Lesson 2: King Cotton and Life in the South

Question 1

“Cottonocracy” Definition

Answer 1

a name for the wealthy planters who made their money from cotton in the mid-1800s

Question 2

Boom Definition

Answer 2

period of swift economic growth

Question 3

Cultivate Definition

Answer 3

to prepare and work soil for planting and growing crops

Question 4

Extended Family Definition

Answer 4

a family group that includes grandparents, parents, children, aunts, uncles, and cousins

Question 5

Slave Codes Definition

Answer 5

laws that controlled the lives of enslaved Africans and African Americans and denied them basic rights

Question 6

What challenge did Southerners face when cotton was in high demand?

Answer 6

The Industrial Revolution greatly increased the demand for southern cotton. Textile mills in the North and in Britain needed more and more cotton to make cloth. At first, southern planters could not meet the demand. They could grow plenty of cotton because the South’s soil and climate were ideal. However, removing the seeds from the cotton by hand was a slow process. Planters needed a better way to clean cotton.

Question 7

What was the affect of Eli Whitney’s Cotton Gin on the South?

Answer 7

Eli Whitney, a young Connecticut schoolteacher, was traveling to Georgia in 1793. He was going to be a tutor on a plantation. At that time, there were few public schools in the South. When Whitney learned of the planters’ problem, he decided to build a machine to clean cotton. In only 10 days, Whitney came up with a model. His cotton engine, or gin, had two rollers with thin wire teeth. When cotton was swept between the rollers, the teeth separated the seeds from the fibers. This machine had an enormous effect on the southern economy. A single worker using a cotton gin could do the work of 50 people cleaning cotton by hand. Because of the gin, planters could now grow cotton at a huge profit. As a result, this new technology brought economic growth.

Question 8

How did the invention of the Cotton Gin influence productivity? What was the Cotton Kingdom? How did the Cotton Kingdom influence slavery?

Answer 8

The cotton gin led to a boom, or swift growth, in cotton production. In 1792, planters grew only 6,000 bales of cotton a year. By 1850, the figure was over 2 million bales. There was not enough farmland suitable for growing cotton in the original southern states along the Atlantic coast to meet the demand. Cotton farmers needed new land to cultivate, or prepare for planting. After the War of 1812, cotton planters began to move west. They brought enslaved African Americans with them. The huge demand for cotton, the efficiency offered by cotton gins, and southern planters reliance on slave labor led to the growth of large plantations, each with many enslaved workers. By the 1850s, there were cotton plantations extending in a belt from South Carolina to Texas. This area of the South became known as the Cotton Kingdom. Physical aspects of the environment in this part of the South, including rich soils, warm temperatures, and abundant rainfall, encouraged an economy focused on cotton farming. Tragically, as the Cotton Kingdom spread, so did slavery. Even though cotton could now be cleaned by machine, it still had to be planted and picked by hand. The result was a cruel cycle in which slave labor brought profits to planters, who then used the profits to buy more land and more enslaved workers.

Question 9

How did differing geographical regions influence what was produced in the South?

Answer 9

Cotton was the South’s most profitable cash crop. However, the best soils and climate for growing cotton could be found mostly in a belt stretching across inland South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. In other areas of the South, rice, sugar cane, and tobacco were major crops. In addition, southerners raised much of the nation’s livestock. The physical geography in different regions of the South influenced what farmers in those regions produced.

Question 10

In what areas were rice, sugar cane, or tobacco popular? How were these crops cultivated and harvested?

Answer 10

Rice was an important crop along the coasts of South Carolina and Georgia. Sugar cane was important in Louisiana and Texas. Growing rice and sugar cane required expensive irrigation and drainage systems and a warm, moist climate, all found mainly along the coasts. Cane growers also needed costly machinery to grind their harvest. Small-scale farmers could not afford such expensive equipment, however. As a result, rice and sugar farmers relied on the plantation system just as cotton farmers did. Tobacco had been an export of the South since 1619, and it continued to be planted in Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky. However, in the early 1800s, the large tobacco plantations of colonial days had given way to small tobacco farms. On these farms, a few field hands tended five or six acres of tobacco.

Question 11

How was the production of livestock in the South?

Answer 11

In addition to the major cash crops of cotton, rice, sugar, and tobacco, the South also led the nation in livestock production. Southern livestock owners profited from hogs, oxen, horses, mules, and beef cattle. Much of this livestock was raised in areas that were unsuitable for growing crops, such as the pine woods of North Carolina and hilly regions of Georgia, western Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Arkansas. Kentucky developed a rural economy that included the breeding of horses.

Question 12

What was Industry like in the South compared to the North?

Answer 12

Because the South relied on agriculture, most of the industry in the South remained small and existed only to meet the needs of a farming society. This contrasted with the North, with its increasingly urban society and large and diverse industries. Agricultural tools such as cotton gins, planters, and plows were manufactured. Factories also made goods such as ironware, hoes, and jute, or hemp cloth, which was used to make bags for holding bales of cotton. Cheap cotton cloth was made for use in enslaved workers’ clothing. Some southerners wanted to encourage the growth of industry in the South. William Gregg, for example, modeled his cotton mill in South Carolina on the mills in Lowell, Massachusetts. Gregg built houses and gardens for his paid workers and schools for their children. The South also developed a few other successful industries. In Richmond, Virginia, for example, the Tredegar Iron Works turned out railroad equipment, machinery, tools, and cannons. Flour milling was another important southern industry. Even so, the South lagged behind the North in manufacturing. This difference had several causes. Rich planters invested their money in land and in purchasing enslaved African Americans rather than in factories. Slavery also reduced the need for southern industry. In the North, most people had enough money to buy factory goods. In the South, however, millions of enslaved African Americans could not buy anything. As a result, the demand for manufactured goods in the South was not as great as it was in the North.

Question 13

What were Southern cities like? How many people lived there?

Answer 13

Although the South was mainly rural, there were some cities. The major ones were New Orleans, Louisiana; Charleston, South Carolina; and Richmond, Virginia. These cities had the same problems as northern cities, including poor housing and poor sanitation. Fewer than 8 percent of white southerners lived in towns of more than 4,000 people. However, many free African Americans lived in towns and cities.

Question 14

How did the South’s lack of industry make them economically dependent?

Answer 14

The South’s lack of industry had a number of effects on the South. Because there were few industrial jobs, small farmers in the South had few ways to escape the poverty of life on a small farm, whereas northern farmers could move to cities and take factory jobs. With little industry of its own, the South also came to depend more and more on the North and on Europe. Southern planters often borrowed money from northern banks in order to expand their plantations. They also purchased much of their furniture, farm tools, and machines from northern or European factories.

Many southerners resented this situation. One southerner described a burial to show how the South depended on the North for many goods in the 1850s:

The grave was dug through solid marble, but the marble headstone came from Vermont. It was in a pine wilderness but the pine coffin came from Cincinnati. An iron mountain overshadowed it but the coffin nails and the screws and the shovel came from Pittsburgh. … A hickory grove grew nearby, but the pick and shovel handles came from New York. … That country, so rich in underdeveloped resources, furnished nothing for the funeral except the corpse and the hole in the ground.

—Henry Grady, Speech to the Bay Street Club, Boston, 1889

Still, most southerners were proud of the booming cotton economy in their region. As long as cotton remained king, southerners believed, they could look to the future with confidence.

Question 15

Remember: The Old South is often pictured as a land of vast plantations worked by hundreds of enslaved African Americans. Such grand estates did exist in the South. However, most white southerners were not rich planters. In fact, most whites owned no enslaved African Americans at all.

Answer 15

The Old South is often pictured as a land of vast plantations worked by hundreds of enslaved African Americans. Such grand estates did exist in the South. However, most white southerners were not rich planters. In fact, most whites owned no enslaved African Americans at all.

Question 16

How was one classified as a planter in the South? What was “cottonocracy”? How did families of the “cottonocracy” live?

Answer 16

A planter was someone who owned at least 20 enslaved workers. In 1860, only one white southerner in 30 belonged to a planter family. An even smaller number—less than 1 percent—owned 50 or more enslaved workers. These wealthy families were called the “cottonocracy” because they made huge amounts of money from cotton. These rich planters lived mainly in the cotton belt of the lowland South and in coastal areas of South Carolina, Georgia, and Louisiana. Though few in number, their views and way of life dominated the South.
The richest planters built elegant homes and filled them with expensive furniture from Europe. They entertained lavishly. They tried to dress and behave like European nobility. Because of their wealth and influence, many planters became political leaders. Planters hired white overseers to run day-to-day affairs on their plantations and to manage the work of enslaved African Americans.

Question 17

What percentage of Southern whites were small farmers? About how many slaves, if any, did they own? What was the influence of neighbors?

Answer 17

About 75 percent of southern whites were small farmers. These “plain folk” owned the land they farmed. They might also own one or two enslaved African Americans. Unlike planters, plain folk worked with their enslaved workers in the fields. Small farmers could be found in most parts of the South, but their numbers were fewer in the cotton belt and in coastal regions where plantation agriculture was dominant. Among small farmers, helping one another was an important duty. “People who lived miles apart counted themselves as neighbors,” wrote a farmer in Mississippi. “And in case of sorrow or sickness, there was no limit to the service neighbors provided.”

Question 18

How was life for poor white Southerners? How many slaves did they own, if any? What did they do on the land they rented? Why did they rent it?

Answer 18

Lower on the social ladder were poor whites. These whites did not own enslaved African Americans. Many did not own the land they farmed. Instead, they rented it, often paying the owner with part of their crop. Many barely made a living. Poor whites often lived in the hilly, wooded areas of the upland South, north and west of the cotton belt. They planted crops such as corn, potatoes, and other vegetables. They also herded cattle and pigs. Poor whites had hard lives, but they enjoyed rights that were denied to all black people, enslaved or free.

Question 19

What were the differences between Northern whites and Southern whites?

Answer 19

Like northern whites, most southern whites were farmers. Most white farmers in both regions were small farmers. However, there were important differences in the white populations of the two regions. In the South, the wealthiest whites were planters who made their money from the work of enslaved African Americans. In the North, the wealthiest whites were capitalists who made their money from investing in industry. There were many white industrial workers and middle class people living in cities in the North. Relatively few southerners of any class lived in cities.

Question 20

Where did free and enslaved African Americans live? What were the rights that they both had?

Answer 20

Both free and enslaved African Americans lived in the South. Their legal and political conditions were different. Although free under the law and with certain legal rights, free African Americans faced harsh discrimination. Enslaved African Americans had no rights at all.

Question 21

How was life like for Free African Americans? How were they treated? What threat did Southerners think they proposed? What was done to limit this threat?

Answer 21

Most free African Americans were descendants of enslaved people who were freed during and after the American Revolution. Others had bought their freedom. In 1860, over 200,000 free blacks lived in the South. Most lived in Maryland and Delaware, where slavery was in decline. Others lived in cities such as New Orleans, Richmond, and Charleston. Many free African Americans reached an impressive level of success. Working as farmers, laborers, and artisans, such as blacksmiths, carpenters, and cobblers, they contributed to and influenced southern life. Some owned and operated businesses, such as inns and barbershops. A few became large plantation owners, growing cotton and owning enslaved workers. White slave owners did not like free African Americans living in the South. They feared that free African Americans set a dangerous example, encouraging enslaved African Americans to rebel. Also, slave owners justified slavery by claiming that African Americans could not take care of themselves. Free African Americans proved this idea wrong. To discourage free African Americans, southern states passed laws that made life even harder for them. Free African Americans were not allowed to vote or travel. In some southern states, they had to move out of the state or risk the chance of being kidnapped and enslaved. Despite these limits, free African Americans were able to make a life for themselves and make valuable contributions to southern life. For example, Norbert Rillieux (RIHL yoo) invented a machine that revolutionized the way sugar was refined. Another inventor, Henry Blair, patented a seed planter.

Question 22

What was life like for enslaved African Americans? How were they treated? How did they differ from free African Americans?

Answer 22

By 1860, enslaved African Americans made up one third of the South’s population. Most worked as field hands on cotton plantations. Both men and women cleared new land and planted and harvested crops. Children helped by pulling weeds, collecting wood, and carrying water to the field hands. By the time they were teenagers, they worked between 12 and 14 hours a day. Daily labor in the fields bound enslaved workers into a community of people who tried to help and protect one another. On large plantations, some enslaved African Americans had better positions. They might work as household servants or as skilled artisans, such as carpenters and blacksmiths. Such jobs might entitle workers to better food or clothing than field hands. A few enslaved people worked in cities. Their earnings, however, belonged to their owners. Unlike free African Americans, enslaved African Americans could not easily start businesses of their own. Another major difference between the social circumstances of free and enslaved African Americans was that enslaved African American families could be broken up by their owners, with family members sold separately. While they faced discriminations, free African American families were not forced to separate.

Question 23

Remember: The life of enslaved African Americans was determined by strict laws and the practices of individual slave owners. Conditions varied from plantation to plantation. Some owners made sure their enslaved workers had clean cabins, decent food, and warm clothes. Other planters spent as little as possible on their enslaved workers.

Answer 23

The life of enslaved African Americans was determined by strict laws and the practices of individual slave owners. Conditions varied from plantation to plantation. Some owners made sure their enslaved workers had clean cabins, decent food, and warm clothes. Other planters spent as little as possible on their enslaved workers.

Question 24

What were slave codes? What were their purpose?

Answer 24

Southern states passed laws known as slave codes to keep enslaved African Americans from either running away or rebelling. These codes applied to enslaved blacks but not to free blacks. Under the codes, enslaved African Americans were forbidden to gather in groups of more than three. They could not leave their owner’s land without a written pass from their owner. They were not allowed to own guns. Slave codes also made it a crime for enslaved African Americans to learn how to read and write. Owners hoped that this law would make it hard for African Americans to escape slavery. They reasoned that uneducated enslaved African Americans who escaped their owners would not be able to use maps or read train schedules. They would not be able to find their way north. Some laws were meant to protect enslaved African Americans, but only from the worst forms of abuse. However, enslaved African Americans did not have the right to testify in court. As a result, they were not able to bring charges against owners who abused them. Enslaved African Americans had only one real protection against mistreatment. Owners looked on their enslaved workers as valuable property. Most slave owners wanted to keep this human property healthy and productive.

Question 25

How hard were slaves forced to work? In what conditions?

Answer 25

Even the kindest owners insisted that their enslaved workers work long, hard days. Enslaved African Americans worked from “can see to can’t see,” or from dawn to dusk, up to 16 hours a day. Frederick Douglass, who escaped slavery, recalled his life under one harsh master:

We were worked in all weathers. It was never too hot or too cold; it could never rain, blow, hail, or snow too hard for us to work in the field. Work, work, work. … The longest days were too short for him and the shortest nights too long for him.

—Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave

Question 26

How was family life for slaves?

Answer 26

It was hard for enslaved African Americans to keep their families together. Southern laws did not recognize slave marriages or slave families. As a result, owners could sell a husband and wife to different buyers. Children were often taken from their parents and sold. On large plantations, many enslaved families did manage to stay together. For those African Americans, the family was a source of strength, pride, and love. Grandparents, parents, children, aunts, uncles, and cousins formed a close-knit group. This idea of an extended family had its roots in Africa. Enslaved African Americans preserved other traditions as well. Parents taught their children traditional African stories and songs. They used folk tales to pass on African history and moral beliefs.

Question 27

How did religion influence slaves?

Answer 27

By the 1800s, many enslaved African Americans were devout Christians. Planters often allowed white ministers to preach to their slaves. African Americans also had their own preachers and beliefs. Religion helped African Americans cope with the harshness of slave life. Bible stories about how the ancient Hebrews had escaped from slavery inspired a new type of religious song called a spiritual. As they worked in the fields, enslaved workers would often sing about a coming day of freedom. Enslaved African Americans had to be cautious even in their religious practice. While they sang of freedom in spirituals, the words of the spirituals suggested that this freedom would come after death, so as not to alarm slave owners.

Question 28

Remember: Enslaved African Americans struck back against the system that denied them both freedom and wages. Some broke tools, destroyed crops, and stole food.

Answer 28

Enslaved African Americans struck back against the system that denied them both freedom and wages. Some broke tools, destroyed crops, and stole food.

Question 29

How did slaves revolt against slavery?

Answer 29

Many enslaved African Americans tried to escape to the North. Because the journey was long and dangerous, very few made it to freedom. Every county had slave patrols and sheriffs ready to question an unknown black person. In the North, as you will learn, African Americans were able to fight slavery with peaceful means. Because southern laws offered no means to resist slavery, a few African Americans turned to violence to resist the brutal slave system. Denmark Vesey, a free African American, planned a revolt in 1822. Vesey was betrayed before the revolt began. He and 35 other people were executed. In 1831, an African American preacher named Nat Turner led a major revolt. An enslaved worker on a plantation in Southampton County, Virginia, Turner believed his mission was to take revenge on plantation owners. Turner led his followers through Virginia, killing more than 57 whites. For nearly two months terrified whites hunted the countryside looking for Turner. They killed many innocent African Americans before catching and hanging him. Nat Turner’s revolt increased southern fears of an uprising of enslaved African Americans. Revolts were rare, however. Since southern whites were well armed and kept careful track of African Americans, a revolt by African Americans had almost no chance of success.