Southerners remained localistic and culturally conservative Prospects for most Southern whites: inherited land and family Southerners were grounded in authority of patriarchs and integrity of families Paternalistic Society Family members: representatives of families, rather than individuals duty to their family Reputation and defense of the family name and honor Family honor more important than wealth Southern code of honor Honor the obligations to which one is born Rural character of South meant fewer commercial entertainments English literature preferred Sir Walter Scott and Chivalry Hunting and fishing Commercial entertainment Showboats along river towns Horse racing New Orleans Misfortune is divine punishment Southern cultural conservatism was rooted in: Religion The family A system of fixed family roles By 1830 South was minority in a democratic and capitalist nation Northern middle-class: made a connection between material and moral progress Individual autonomy and universal rights Radical northern minority advocated abolition of slavery Southern response: moral and religious defense of slavery Rejects Jeffersons self-evident equality of man Plantation slaveholders knew their success depended on slaves labor and obedience in exchange for allowing slaves some privilege and autonomy Most precious slave privilege: right to make and maintain families Slave marriages Slave families vulnerable Slaves used for sex by owners Slaves were assets that were sometimes liquidated Slaves modified their relations in anticipation of uncertainties Extended kinship Missions to slaves Owners responsible for spiritual welfare of slaves Slaves ignored much of missionary teachings Slaves embraced Christianity: transformed it into an independent African American faith Incorporated social and ritual practices passed down from West Africa Slave revolt rare Running away common form of rebellion Christianity convinced slaves that justice would come to them Denmark Vesey Vesey plot (1822) Nat Turners Rebellion (1831) Instrument of Gods wrath Virginia: 60 slaves killed 55 whites Deeply troubling for Southern whites Traditional view: God gave white males power over others Whig evangelicals Marriage changes from rank domination to sentimental partnership The emergence of a radical minority envisioning a world without power Attacked slavery and patriarchy as national sin North: states began to abolish slavery Revolutionary idealism Slavery was inefficient and unnecessary Gradual emancipation (Pennsylvania model) Free black populations grew and moved into the cities Many took stable, low-paying jobs Discrimination rises White workers drive blacks out of skilled and semi- skilled jobs Blacks increasingly politically disenfranchised Segregated schools Blacks build their own institutions African Methodist Episcopal Church (1816) Black Anti-slavery activism David Walker: Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World (1829) Harriet Tubman Frederick Douglass First anti-slavery efforts die out in early 1800s American Colonization Society (1816) Gradual, compensated emancipation Repatriation to Liberia Slavery abolished many places outside the U.S. Toussaint LOuverture and Haiti South American Republics British Caribbean William Lloyd Garrison The Liberator (1831) American Anti-Slavery Society (1833) Abolition a logical extension of middle class evangelicalism American Anti-slavery Society demands: Immediate emancipation Full civil and legal rights for African-Americans
