Growth of the Cotton industry

• ​Before the revolution, tobacco, rice and indigo were in demand, however the price dropped and so did the demand for slaves

• Cotton would soon transform the southern economy

  • American producers couldnt keep up with the demand, removing the seeds from the cotton was difficult and time consuming

• Cotton-gin: Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin, a machine that removes seeds from short-staple cotton

  • Revolutionized the cotton industry

• The cotton gin made cotton so profitable, planters abandoned their other crops

  • Growing demand for slaves

  • Britain became the souths most valued foreign trading partner​

• Cotton belt: a region stretching from South Carolina ​to east Texas where most US cotton was produced

cotton boom

1. Enslaved African did most of the planting, harvesting, and processing of cotton

2. Cotton was shipped on river steamboats to major ports

3. From southern ports, sailing ships carried the cotton to distant textile mills.

4. A large amount of cotton is sold to textile mills in the US or sent to other foreign buys such as Great Britain.

​The South's Cotton Economy

• "Cotton was King"

• Corn was the primary southern food crop

• Other crops: rice, sweet potatoes, wheat and sugarcane

• Industry

  • Steam-powered mills

  • Tredegar Iron Works: one of the most productive ironworks in the nation

  • Industry reamined a small part of southern economy, would rather invest in land

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Other crops & Industries

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• ​Planters greatly influenced the economy

  • Wealthy

  • ​Mansions

• Men: concerned with raising crops and supervising slave laborers

• Women: raised the children and supervised slave work within the home

• Arranged childrens marriages based on business interest

Planters

yeomen and Poor Whites

• Yeomen: owners of small farms

  • ​Owned few or no slaves

  • If they owned slaves, worked beside them

• Religion

  • Saw religion as a way to reinforce the institution of slavery

  • "God created them to rule others"

  • Opposite of the belief in the north "God was against slavery"​

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Subject | Subject

• ​Although most African Americans were enslaved in the south, there were free African Americans

  • Most lived in the countryside as paid laborers on plantations

  • Some moved to the city as ​skilled artisans such as barbers

• Discrimination

  • Laws prohibiting rights of free Africans such as not being able to vote, travel freely, or hold certain jobs

  • White southerners would say African Americans could not care for themselves to reinforce slavery

free african americans & Discrimination

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The Slave System

• Most enslaved Africans worked on farms and plantations

  • sickness and poor weather rarely stopped work​

• Some slaves worked as bulters, cooks, and nurses in the home

  • often had better food and clothing but worked 24hrs a day​

• On larger plantations, some held skilled jobs such as blacksmiths or carpenters ​

  • Could buy their freedom​

Life Under slavery

• Generally slaveholders viewed slave​s as property

• Sold slaves at auctions

  • Families could be split never seeing eachother again​

  • Kidnapped free Africans and sold them into slavery

• Endured poor living conditions​

  • Dirt floor, leaky roofs, tattered clothing​

  • Slaves would try to improve conditions

• Suffered harsh punishments

• Slave codes

  • prohibited travel, education, etc.​