Unit 3: Antebellum Slavery to Reconstruction Chapter 6 Life in the Cotton Kingdom.

Unit 3: Antebellum Slavery to Reconstruction

Chapter 6Life in the Cotton Kingdom

What does Antebellum mean?

A period of time before a war, usually refers to the American Civil War.

1820 – 1861 (start of Civil War) for reference purposes only

Section 1: The Expansion of Slavery

Invention of cotton gin by Eli Whitney in 1793– Led to rapid expansion of slavery – need

land!• Atlantic coast to Texas

– Slave population increased tremendously, 1790-1860

• Grew fastest in Alabama and Mississippi

U.S. Slave Population,

1820 and 1860

Slave Population, 1820–1860

• Map 6–2. Slavery spread southwestward from the upper South and the eastern seaboard following the spread of cotton cultivation.

Source: Sam Bowers Hilliard, Atlas of Antebellum Southern Agriculture (Louisiana State University Press, 1984), pp. 29–34.

Cotton Production in the South, 1820–1860

• Map 6–1. Cotton production expanded westward between 1820 and 1860 into Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, and western Tennessee.

Source: Sam Bowers Hilliard, Atlas of Antebellum Southern Agriculture (Louisiana State University Press, 1984) pp. 67–71.

Ownership: Slaves in the Old South

Slavery unevenly distributed – think about the statistics from yesterday!

• 25% of white families owned slaves by 1860• Nearly half of slaveholders owned fewer than

five• 1% owned more than fifty slaves

Slave-Slave-OwningOwning PopulatiPopulati

onon (1860)(1860)

Slave-Slave-OwningOwning PopulatiPopulati

onon (1860)(1860)

Black Slaveholders

There were Black Slaveholders, because . . .

- They did it to protect families from sale and disruption.

- Not very popular. In 1830, only 2% of free blacks owned slaves.

Section 1 Essential Questions

Create an essential question from each of the headings below:

– The Expansion of Slavery

– Slave Population Growth and Ownership of Slaves in the Old South

– Black Slaveholders

Section 1 Essential Questions

– Why did slavery expand in the cotton kingdom?

– How was the slave population distributed across the South?

– Why did a small number of free blacks purchase slaves?

Section 2: Slave Labor in Agriculture

Slaves in the South– 55% cultivated cotton– 20% grew tobacco or produced sugar, rice,

hemp– 15% domestic servants– 10% trades and industries

An engraving dating from about 1860, slaves harvest cotton under white supervision on a southern plantation.

Source: The Granger Collection, NY

Section 2 Essential Question

This is a brief section – create one question from the title of the section:

– Slave Labor in Agriculture (the next level headings were different crops)

What types of crops did slaves cultivate in the South?

Section 3: Other Types of Slave Labor 25% of all slaves did non-agricultural

duties House slaves ~ “elite” slaves (cooks,

maids, nurses, butlers, gardeners

+ Less physically demanding+ Better food and clothing

- Grueling to work in 19th century kitchens (Belle)- Constantly under white supervision

Photograph by L.D. Andrew, 1936, from a vintage photograph taken ca. 1880 - Georgia)http://www.gwu.edu/~folklife/bighouse/panel9.html

Domestic Slave with Planter's Family," Virginia, ca. 1859-64

http://hitchcock.itc.virginia.edu/slavery/details.php?categorynum=9&categoryName=Domestic%20Servants%20and%20Free%20People%20of%20Color&theRecord=10&recordCount=56; 

Section 3: Other Types of Slave Labor Skilled craftsmen ~ more “elite” than

house slaves and included carpenters, blacksmiths, and millwrights

+ Could travel for supplies and gave a taste of freedom

+ Could be hired out (work for $$)

Urban Slavery

Were the “immigrants” of the South Jobs include: domestics, washwomen,

stevedores, general laborers + Interacted with free black community

+ Had opportunities to hire out ($$)

Young African-American Stevedore Loading Cotton onto a Steamboat at New Orleans, 1800shttp://www.art.com/products/p14385227-sa-i3032613/young-african-american-stevedore-loading-cotton-onto-a-steamboat-at-new-orleans-1800s.htm?sorig=0

Industrial Slavery

Jobs included textile mills, iron working, lumber industry

Most industrialist in the South hired slaves

+ Greater autonomy

+ Could provide path to freedom

What type of jobs/labor was performed by the slaves in

the South?

– Why did slavery expand in the cotton kingdom?

– How was the slave population distributed across the South?

– Why did a small number of free blacks purchase slaves?

– What types of crops did slaves cultivate in the South?

– What type of jobs/labor was performed by the slaves in the South?