seized Harpers Ferry, VA in
an attempt to free slaves in the
south
2. The plan – get slaves to rise
up against their owners and go
from plantation to plantation
freeing slaves
E. Dred Scott
1. Slave who lived in a free state – he sued for his
freedom and lost.
a. Supreme Court said that people of African
descent have no rights, therefore cannot sue.
b. Supreme Court also said Dred Scott could not be
free because it would take property from his owner.
F. Uncle Tom’s Cabin
1. Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote about the horrors of
slavery.
2. It helped the abolitionists because it was available
to everyone
G. Election of 1860
1. Lincoln - republican
a. wanted to limit slavery to where it already was.
b. Did not believe races were equal.
2. Breckinridge – Southern Democrat
a. Believed in states right to succeed.
b. Believed federal gov’t could not restrict slavery.
3. Douglas – Northern Democrat
a. Believed in popular sovereignty, the people decide
4. Bell – Constitutional Union
a. Only wanted to preserve the union
5. Lincoln wasn’t on the ballet in ten Southern states
He won anyway