Patterns of Development in the South

1. Patterns of Development in the South

2. Why did Cotton Become the south’s most important crop? • The British textile mills needed more and more supplies of cotton • Since it was not an easy task, cotton plantations needed workers • Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas made slavery a stronger presence • This became known as the Rise of the Cotton Kingdom

3. Eli Whitley • Invention of cotton gin revolutionized cotton production • How did it work? • Removed seeds from the cotton fibers • One worker could only clean 1 pound of cotton per day by hand- but the cotton gin could clean 50 pounds a day • Led to need of more workers

4. Industry in the south • Food for Thought: • “Was it a good thing for the Southern Economy to be dependent on cotton and only cotton?”

5. Industry in the south • NO!!!! • Because cotton was so profitable, they did not think twice about expanding upon other industries • Money to invest in business was just not there • Market for manufactured goods was small, this discouraged industrial development

6. Farms • “Did everyone who worked on a farm or owned a farm have slaves?”

7. 69% Had No Slaves Less than 1% owned more than 50 slaves

8. Farms • Small Farms: • Only the privileged had enough money to own a plantation and to own slaves to work the land • Most just grew crops for themselves and to sell or trade with those living around them

9. Farms • Tenant Farmers: • Rented land and worked on landlord’s estates • Yeomen Farmers: • Made up of largest groups of whites in the South • Had 50-200 acres and grew food for themselves and those around them • Rural Poor: • Planted corn and fished and hunted for food. Refused any work that appeared to resemble enslaved labor

10. Farms: Plantations • Made to earn profits buy growing, manufacturing, and selling cotton • Sold cotton to agents • Agents: Held cotton until price was high and then sold it • Plantations did not get any money until cotton was sold- so they were always in debt • Prices varied from season to season and market to market

11. Life Under slavery • Life was full of hardships and misery. Enslaved African Americans worked long hours, earned no money, and had little hope of freedom • Cabin Life: • Only bare necessities • Had dozens living together in a single room

12. Slave Cabins

13. Laws on slavery • Southern laws protected the plantation owner and allowed him free reign over his slaves • Children born into slavery were instant property of plantation owners • Sale of slaves and separation of families were legal • Some were forcibly separated

14. Slave culture • As no new enslaved Africans entered the United States because the slave trade was outlawed in 1808, most enslaved people by 1860 were born in America • Many slaves kept their African elements that included song, dance, and folk tales • Most adopted Christianity and became either Baptists or Methodists

15. Women and Children under slavery • Women: • Usually worked just as hard as men in the fields • Were often cooks, seamstresses, and caretakers of white owner’s children • Children: • By ages 6-8, children were put to work • No ‘real’ childhood

16. Ain’t I a Woman? That man over there say a woman needs to be helped into carriages and lifted over ditches and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helped me into carriages or over mud puddles or gives me a best place. . . And ain't I a woman? Look at me Look at my arm! I have plowed and planted and gathered into barns and no man could head me. . . And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man-- when I could get to it-- and bear the lash as well and ain't I a woman? I have born 13 children and seen most all sold into slavery and when I cried out a mother's grief none but Jesus heard me. . . and ain't I a woman? that little man in black there say a woman can't have as much rights as a man cause Christ wasn't a woman Where did your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with him! If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down, all alone together women ought to be able to turn it rightside up again. Sojourner Truth