Chap 16

RIFT AND REUNION 1820–1877

CHAPTER16

Sectional Differences1820–1860

CHAPTER17

Road to Civil War1850–1860

CHAPTER18

The Civil War1861–1865

CHAPTER19

Reconstruction1865–1877

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U N I T S I XU N I T S I XU N I T S I X

504

The Last Saluteby Don Troiani, 1988

Present-day painter Don Troiani shows theSouth surrendering at the end of the Civil War.Generals from the North and South salute oneanother at the beginning of the ceremony.

History

A R TAND

CIVIL WAR

OIL LAMP

�

Why It’s ImportantIn the mid-1800s, differences between the North and

the South grew so strong that compromise no longer seemed possible. Tragically, Americans turned to civil war to settle their disagreements. The long and bloodywar resulted in defeat for the South and victory for the Union.

Themes★ Economic Development★ Influence of Technology★ Conflict and Cooperation★ Civil Rights and Liberties

Key Events★ Compromise of 1850★ Southern secession ★ Emancipation Proclamation★ General Lee surrenders to General Grant★ Passage of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth,

and Fifteenth Amendments★ Election of 1876

SETTING THE SCENE

Portfolio ProjectCreate a scrapbook forthe Civil War period of history. Use your ownoriginal drawings andphotocopies of maps, pic-tures, and other illustra-tions from library sources.Arrange your collectionaround different subjectsand write a short expla-nation of each subject.

� AFRICAN AMERICANS

IN COTTON FIELD

� FREEDMEN’S SCHOOL

� THE LIBERATORNEWSPAPER

To learn more about the Civil War, view theHistoric America: Electronic Field Trips

Side 1, Chapter 8 video lesson:• Gettysburg

PRIMARYRIMARY SOURCESOURCESPPRIMARYRIMARY SSOURCESOURCES

LibraryLibrary

See pages 760–761 for the primarysource readings to accompany Unit 6.

506 UNIT 6 Rift and Reunion: 1820–1877

A Morse Code Message

BackgroundArmies in the Civil War made use of the newest communication

system—the telegraph. Samuel Morse sent the first long distancemessage in 1844, using a code of short and long electrical signals.Telegraph operators over the world began using this code to sendmessages. Make your own simple telegraph sender using a battery-powered circuit and try sending a message in Morse code.

LAB ACTIVITYHANDS ON HISTORYHANDS-ON HISTORY

� DEMONSTRATION OF EARLY TELEGRAPH

The fastest speed recorded for ahand-key transmission of Morse code is 175 symbols aminute. A member of the United States Army Signalcorps accomplished this feat in 1942.

Believe It

N O T !OR

Materials■ size D battery■ tape■ 2 feet of insulated wire, cut into 3 pieces■ paper clips■ thumbtacks■ flashlight-sized light bulb and holder■ piece of thick cardboard or soft wood about 1 foot

square■ copy of the Morse code

507UNIT 6 Rift and Reunion: 1820–1877

Lab ActivityReport

1. What happened when you touched

the paper clip to the thumbtack

in Step D?

2. Was it easy or difficult to send a

coded message with your paper

clip? Explain why.

3. Drawing Conclusions How do you

think the use of the telegraph

might have affected the outcome

of the Civil War?

What To DoA. Trap the end of one piece of wire under

a thumbtack and tape the other end toone terminal of the battery.

B. Connect another piece of wire tothe other battery terminaland the light bulb holder.

C. Connect a thirdpiece of wire to thelight bulb holderand a second tackabout 1 inch fromthe first one.

D. Trap a paper clipunder the firstthumbtack andbend the end up atan angle. The paperclip will act as a telegraph key. Tap the bent paper clip down on the secondthumbtack and observe what happens.

E. Try tapping the paper clip to the thumbtack in short and long connections asshown on the dots and dashes of the Morse code.

GO A STEP FURTHERACTIVITY

Find out more about Samuel Morse andhis telegraph and its success as a commu-nication system. Create a chart showingthe advantages and disadvantages of usingthe telegraph compared to modern com-munication systems such as the telephone.

1820–1829 1830–1839


1837 Princess Victoria becomes queenof Great Britain and Ireland

Sectional Differences1820–1860

CHAPTER 16★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

SETTING THE SCENE

United States

World1821 Peru wins independence from

Spain

� JOHN DEERE’S PLOW, 1838

Chapter OverviewVisit the American History: The Early Years to1877 Web site at ey.glencoe.com and click onChapter 16—Chapter Overviews to previewchapter information.

HISTORY

1831 Nat Turner leads a slave revolt1837 The Panic of 1837 brings economic

hard times1837 John Deere invents the steel plow

1820 Missouri Compromise createsbalance between slave and freestates

FocusBy the 1850s the North and South

had developed distinctly different ways of life. By 1860 cities had multiplied, and the North had developed amanufacturing economy that rivaled industrial Europe. The Southexperienced remarkable growth, too, but in agriculture instead ofmanufacturing. Southerners increased cotton production dramaticallyand spread their plantations to the south and west.

Concepts to Understand★ Why economic development of the North and South differed★ How economics affected the individual and family life

Read to Discover . . .★ how inventions changed the economy in the North.★ why Northern immigrants experienced poor working conditions.★ why the cotton gin

contributed to increased slavery in the South.

★ how Southern society was structured.

Journal NotesHow did the soci-

eties and economies of

the North and South

differ? List the differ-

ences as you read the

chapter.

http://www.glencoe.com/sec/socialstudies/ushistory/ahey2001/chapter16/overview.html

509CHAPTER 16 Sectional Differences: 1820–1860

1840–1849 1850–18591840 Union Act unites Upper and

Lower Canada1840 World Anti-Slavery Convention

held in London

1854 Nativists form the American party

Where Cotton Is Kingby Konstantin Rodko, 1908

This painting demonstrates a style of art known as “folkart.” Folk art tries to depict the lives and surroundingsof common people.

History

A R TAND

� SINGER SEWING MACHINE, 1851

1844 Samuel Morse sends first longdistance telegraph message

1846 Elias Howe patents his sewingmachine

The Changing North★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★


SECTION 1

GUIDE TO READING

Reading StrategyOrganizing Information As you readabout changes in the North, use a diagramlike the one shown here to list the advancesmade in the field of transportation.

Read to Learn . . .★ what advances in transportation and

communications occurred between 1820 and 1860.

★ what inventions changed farming and other kinds of work in the United States.

Terms to Know★ clipper★ telegraph★ seamstress★ patent★ royalty

Main IdeaImprovements in communication and transportation helped the Northbecome a bustling, prosperous region.

Transportation

On July 28, 1855, the captain of theHenry Clay navigated down the HudsonRiver. The steamboat’s passengersstrolled on deck or sampled food in theluxurious dining room. Then the captainspotted the steamer Armenia. With grimdetermination he ordered his crew tostoke the boiler. When the captain of theArmenia saw the Henry Clay, he toodemanded more fuel. The race was on!Passengers on both boats shouted withexcitement, but their excitement soonturned to panic. The Henry Clay caughtfire, and its passengers scrambled for theirlives. By the end of the day, 90 people haddrowned or burned to death.

� TELEGRAPH SOUNDER

★ River TransportationBefore steamboats Americans had

depended on flatboats to carry passengersand goods downriver. Flatboats amountedto little more than hastily assembled raftsmoved along by the current. Goingupstream required poles, sails, and plentyof time and labor. Once most travelersreached their destination, they tore aparttheir flatboats and used the timber forshelter or fuel. In New Orleans at themouth of the Mississippi River, builderseagerly bought up flatboats and usedthem as lumber for houses and sidewalks.

In 1787 American John Fitch built asteam-powered boat that could move


against the current. Unfortunately itproved impractical for carrying goodsand passengers. Not until Robert Fultondeveloped the Clermont did steamboatsbegin to take over American waterways.

In 1807 Fulton launched the Clermonton the Hudson River. Scoffers called itFulton’s Folly and a “floating sawmillcaught on fire.” But it went upstreamfrom New York City to Albany in 32 hoursand proved that a steamboat could carrygoods and passengers long distances.From then on New Yorkers traveledupstream and down with equal ease.

Steam travel also flourished on theMississippi River and its tributaries.Other inventors adapted Fulton’s designfor these fast, shallow western rivers.Henry M. Shreve built a shallow-hulledriverboat that one observer claimed“could float on a heavy dew.” OliverEvans of Delaware added a high-pres-sure engine. It was lighter and cheaperthan the low-pressure engine on the Cler-mont. Despite the hazards, steamboatslinked Western waterways with theSouthern and Eastern Coasts and helpedunite the nation.

★ Ocean Travel In 1842 China opened several major

ports to Western nations. American mer-chants sent trading ships to acquire Chi-nese goods such as silk, cinnamon, andfirecrackers. They especially wanted Chi-nese tea. Because the freshest tea fetchedthe highest prices, merchants with thefastest ships made the largest profits.

Oceangoing steamers already traveledto Europe. No steamship, however, couldcarry enough coal to keep going aroundthe tip of Africa and on to East Asia. Swiftsailing ships called packets made the tripfrom China to the United States in sixmonths—long enough for delicate teas tospoil. Tea merchants demanded evenfaster sailing ships.

Clipper ShipsIn 1841 Virginian John Griffiths

designed a new kind of ship. He claimedthat its knifelike bow would slice throughthe water and its extra sails would catchevery gust of wind. Two New York mer-chants had the ship built and named it theRainbow.

The Rainbow was launched in 1845. Ittraveled to and from China in the time ittook a packet to sail one way. Merchantssold the tea that the Rainbow carried fortwice what the ship cost to build. Pleasedby the ship’s success, the merchantsordered a similar ship called the Sea Witch.

The Sea Witch measured 170 feet (52 m)long, and its main mast rose 14 stories. Itmade good time on its first and secondvoyages. On its third voyage, the SeaWitch set a record that no sailing ship thesame size has ever broken. In 1849 it com-pleted the passage from China to NewYork in 74 days and 14 hours.

In American slang of the 1800s a goodclip meant “a fast pace.” Therefore,Americans called sailing ships like theRainbow and Sea Witch clippers. In 1849clipper ships began running betweenNew York and San Francisco as well as toChina. In 1851 Donald McKay, builder of

STEAMBOATS ON THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER Steam-powered boats became a common sight onthe Mississippi River in the mid-1800s. Whoimproved the steamboat built by John Fitch?

istoryPicturingH


the fastest clipper ships, launched the Fly-ing Cloud, which set a new record by sail-ing from New York to California in lessthan 90 days.

The era of the clipper ships lasted onlyabout 20 years. In the mid-1850s Califor-nia started producing its own goods anddepended less and less on trade with theEast Coast. As the shipping business toSan Francisco slowed down, tradersdemanded fewer clippers.

In 1869 the Suez Canal connected theMediterranean and Red Seas for the firsttime. The canal made the voyage betweenNew York and China 4,000 miles (6,436 km)shorter. Too narrow and shallow for mostsailing ships, the canal was well suited foroceangoing steamships. Thus, steamshipssoon replaced clippers on the trade routes.

★ American RailroadsThe reign of the riverboat proved

almost as short-lived as the rule of theclipper. Steamboats traveled fast, buttrains went faster. In two or three days, atrain covered the same distance that ittook a steamboat one week to cover. Inaddition, railroads could go almost any-where while boats had to follow thewaterways. As a result, many travelersopted to ride the rails rather than theriverboats.

The first successful use of the steam loco-motive in the United States occurred on the

Charleston and Hamburg railroad line inSouth Carolina in 1831. Other railroadsbegan to operate almost simultaneously.

Not only did the railroads offer speedytransportation, they could be built quicklyas well. By 1840 the United States boastedmore than 400 railroad companies andmore miles of rails than all of Europe. By1860 the total miles covered by Americanrailroads numbered 30,000 (48,270 km)—enough to cross the country 10 times.

Despite technological advances, pas-sengers found train travel troublesomeand dangerous. Schedules changed with-out notice. The cars were stuffy and sooty.Cinders even set fire to passengers’clothes. Accidents occurred on a regularbasis because of fast speeds or faulty con-struction. Yet Americans continued toboard trains at every stop. As engineersdeveloped better rails and engines, rail-roads became the most important meansof transportation. By the 1850s Americansdemanded a coast-to-coast railroad.

★ Faster CommunicationsAmericans proved as inventive with

communications as with transportation.In 1832 talk of discoveries in Europeinspired American painter Samuel F.B.Morse. European scientists had proventhat wires could transmit electricity.Morse reasoned that electricity might beused to carry long-distance messagesalong the wires. He also concluded that ifelectricity could travel along a wire “tenmiles without stopping, I can make it goaround the globe.”

Morse Invents the TelegraphMorse spent the next three years work-

ing on the telegraph, a device used tosend messages across a wire. He andAlfred Vail developed the dot-dash com-munication system. Later this systembecame known as Morse code.

Footnotes to HistoryMachine Versus Horse Some peopleonce laughed at trains. Many believed thathorse-drawn carriages were safer andfaster. A huge crowd watched in Baltimoreas a steam-powered engine, the TomThumb, raced a horse-drawn carriage.Although the horse at first struggled tokeep up, the Tom Thumb suddenly brokedown. The defeat of Tom Thumb, however,did not mean the end of the steam engine.


Not until 1843, however, did Congressfund an experimental telegraph linebetween Washington, D.C., and Balti-more. On May 24, 1844, Morse demon-strated the telegraph by sending the firstmessage: “What hath God wrought!” Afew seconds later the operator in Balti-more tapped back the same message.

Telegraph messages soon became com-monplace. By 1846 more than 5,000 miles(8,045 km) of telegraph wire were strung,and 3,000 more miles (4,827 km) wereunder construction. As a result, people inremote country towns and big cities suchas Boston, New York, and Washingtonreceived news the day that it happened.

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PENNSYLVANIA

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BALTIMORE AND OHIO

Miss

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Missouri R.

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Main lines

Secondary lines

0

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200 400 miles

Philadelphia

PittsburghCleveland

New York

Albany

Montpelier

Boston

New Orleans

VicksburgMontgomery

Jackson

Chicago

Madison

Quincy

KansasCity

Cincinnati

Louisville

Indianapolis

Toledo

DetroitLa Crosse

St. Louis

Cairo

St. Joseph

Washington, D.C.

RichmondLynchburg

CharlestonAtlanta

ChattanoogaJackson

Memphis

Savannah

Jacksonville

Tampa

Baltimore

Buffalo

Major Railroads, 1860

Location Shippers could send large quantities of goods faster over railroadsthan they could over earlier canal, river, and wagon routes. To what western-most city did the railroads extend by 1860?


Newspaper reporters used the telegraphto report events of the Mexican War to theAmerican public. As one enthusiastnoted, “We have every morning newsfrom all parts of the Union.”

★ The Northern Economy Expands

From 1840 to 1860 rapid growth becamethe dominant characteristic of the North-ern economy. The growth was largely dueto new methods of farming, inventions,and the expanding transportation system.

Industry in the North grew rapidly. Theuse of steam power instead of water-power to run factories allowed factoryowners to build almost anywhere, insteadof only near rivers. New machines pro-duced more goods for less money. Rail-roads brought raw goods to factories andlinked the factories to distant towns.

New Ways to FarmAt first American farming changed lit-

tle. After the Industrial Revolutionreached America, however, inventorscreated ways to produce more cropswith less work. For example, since the1700s farmers had been using heavy ironplows. In 1837 Vermont blacksmith JohnDeere fashioned a lightweight plowfrom polished steel. It sliced through thesoil more cleanly than an iron plow andeven “sang,” or vibrated, as it tilled theearth.

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BaseballExperts today disagree over

where baseball was invented.The idea for baseball originat-ed either in England, in agame called rounders, or inthe United States when it wascreated by Abner Doubleday.

ThenThe Old Ball Game

“How many bases?”“Where’s second?” “Howfar to third?” These base-ball questions had no setanswers in the early 1800s. Thegame’s rules varied from town totown. Fields came in all sizes,and teams had no set number ofplayers.

In 1845 Alexander Cartwrightfounded the KnickerbockerBase Ball Club of New York anddrew up a set of rules for histeam. His rules quickly caughton, and soon teams everywherewere playing organized base-ball.

NowModern Baseball

Players still follow many ofCartwright’s rules. Other ruleshave been added through theyears. Since Cartwright’s daythe number of innings, pitchingdistance, procedures for makingouts, and rules for strikes andwalks have changed. All base-ball teams today play by thesame set of rules—no matterwho they are or where they play.

Linking Past and Present

� BASEBALL IN THE 1800S

� BASEBALL TODAY

Student Web ActivityVisit the American History: The Early Years to 1877 Web site at ey.glencoe.com and click on Chapter 16—Student Web Activities for an activity on the telegraph.

HISTORY

http://www.glencoe.com/sec/socialstudies/ushistory/ahey2001/chapter16/webact.html


Another invention allowed farmers toproduce more because it helped them workfaster. Farmers had been cutting grain withscythes since ancient times. In July 1831,Virginian Cyrus McCormick demonstratedwhat observers called “a right smart curi-ous” machine. McCormick’s reaper har-vested 14 times more grain than 2 men withscythes could cut in the same amount oftime.

Ingenious InventionsAs the century unfolded, inventors

came up with innovation after innova-tion—the safety pin, barbed wire, and therevolver were just some of the marvelousnew inventions. Others found ways toimprove existing products. These im-proved products, such as stoves, butterchurns, screws, nails, sulfur matches, andrubber, became just as impressive as thenew inventions.

In the early 1830s, New Yorker WalterHunt, inventor of the safety pin, developedthe first machine to sew interlocking stitch-es. Hunt feared, though, that his inventionwould take work away from seamstresses,or women who sewed for a living. So heabandoned the sewing machine withoutgetting a patent—the exclusive right touse, make, or sell the invention.

More than 10 years later, Elias Howe of Massachusetts produced a similarmachine. Howe filed a patent in 1846 andwent to England to market his invention.When he returned to the United States,Isaac Singer had already produced andsold a version of Howe’s machine. Howetook Singer to court and won a royalty, orpayment, for every sewing machine builtin the United States.

Later Singer struck a deal with Howeand two other inventors who hadimproved Howe’s invention. They agreedto combine their innovations in onemachine, mass-produce it, and share theprofits.

Out of the Home, Into the FactoryAs Hunt had feared, the sewing machine

proved disastrous for seamstresses. Aworker using a sewing machine produceddozens of shirts in the time it took a seam-stress to sew a few seams by hand. The costof clothing dropped. Many seamstresseshad to find new ways to earn a living.

The sewing machine helped factoryworkers turn out many garments quickly.Cheap ready-made clothing becamewidely available for the first time. Thesewing machine became another inven-tion that changed life in the North.

Checking for Understanding1. Define clipper, telegraph, seamstress, patent,

royalty.2. How did steamboats improve river travel?3. Why did American merchants trading in

East Asia use clipper ships instead of packetsand steamers?

Critical Thinking4. Determining Cause and Effect How did

the sewing machine affect families?

5. Summarizing Re-create the chart shownhere, and list how each device helpedimprove production.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★Section 1 ★ Assessment★ SECTION 1 ASSESSMENT ★

INTERDISCIPLINARY ACTIVITY6. Math Research the number of acres of

grain harvested in the United States beforeand after the invention of the reaper. Illus-trate your findings on a chart or graph.

McCormick Reaper

Sewing Machine

Life in the North★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★


SECTION 2

GUIDE TO READING

Reading StrategyOrganizing Information As you readabout life in the North, use a diagramlike the one shown here to describe theconditions many Northern factory work-ers faced and how they responded tothose conditions.

Read to Learn . . .★ what conditions existed in Northern

factories during the mid-1800s.★ how workers responded to those

conditions.★ how increased immigration affected life

in the North.

Terms to Know★ labor union★ strike★ immigrant★ assimilate★ nativist★ discrimination

Main IdeaLife in the industrial North was hard for many workers as they toiledlong hours for low pay in dangerousfactories.

NorthernFactory Workers

Conditions Response

� “KNOW-NOTHING” SONG SHEET COVER

In January 1860 workers went abouttheir jobs at the Pemberton textile mill inLawrence, Massachusetts. Factory workwas often unhealthful as well as danger-ous. Cotton lint flew in workers’ eyes. Thedrone of machinery filled their ears. Noone saw or heard the telltale signs of atragedy about to happen.

Suddenly the Pemberton Mill col-lapsed, trapping 900 people inside.Alarms rang throughout the city. The peo-ple of Lawrence rushed to dig through therubble in a frantic search for survivors.The accident killed 88 mill workers andseverely injured 116, most of whom laterdied.

★ Working ConditionsBefore 1860

The Pemberton Mill typified manyNorthern factories in the mid-1800s. Work-ers flocked to factories for jobs, despitelow pay and hazardous working condi-tions. Factory owners cared little aboutworkers’ safety or welfare. Factory own-ers, though, had not always been like this.

Conditions in Early Textile MillsThe first factories and mills in the nation

opened in New England. The region pro-vided plenty of streams to run machinery.


It also provided big-city markets wheremanufacturers could sell their goods.

Factory owners liked to hire youngwomen. Women would work for lowerwages than men because the womenplanned to work only until they married.Then they would stay home, raise chil-dren, and manage their households.

To attract women workers, ownersoffered clean, supervised boardinghouses.They even allowed free time for reading,gardening, or attending lectures. Womenworked 12 to 15 hours a day—about thesame amount of time they had spent onhousework or farming. Factory workseemed easier, however, and workers hadSundays off.

Conditions DeclineAt one time employers knew all their

workers by their first names. Thenemployers felt some responsibility fortheir workers’ welfare. As the demand forgoods increased, factories multiplied. Themushrooming factories of the early tomid-1800s employed thousands of work-ers. Bosses cared less and less about theworkers’ well-being. New factory ownersbuilt shabby housing near the noise anddirt of the factory. Factory managers cutwages and extended working hours.

In 1851 most workers received between$4 and $6 a week. Yet the average familyof 5 needed at least $10.37 a week for rent,food, fuel, and clothing. This amountallowed for no luxuries and no money topay medical bills.

Just to make ends meet, many childrenalso had to work. In 1832 children madeup about one-third of the nation’s factoryworkers. They worked 12-hour days for 6days a week. Often they made as little as11 cents a day. Many suffered crippling orfatal accidents while on the job.

Profits alone motivated the owners of thenew factories. Workers suffered as a result.Most factories were poorly lit and not wellventilated. In addition, employers expected

workers to operate more machines at afaster pace. As a result, many exhausted orhurried workers caught their hair or fingersin the machinery.

★ Workers OrganizeWorkers began to resist poor working

conditions. During the mid-1800s, work-ers started to organize labor unions, ororganizations that try to improve theworking conditions and wages of theirmembers. Then the Panic of 1837 causedsome businesses to close and made jobsscarce. Workers wanted to hang on totheir jobs no matter how harsh the condi-tions. As a result, labor unions made littleprogress for more than 10 years.

In the 1850s labor unions reemerged,mostly among skilled workers such asprinters, stonecutters, and blacksmiths.These unions of skilled workers becameknown as trade societies. They wanted toprotect their high wages. Many alsodemanded a 10-hour day.

Unskilled factory workers soon beganto organize and demand higher wagesand shorter working hours. To achieve

� CHILD LABOR Children working in factoriesfaced horrible conditions while trying to helptheir families. How many hours a day didchildren work?

istoryPicturingH


these goals, some unions called strikes. Astrike means that workers refuse to dotheir jobs until employers meet theirdemands. Most early strikes failed.Because strikes were illegal, strikers facedfines and jail sentences.

Women Workers OrganizeWomen workers faced special chal-

lenges. They earned less money than menand most union leaders would not allowwomen to join. In 1824 the first women’sstrike occurred. In 1833 a union for femalefactory workers formed.

In 1860 Massachusetts shoemakerswent on strike for higher wages. Onethousand women joined 5,000 men andparaded through a snowstorm in Lynn,

Massachusetts, marching and carryingbanners. The women’s banners pro-claimed “American ladies will not beslaves” and “Give us a fair compensationand we will labor cheerfully.” After sever-al weeks, the strikers finally won higherwages. But the factory owners refused torecognize the union.

Some unions did make gains during thelate 1840s and 1850s. In response to uniondemands, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts,New Hampshire, and other states legislat-ed 10-hour workdays. They also requiredschooling for children to prevent themfrom working long hours. In 1842 a Massa-chusetts court declared that workers evenhad a legal right to strike. This acceptanceof labor unions, though, had force only inMassachusetts. Many years went by beforeunions made a nationwide impact.

★ Workers From Across the Ocean

Most of the workers at the PembertonMill had been Irish immigrants. Animmigrant is a person who comes to acountry with the intention of living therepermanently. Millions of Europeans hadcome to the United States during the firsthalf of the 1800s. The nation’s industrialgrowth required a large labor supply.Employers discovered that immigrantswould work long hours for low wageswith few complaints.

Immigration Between 1830 and 1860

In the 1830s nearly 600,000 immigrantsentered the United States. For the next 2decades, the tide of immigration rosesharply. As a result, about 4.2 millionimmigrants arrived between 1840 and1860. By 1860 one out of every eightAmericans had been born elsewhere.Most came from Europe. One European

� ARRIVAL OF IMMIGRANTS Immigration in the1800s dramatically increased the population ofthe United States. Why did employers hireimmigrants?

istoryPicturingH


mayor could not resist commenting on thephenomenon to an American visitor: “Iwelcome you in the name of our city’s4,000 people, 3,000 of whom are now inyour country.”

German Immigrants Why did Europeans leave their native

countries? In 1848 German academics andskilled workers led a movement to unite38 states into one nation. When their rev-olution failed, they fled to avoid harmfrom government authorities. Thousandscame to the United States. Soon after,many German peasants followed themacross the ocean.

In all about 1.3 million Germans immi-grated to the United States before 1860.Many stayed in New York City, where theyhad entered the country, while others con-tinued inland. There they settled on farmsnear the Ohio River and Great Lakes.

Irish ImmigrantsAn even larger group—about 40 per-

cent of all the immigrants—came fromIreland. In the 1800s poor Irish farmersdepended on potatoes for food. Between1845 and 1854, a disastrous blight, or dis-ease, ruined several potato crops. By 18551 million peasants had died fromfamine—severe food shortages—or sick-ness. Rather than starve, many survivorschose to leave. One and a half millionIrish sold their belongings and boughtpassage to the United States.

Once in the United States, most Irishimmigrants settled in or near easterncities such as Boston and New York. Theylived in crowded, unhealthy conditionsand took whatever jobs they could find.

The immigrants supplied much of theunskilled labor needed to build theNorth’s growing industries. The menmined coal, dug canals, and built rail-roads. The women worked as servantsand in factories. By 1852 half the factory

workers in New England mills had comefrom foreign countries. Most of theseworkers were Irish.

Immigrants and the American Way Over time immigrants assimilated, or

adopted the manners and language of theirnew country. They also made contributionsto American society. Germans taughtAmericans horticulture, or the science ofgrowing fruits, vegetables, and flowers.

The Irish furnished leaders for the labormovement. Irish American Terence Pow-derly headed a labor union called theKnights of Labor in 1879. And Irish-bornMary Harris—better known as MotherJones—led a campaign to end child laborin 1903.

America had become a nation of immi-grants. As author Herman Melville noted:

Our blood is as the flood ofthe Amazon, made up of athousand noble currents allpouring into one. We arenot a nation, so much as a world.

★ Immigrants Face Resentment

Some native-born Americans distrustedanyone different from themselves. Theydid not welcome the immigrants. Theyresented and feared their different lan-guages, customs, and religions. TheseAmericans especially mistrusted Catholics,many of whom were Irish and Germanimmigrants. Americans who felt this waybecame known as nativists.

Nativists wanted to discourage immi-grants from coming to the United States.They also wanted to stop those alreadyhere from becoming citizens or participat-ing in politics. Some nativists proposedthat immigrants wait 21 years to qualify

”“


for citizenship. Others demanded lawsbarring Catholics and immigrants frompublic office.

Know-Nothing Party To get what they wanted, nativists

formed a new political party, the Ameri-can party. Their critics called it the Know-Nothing party because members alwaysresponded “I know nothing” when askedabout the organization’s secret activities.The party became so powerful that in 1856Know-Nothing candidates won 48 seatsin Congress. Soon after, though, the partycollapsed.

In spite of hardships, immigrants con-tinued to flock to the United States andparticipate in American democracy. Oncethe Irish gained the vote, they quicklylearned to use it for their benefit. Theyorganized political machines in big citiessuch as Boston and New York to help electtheir candidates. In 1880, for instance,Irish voters elected William R. Grace asthe first Irish Catholic mayor of New YorkCity.

★ African Americans in the North

Slavery had once been legal in theNorth. By the early decades of the 1800s,

though, all Northern and New Englandstates had passed emancipation laws toabolish slavery. Thousands of AfricanAmericans lived in the North.

Although they had been freed, manyAfrican Americans faced discrimination inthe northern states. Discrimination occurswhen certain groups of people are not treat-ed fairly.

In no state could an African Americanserve on a jury or be elected to Congress.In most areas, African Americans couldnot ride in the same carriage or work inthe same building with a white person.Good jobs were seldom open to them.African Americans most often faced com-plete social and economic separation fromwhites.

Despite the overwhelming obstaclesthey faced, some free African Americansestablished successful careers. JamesForten, a leading abolitionist speaker,began his career as a sailmaker andbecame wealthy as the owner of aPhiladelphia sail factory. Frederick Dou-glass and Harriet Tubman became pow-erful and influential Northerners whilefighting against slavery.

Although denied voting rights, AfricanAmericans fought bravely in every Amer-ican war, published their own newspa-pers, and founded their own churches.Many also contributed time and moneyto the antislavery movement.

Checking for Understanding1. Define labor union, strike, immigrant, assim-

ilate, nativist, discrimination.2. How did bosses treat factory workers in the

mid-1800s?

Critical Thinking3. Making Predictions What do you think

Irish immigrants might have said to otherAmericans who wanted immigrants to wait21 years to become citizens?

4. Identifying Effects Re-create the diagramshown here, and list the effects immigrationhad on the North.

INTERDISCIPLINARY ACTIVITY


5. The Arts Imagine you are a journalistreporting on the collapse of the Pember-ton Mill. Record your report on tape.

Effect Effect Effect Effect

Immigration

The Cotton Kingdom★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★


SECTION 3

GUIDE TO READING

� ELI WHITNEY

Reading StrategyClassifying Information As you readabout the South’s economy, use a chart likethe one shown here to describe characteris-tics of the South.

Read to Learn . . .★ how the North and South differed

before 1860.★ what effect the cotton gin had on the

lives of Southerners.

Terms to Know★ yeomanry★ cotton gin

Main IdeaThe South was mostly a rural regionwhose economy was based on agri-culture rather than industry.

Economic

Geographic

Cultural

South

Plantation mistress Louisa McCord andher two daughters eagerly rifled throughthe trunk that had just arrived fromPhiladelphia. It contained the neweststyles of dresses.

Soon after, Louisa wrote to thank hersister Mary Middleton who had sent thetrunk. Without Mary’s gifts from theNorth, Louisa admitted, she felt “sadlybehind hand in my fashions and am oftentempted to turn quaker—just becausetheir fashions I believe never change.”

★ The Southern EconomyLife in Louisa McCord’s South differed

greatly from life in Mary Middleton’sNorth. Between 1820 and 1860, the North

became increasingly urban and industri-alized. Meanwhile, the South remainedlargely agricultural with few large cities.As a result, the South had to purchasemost of its manufactured goods from theNorth.

Southern ConservatismWhile Northerners bragged about their

go-ahead spirit, Southerners prided them-selves on their love of tradition. Life in theSouth moved at a leisurely pace. OneAlabama politician summed up the South-erners’ point of view this way:

We want no manufactures;we desire no trading, nomechanical or manufacturing“


classes. As long as we haveour rice, our sugar, our tobacco and our cotton, wecan command wealth topurchase all we want.

This outlook encouraged the growth ofplantations but prevented the growth ofcities. The South had 7 cities with popula-tions of more than 8,000 in 1820. By 1850just 12 cities had more than 10,000 people.Only New Orleans, with 150,000 people,compared to Northern cities in size.Smaller communities proved just as rare.One British visitor to the South in 1856noted that “towns and villages are fewand far between.”

Southern ManufacturingBefore 1860 Southerners still produced

much of their cloth and clothing at home.During the 1850s traveler Frederick LawOlmstead noted:

In Ohio the spinning-wheel and hand-loom arecuriosities, and homespunwould be a conspicuousand noticeable material of clothing, [but] half the white population ofMississippi still dress inhomespun, and at everysecond house the wheeland the loom are found in operation.

When Olmstead referred to the whitepopulation, he meant the yeomanry, orfamilies on small Southern farms. Planta-tion owners wore factory-made clothfrom England and, increasingly, from theNorth.

Some Southerners willingly tried man-ufacturing. They built a few factories inthe South during the 1850s. These facto-ries made mostly flour, tobacco products,and cotton cloth. They never produced as

”

“”

� VIEW OF ROME, GEORGIA Unlike industrial cities in the North, Southern townsdepended mostly on agriculture to support their economies. What did South-ern factories produce in the 1850s?istory

PicturingH


much as similar Northern factories. TheSouth remained a land of small farms andlarge plantations. In 1851 one Alabamanewspaper sized up the situation thisway:

We purchase all our luxuries and necessitiesfrom the North. Our slavesare clothed with Northernmanufactured goods, . . .work with Northern hoes,plows, and other imple-ments. The slaveholderdresses in Northern goods,rides in a Northern saddle,sports his Northern carriage,reads Northern books. InNorthern vessels his prod-ucts are carried to market,his cotton is ginned withNorthern gins, his sugar is crushed and preservedwith Northern machinery,his rivers are navigated by Northern steamboats.

★ The Cotton Gin In colonial times rice, indigo, and

tobacco made up the South’s main crops.After the American Revolution, demandfor these crops decreased. European mills,however, wanted Southern cotton. Butcotton took time and labor to produce. Aworker spent a full day removing seedsfrom just one pound of cotton. The entireSouth produced only 1.5 million pounds(681,000 kg) of cotton in 1790. At this ratecotton planters could not turn a profit.

The demand for cotton increased inGreat Britain and the northern UnitedStates as a result of the Industrial Revolu-tion. As textile mills produced cheapergoods faster, they needed more cotton. Toprovide more cotton, the South required afaster way of removing the seeds.

Eli Whitney Invents Cotton GinIn 1793 a Yale graduate named Eli

Whitney visited Catherine Greene at”

“

15%

16%

69%

16%

20% 64%

59%

18%

23%

21%

26%

53%

1840 1850

18701860

Agricultural Manufacturing Other

Agricultural and Non-Agricultural Workers,1840–1870

Althoughagriculture was thebasic economicactivity throughoutthe 1800s,manufacturingmade steadygains. By abouthow much did thepercentage ofworkers inmanufacturingincrease between1840 and 1870?Source: Historical Statistics ofthe United States.


Mulberry Grove—a plantation in Georgia.Whitney came to Georgia to be a tutor ona plantation.

Impressed by Whitney’s ingenuity,Greene and her manager, Phineas Miller,asked him to build a device to remove theseeds from cotton pods. Whitney devel-oped a revolving cylinder with woodenteeth projecting through thin slots. As thecylinder turned, the teeth were supposedto pull cotton fibers through the slots andleave the seeds behind.

When Whitney tried out his invention,it failed to work. Greene suggested that heuse wire teeth instead of wooden ones.The wire did the trick.

Whitney called the machine the cottongin, “gin” being short for engine. Greenegave him the money to produce more cot-ton gins, but neither Whitney nor Greenemade much profit. Others simply observedhow the machine worked and built theirown gins. By the time Whitney took out apatent in 1794, planters across the Southalready had copies of his invention.

Cotton Is KingAlthough a simple machine, the cotton

gin produced large results. A worker

using a cotton gin could process 50pounds of cotton, rather than 1 pound,per day. If a worker operated the cottongin by waterpower, production increasedto 1,000 pounds per day.

Within 10 years cotton became theSouth’s most important crop. In 1820planters produced about 335,000 bales ofcotton. By 1850 planters produced morethan 2 million bales. In 1860 cotton madeup 57 percent of all exports from the Unit-ed States.

People began to say that cotton wasking in the South. Cotton became theSouth’s biggest cash crop and the chiefexport of the United States.

To keep up with the increasing demandfor cotton, planters needed more land.Cotton plantations spread to the west andsouth throughout the so-called black belt,known for its rich black soil. Cotton plan-tations sprang up in southern Tennessee,Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, andTexas.

The invention of the cotton gin made atremendous impact on the nation. It hap-pened just as Northerners started to buildtextile mills. The factories created demandfor cotton and the cotton gin allowed theSouth to meet that demand.

Northerners profited from the cottonboom, too. The South shipped much of itsraw cotton to the North. There Northern-ers used it to manufacture cloth and oftensold the cloth back to the South. Thisexchange helped fuel industrial growth inNew England.

Slavery Revived Different relationships between work-

ers and owners characterized the North-ern and Southern economies. In the Southenslaved African Americans made upmost of the labor supply.

Before the Industrial Revolution, someSouthern planters had profited greatlyfrom slave labor. At that time rice, indi-go, and tobacco crops brought great

� THE COTTON GIN AT WORK The invention ofthe cotton gin increased the production of cot-ton in the South, producing a need for morelabor. How did Southern planters increasetheir labor supply?

istoryPicturingH


profits. When demand for these cropsdecreased, demand for slave labor alsodecreased.

With Eli Whitney’s invention of the cot-ton gin, slave labor became profitableagain throughout the South. As a result ofthe ever-larger cotton crops, the demandfor slave labor increased. The UnitedStates had banned the slave trade withAfrica in 1808. When cotton productionrose, the demand for enslaved personsoutstripped the supply, and the prices forthe enslaved spiraled. In 1790 a field handcost between $300 and $350. By 1860 theaverage cost was $1,500.

Slave traders began to smuggleenslaved people from the West Indies.

Sometimes they even kidnapped freeAfrican Americans in the North and soldthem into slavery. Slave traders madetremendous profits. A typical dealer inMemphis earned $96,000 in a year. Aslave trading company took in more than$500,000 per partner. These figures reflectthe large investment Southern slavehold-ers made in enslaved persons. The South-ern plantation owners had no intention offreeing what they considered their mostvaluable pieces of property.

Between 1790 and 1850, the number ofSouthern slaves increased from 500,000to more than 3 million. By 1860 slaves inthe South numbered 4 million.

Checking for Understanding1. Define yeomanry, cotton gin. 2. How did the North and South differ between

1830 and 1860?3. Why did Southerners say cotton was king?

Critical Thinking4. Determining Cause and Effect Re-create the

diagram shown here, and explain the effect

the cotton gin had on the institution of slavery.

Cotton Production in America, 1790-1850

Cotton was one ofthe leadingproducts in theearly years ofAmerica. Abouthow many balesof cotton wereproduced in1850?

Source: Historical Statistics ofthe United States.

0

1

2

3

1850184018301820181018001790

Mill

ions

of

bal

es g

row

n

Year



5. The Arts Use copies of pictures showinglife in the North and South between 1830and 1860 to make contrasting posters.

EffectCause

Cotton Gin

When Israel was in Egypt’s land:Let my people go,Oppressed so hard they could not standLet my people go.

—from “Go Down, Moses”

Enslaved African Americans often sangspirituals, or religious folk songs such as “GoDown, Moses.” Filled with strong emotions,spirituals were based on stories and charac-ters from the Bible. Old Testament accountsof Hebrews in captivity especially appealedto enslaved African Americans.

Often enslaved African Americans createdspirituals while working in the fields. No sin-gle person made up a song. One workerintroduced a few words or a melody, thenanother would change or add to them.

Singing spirituals became a group effort.One worker sang a verse, and the rest of theworkers sang the chorus. Or one personcalled out a line, and the others responded

with the next line. During religious services,the whole congregation clapped their handsto the rhythm of the music.

The words and melodies of spirituals dif-fered, but the emotions they expressed stayedconstant. Enslaved men and women pouredtheir hope for a better life after death and theirlonging for freedom into almost every song.

Making the Arts Connection1. What is a spiritual?

2. What emotions do spirituals express?

3. Why do you think enslaved AfricanAmericans especially liked the OldTestament stories of Hebrews in captivity?

526

ACTIVITY4. Find a recording of spirituals at the

library and listen to the words andmusic.

Spirituals

S C I E N C E M A T H G E O G R A P H Y E C O N O M I C S

HistoryAND

T H E A R T S

� MUSIC ON THE PLANTATION

GUIDE TO READING

Life in the South★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★


SECTION 4

A crowd gathered in the brightSavannah sunshine. A man with a loudvoice was asking for bids. On a platformstood an enslaved African American, hishead held high. Fear and grief clouded hisface because he had been forced to leavehis wife and children. Within minutes, theman had a new owner. Afterward hewrote this letter to his family:

My Dear wife I [write] . . .with much regret to informyou that I am Sold to a manby the name of Peterson. . . .Give my love to my father& mother and tell themgood Bye for me. And if weShall not meet in this worldI hope to meet in heaven.My Dear wife for you andmy Children my pen cannotExpress the [grief] I feel to be parted from you all. ”

“

Reading StrategyOrganizing Information As you readabout life in the South, use a diagram such as the one shown here to list the South’s social classes from highest to lowest.

Read to Learn . . .★ what classes made up Southern society.★ how African Americans lived in

the South.

Terms to Know★ overseer★ slave codes★ extended family

Main IdeaWealthy plantation owners ruledover much of Southern society, whileenslaved Africans lived hard lives.

� AD TO PURCHASE SLAVES

★ Southern Class Structure

The presence of slavery affected allaspects of Southern life. Yet only about one-fourth of all white Southern families heldslaves. Most of these held 20 slaves orfewer. Just a few plantations were largeenough to have hundreds of enslaved per-sons living and working there. Most South-erners, even those who were notslaveholders, respected large slaveholdersand admired their way of life. Because oftheir great wealth slaveholders greatlyinfluenced Southern politics, society, andeconomy.

The PlantersThe owners of large plantations held

the highest positions in Southern society.Southerners considered land and slaves asbadges of wealth and prestige. The more

Highest

Lowest


land and slaves Southerners acquired, thehigher their standing rose. Wealthyplanters cultivated the best land andenslaved 20 or more people.

A visit to a grand Southern plantationbefore 1860 left a memorable impression.A long, stately drive wound past a seriesof small buildings. These included the sta-ble, the cotton gin shed, a corn mill, achurch, a school, a blacksmith shop, andthe slaves’ quarters. At the end of thedrive stood what the slaves called “the bighouse”—generally a white-columnedmansion. Magnolia trees and other plantsdotted the carefully tended groundsaround the big house.

Plantation owners included both menand women, but most plantations hadmale owners. Each day the plantationowner either gave instructions to theoverseer or personally directed the slaves.The overseer supervised the slaves atwork. The plantation owner made deci-sions about planting and harvesting thecrops. Plantation owners often participat-ed in politics and promoted laws thatupheld slavery.

The planter’s wife managed the house-hold. She usually sewed, supervised thehouse servants, cared for the sick, andoften educated her young children. Themistress also entertained and attendedparties at nearby plantations.

The YeomanryThe yeomanry ranked just below the

planters in Southern society. This class offarmers and ranchers made up a largepart of the South’s population. They usu-ally owned hundreds, rather than thou-sands, of acres and held between 5 and 20slaves. Some held no slaves at all. Instead,they worked their farms themselves orhad hired hands to help.

The yeomanry enjoyed the company of their neighbors. They gathered forlogrolling, corn shucking, and wood burn-ing. On occasion they even came together

for a house-raising, which according toone historian seemed “more like a goodnatured social gathering than . . . hardwork.” The women of the communityalways prepared food to serve the work-ers. After the work was finished, a squaredance usually followed.

Poor WhitesPoor whites stood at the bottom of

white society in the South. Poor whitesmade up a small percentage of the South-ern population. Most lived in the moun-tains and pine woods, areas some calledthe “land of do without.” They rentedtheir land, often paying the rent with partof their crops.

Farmers had forced poor whites off fer-tile land into the rugged frontier area of theSouth. For food they hunted, trapped, andgrew peas, corn, beans, cabbage, sweetpotatoes, and other vegetables. Many poorwhites barely kept their families fromstarving. Yet they enjoyed rights denied toenslaved and free African Americans.

Free African AmericansFree African Americans occupied a

position in Southern society lower thanpoor whites. About 200,000 free AfricanAmericans lived in the South around1850. Most of them were runaway slavesor were descended from slaves freed dur-ing and after the American Revolution.Others bought their freedom. FreeAfrican Americans, in both the North andSouth, suffered harsh treatment at thehands of whites.

Many laws restricted African Ameri-cans’ freedom. In the South they had toregister, wear special badges, pay specialtaxes, and live in separate areas fromwhites. By the 1850s some Southern stateshad passed laws that ordered AfricanAmericans to leave or be re-enslaved.Even without such laws, free AfricanAmericans did not feel secure. Many


feared being kidnapped and sold intoslavery just as Solomon Northup was.

Biography ★★★★

Solomon Northup Writes Twelve Years a Slave

Solomon Northup’s parents had beenslaves in the North. They became freewhen their slaveholder died. After beingfreed, they moved to Minerva, New York,where Northup was born in 1808.

Later Northup lived in Glens Falls,New York, with his wife and three chil-dren. Northup worked on the ChamplainCanal as a lumber contractor and savedenough money to buy a farm. Northupconsidered his life “happy and prosper-ous.” Then the Northups moved toSaratoga Springs, New York, in 1834.

Seven years later events took a disas-trous turn. Two white stage performershired Northup to play the fiddle in theiract. They went to Albany and then NewYork City. Then they persuaded Northupto go with them to Washington, D.C. Oncethere they drugged Northup and sold himinto slavery.

Northup awoke alone in a dark cellar.After several hours two strangers ap-peared. Northup later learned that one ofthem was slave dealer James Burch. Burchclaimed that he had just purchasedNorthup. Northup insisted that he was freeand could not be sold. For this Burch beathim severely. The slave dealer threatened tokill Northup if he said such a thing again.

Burch shipped Northup from Wash-ington to New Orleans, where planterWilliam Ford bought him. Ford proved akind master, but he experienced finan-cial hard times and had to sell Northupafter less than a year. This time Northupfound himself in the hands of a cruelslaveholder.

After 12 years in captivity, Northupmanaged to send a letter to the whitefamily that had held his parents. They

produced evidence that Northup was afree man, and his slaveholder releasedhim. Northup wrote Twelve Years a Slave, abook about his ordeal. The book gaveNortherners a firsthand look at the slavesystem and became a best-seller. ★★★

★ The Life of an Enslaved Person

Many enslaved persons worked in the big house or the plantation owner’sstables. Some became skilled carpentersor blacksmiths. Those with skills some-times worked in a nearby city. All or mostof their wages went to the slaveholder.

Most enslaved persons, however,labored in the fields tending tobacco, cut-ting sugarcane, or picking cotton. Theoverseer punished the field hands whenhe wanted them to work harder. Mostwere punished with a lash, which wasusually made of rawhide or cowhide.

� AFRICAN AMERICAN BLACKSMITH


Despite the severe limitations placedon them, many enslaved African Ameri-cans made valuable contributions to theUnited States. Henry Blair, for example,patented two corn harvesters. BenjaminMontgomery invented a boat propeller.

The Treatment of SlavesIn Twelve Years a Slave, Northup

described the life of a field hand on aSouthern plantation:

The hands are required to be in the cotton fields as soon as it is light in the morning, and, withexception of ten or fifteen minutes, which is giventhem at noon to swallowtheir allowance of coldbacon, they are not permit-ted to be a moment idleuntil it is too dark to see,and when the moon is full,they often times labor till the middle of night.

Even young children had to work.Enslaved girls as young as four or fivehelped with child care and other chores. Ifchildren did their tasks incorrectly, over-seers punished them.

Some slaveholders provided food,clothing, and decent housing for enslavedpeople. Others gave their workers little toeat and shacks to live in. Josiah Hensondescribed his slave quarters this way:

We lodged in long huts, and on the bare ground. . . .In a single room were huddled . . . ten or a dozenpersons, men, women, and children. . . . Our bedswere collections of strawand old rags, . . . The windwhistled and the rain andsnow blew through thecracks, and the damp earthsoaked in the moisture till the floor was miry as a pig-sty.

Slave CodesAcross the South legislatures passed

laws called slave codes, to controlenslaved people. Slave codes deniedslaves basic human rights. For instance,an enslaved person had no standing in acourt of law and could not testify againsta white person. Enslaved people couldnot own property or strike a white person,even in self-defense.

In addition, enslaved people could notleave their plantations without permission.They could not own guns. They could nothire themselves out or buy and sell goods.The law barred them from assemblingunless a white person was present. In mostSouthern states, teaching an African Amer-ican to read or write was against the law.

The Auction BlockAll enslaved persons dreaded being

sold because their new masters might be

”

“

”

“

� ENSLAVED AFRICAN AMERICANS Family mem-bers provided strength and security for oneanother. Why did Southern law not recognizeslave marriages as permanent?

istoryPicturingH


crueler than the last. They also shudderedat the thought of a slave auction. One for-mer slave described such an auction thisway:

They would stand theslaves up on the block andtalk about what a fine-looking specimen . . . theywas, tell how healthy theywas, look in their mouthand examine their teeth justlike they was a horse, andtalk about the kind of workthey would be fit for andcould do.

This treatment humiliated the personsbeing sold. Worse, however, was theanguish families went through when dif-ferent buyers separated them. For somethe grief proved unbearable. SolomonNorthup met a young mother namedEliza at a slave auction. Later her twoyoung children were taken from her onthe auction block. After years of mourn-ing, the tormented woman died.

Families, Religion, and ResistanceSouthern law did not recognize slave

marriages as permanent because hus-bands and wives were separated so often.Preachers who presided at slave mar-riages even changed the wedding vows to“until death or distance do you part.” Insome places slaveholders forbadeenslaved persons to call one another“mother,” “father,” or “sister.” Someslaveholders tried to erase all family feel-ing among slaves.

Nevertheless, enslaved persons clungto their families as long as possible.Grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousinsstuck together. This extended family pro-vided strength, pride, and love. Thewomen in a family gathered to do laun-dry, make quilts, and share stories abouttheir day. Fathers and mothers taughttheir children stories and songs. Many

African cultures used these folktales topass on their history. They also passed onskills, such as dancing, playing music,and using herbs as medicine.

On Sundays several families gatheredfor worship. When planters introducedenslaved persons to Christianity, AfricanAmericans adapted what they heard tofit their needs. They identified with theBible’s message of hope for the down-trodden and despised. Many spiritualsexpressed a message of salvation like thisone:

Didn’t my Lord deliverDaniel

Deliver Daniel,Deliver Daniel,Didn’t my Lord deliver

Daniel,And why not every man?

African Americans often resisted theslaveholders. Some ran away, but othersused more subtle methods. One Northern-er saw women workers in the field raisetheir hoes and stop working after the over-seer passed. They did not lower the hoesagain until the overseer turned around.Some enslaved African Americans learned

”

“”

“

� NAT TURNER’S REVOLT Nat Turner tried tolead African slaves to freedom by revoltingagainst slavery. What was one result ofTurner’s revolt?

istoryPicturingH


to read and write even though doing soviolated the law. They referred to this as“stealing” learning. A house servant might“accidentally” break a mistress’s favoritevase. Others pretended not to hear themaster’s orders. They alluded to their pas-sive resistance when they sang, “Got onemind for the boss to see; Got another mindfor what I know is me.”

Armed ResistanceAfrican Americans rarely took up arms

against whites. Slave codes ensured thatAfrican Americans seldom obtained guns.Because the well-armed whites workedhard to prevent them, revolts had almostno chance of success. Some defiantAfrican Americans, however, revoltedand terrorized Southern whites.

Denmark Vesey, an enslaved AfricanAmerican, won money in a street lotteryand bought his freedom. Afterward helived in Charleston, South Carolina, andworked as a carpenter.

In the summer of 1822, Vesey organizeda revolt. Before the uprising took place,however, the authorities discovered hisplan. They executed Vesey and 35 otherAfrican Americans.

Nine years later an African Americannamed Nat Turner led a revolt in Virginia.

Turner, a popular religious leader amonghis fellow slaves, believed that God hadchosen him to lead his people to freedom.

On August 21, 1831, Turner and hisfollowers killed his master and his fami-ly. Others joined Turner and, for 24hours, murdered family after familyuntil about 60 whites were dead. Stateand federal troops hunted the country-side for Turner, killing more than 100African Americans in the process. After4 days they managed to find and arrestmost of the rebels. The authorities didnot capture and execute Turner, though,for another 6 weeks. As a result of Turn-er’s revolt, Southerners imposed evenstricter slave codes to discourage furtherrebellion.

Some abolitionists disapproved ofTurner’s uprising. They feared it set backefforts to end slavery. But one Southernerput their misgivings to rest:

If your course was whollydifferent—If you distilledsweet nectar from your lipsand discoursed sweetestmusic. . . . [D]o you imagineyou could prevail on us togive up a thousand millionsof dollars in the value ofour slaves? ”

“

Checking for Understanding1. Define overseer, slave codes, extended

family.

Critical Thinking2. Drawing Conclusions Few Southerners were

in a position to maintain plantations withlarge numbers of slaves. Why do you thinkthis small group was able to dominate thepolitical, economic, and social life of theSouth?

3. Summarizing Re-create the diagram shownhere, and list the ways in which enslavedAfrican Americans resisted slavery.



Forms of Resistance

4. The Arts Draw scenes that illustrate dif-ferences between planters and enslavedpeople in the 1800s.

533

Interpreting a Circle Graph

Interpreting a Circle GraphSuppose you find a circle graph in the

local newspaper about students’ favoriteschool activities. What does the graph mean?

Learning the SkillCircle graphs are used to compare parts

of a whole. The whole circle stands for theentire amount of something. The sectionsstand for the parts that make up the whole.

In the graph below, the circle stands forall the city’s students, or 100 percent. Eachsection of the circle stands for a percentage,or part, of the students. The labels tell youthat 50 percent of the students prefer sports,12.5 percent prefer music, and so on. Thepercentages in a circle graph always add upto 100 percent.

To interpret the graph, compare the sec-tions. The graph shows that sports are themost popular activities.

When two circle graphs appear together,read their titles and labels. Then compare thegraphs for similarities and differences.

Practicing the SkillUse these graphs to answer the follow-ing questions.

1. What do the two graphs represent?

2. What percentage of the population inthe North was white in 1860?

3. Where did African Americans makeup over one-third of the population?

4. What can you conclude from thegraphs about the total population ofthe North and South?

533

Social Studies SkillsBUILDING SKILLSBUILDING SKILLS

APPLYING THE SKILL5. Find a circle graph related to the

economy in a newspaper or magazine.Compare its sections, and then draw aconclusion about the economy.

2% African American

98% white 63% white

37% AfricanAmerican

North South

Populations of the Northand South in 1860

Students whoprefer theaterclub

Students whoprefer sports

Students whoprefer music

Students whoprefer chess

50%

12.5%

11%

26.5%

Students' FavoriteSchool Activities

Glencoe’s Skillbuilder InteractiveWorkbook, Level 1 provides in-struction and practice in key socialstudies skills.

CHAPTER 16 ★ ASSESSMENT


Using Key VocabularyUse the listed vocabulary words to complete

the following sentences.

cotton gin slave codes

1. The _________ made it possible for the South tomeet the North’s growing demand for cotton.

2. _________ barred enslaved African Americansfrom learning how to read and write in mostSouthern states.

Reviewing Facts1. List the hardships Northern factory workers

suffered.

2. Name five inventors from the North.

Critical Thinking1. Comparing and Contrasting Point out simi-

larities and differences in the lives of Northernworkers and Southern yeomanry.

2. Making Predictions How do you thinkSoutherners in the mid-1800s would havereacted if Northerners threatened the cottonindustry and slavery?

History and GeographyProducts of the South

Study the map symbols on the maps belowand then answer the following questions.

1. Location Where was sugarcane grown in1860?

RiceSugarcaneTobacco

Cotton (45 bales or fewerper square mile)Cotton (46 bales or moreper square mile)

0

0 150 300 kilometers

150 300 miles

Southern Crops in 1820 Southern Crops in 1860

Self-Check QuizVisit the American History: The Early Years to1877 Web site at ey.glencoe.com and click onChapter 16—Self-Check Quizzes to prepare forthe chapter test.

HISTORY

http://www.glencoe.com/sec/socialstudies/ushistory/ahey2001/quiz.shtml?BOOK=002&CHAPTER=16&TITLE=Sectional+Differences

CHAPTER 16 ★ ASSESSMENT

2. Movement Which Southern crop on themap failed to move south or west between1820 and 1860?

Understanding ConceptsEconomic Development1. What did Southerners mean by cotton was

king?

The Individual and Family Life2. Why were enslaved families torn apart?

3. Comparing Re-create the diagram shownhere, and list the positive and negativeeffects of industrialization on the daily livesof Northerners.

Industrialization’s Effects

Interdisciplinary Activity:Technology

Pass around a sheet of paper on which eachmember of your group writes a clue to the identi-ty of an inventor or invention discussed in thechapter. For example, a clue might read: “I built ashallow-hulled riverboat.” After each memberhas written a clue, join another group to exchangeclues and answers.

Practicing SkillsInterpreting a Circle Graph

Study the circle graphs on this page. Thenanswer the following questions. 1. In which year did more than 90 percent of all

Americans live in rural areas?

2. How large was urban population each year?

3. What change in the American population dothe two graphs show?

Technology ActivityUsing a Word Processor

Choose a region in the United States far fromyour hometown. Use the Internet and otherlibrary resources to find out more about theregion, including its industry, culture, and customs. Write a briefreport explaining the ways in whichthe region differs from the one in which you live. Shareyour report with theclass.

Cooperative

Learning


Using Your JournalWrite a conversationbetween a Southernerand Northerner who meeton a train in the mid-1800s. Have them talkabout the differencesbetween their lives. Usethe notes from your journal in the script.

History

WritingABOUT

Rural91%

1830 1860Urban9%

Rural80%

Urban20%

Urban and Rural Populationsof the United States

posit

ive

negative0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Cultural Kaleidoscope

MMusic became part of theAmerican way of life in themid-1800s. Often, neighborsgathered to sing, play musi-cal instruments, or dance forthe evening’s entertainment.

Music inAmerica

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The Popular ViolinFrom fashionable parlor to rusticfrontier, Americans all across thecontinent enjoyed violin music.

536

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Country Barn DanceNo country barn dance was complete without aviolin, better known then as a “fiddle.” Specta-tors helped out by singing and clapping whilethe fiddler fiddled and the dancers danced.

�

Rise and Shine!Civil War musi-cians becameimportant––thoughnot always popular—members of their mili-tary units. The harshblare of the bugletold soldiers when toadvance or retreat inbattle, when to awak-en, and even when toeat. One poem “honor-ing” buglers complained:

No matter, be it rain or snow,That bugler still is bound to blow.

537

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African American SpiritualsEnslaved African Americans created and sang spirituals, orinspirational songs with religious themes. Many spirituals point-ed the way to freedom. For example, “I am Bound for the Landof Canaan” told of going North. Groups such as theFisk Jubilee Singers helped to popu-larize spirituals in thelate 1800s.

�

Strings Across theCountryStringed instrumentswere popular withpeople around thecountry. Westerntravelers liked thebanjo because it waslight and easy tocarry along ruggedwagon trails. At thesame time, themountain dulcimerwas a favorite inthe Appalachianregion of the UnitedStates.

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Guitars in the SouthwestSpanish priests played guitars inthe Southwest as early as the1500s. By the mid-1800s, ranchersand cowboys strummed guitarsthroughout the West. They oftensang along to amuse themselvesand to help calm restless cattle.

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Singing for FunAmericans often joined in singing around the piano. Some songs, like Dixie in the South, expressed loyalty to a cause. Others, like “Oh! Susanna,” told a story.

Chap 16

Documents

civil war perio

s journal

yo chapter

south salute

telegraph key

bloody war

samuel morse

code of short