The Significance of Agriculture in Antebellum South Carolina: Plantation System and Cotton Gin Impact

1. 8-4.1 Explain the importance of agriculture in antebellum South Carolina, including the plantation system and the impact of the cotton gin on all social classes.

2. Key Vocabulary: • Plantation system- required self-sustaining communities and depended on the institution of slavery for the production of goods and services needed to support plantation life • Plantation house- “the Big House” were the (owners)master and mistress lived • Plantation Master- the male owner of the plantation; made all business decisions and manage slave population • Plantation Mistress- the wife or closest female relative of the owner; in charge of running of the house and taking care of sick slaves • Overseer – in charge of slaves work on a daily basis; responsible for “seeing” that slaves performed their tasks • Driver- usually a slave that ensured or forced slaves to work • Slave- plantation workers that were owned • Class system- Elite planters(Master, Mistress) Overseer, Driver, House slaves, Field slaves • Sectionalism- in the 1800’s the different economies, social structures, customs, and the political values of the North, South, and West • Universal suffrage- the right to vote for everyone of legal age • Eli Whitney- inventor of the cotton gin in 1793 • Cotton gin –machine that easily removes the seeds from the lint of the cotton plant. It made cotton a profitable crop and transformed Southern agriculture

3. Key Concepts • Most South Carolinians were small farmers who did not own slaves. • The plantation system dominated South Carolina society and politics. • The cotton gin resulted in increased profits and an increased dependency on slave labor. • Since cotton could be planted in the Up Country, Low Country planters were forced to shift political and social power to the Up country planters.

4. History.com • Slavery and cotton gin • America : Story of US- Episode-Division-start 7:38 into the episode