Ch 12 Southern Society

Cotton was the main food crop in the South.

Cotton was the most important export and dominated the economy.

Cotton was only grown for local use.

Cotton was not traded outside the South.

It made cotton production much faster and increased the demand for slave labor.

It reduced the need for workers on cotton plantations.

It caused the decline of cotton as a major crop in the South.

It led to the immediate end of the slave trade.

Its location near the Mississippi River and expanding cotton-growing areas.

Its proximity to gold mines.

Its large population of textile workers.

Its access to the Atlantic Ocean.

Texas

Georgia

Illinois

Louisiana

Yeomen farmers

Plantation owners

Poor Whites

Slaves

They were considered property.

They had no or very restricted rights.

Most were field workers.

They could vote in Southern society.

Non-slaveholders (Poor Whites)

Yeomen farmers

Plantation Owners

Slaveholders with 10-99 slaves

House slaves

Artisans

Field slaves

Indentured servants

To protect slave rights

To control the behavior and punishment of slaves

To encourage slave education

To promote slave ownership

Marry

Learn to read and write

Leave the plantation without permission

Own property

To entertain slaveholders

To blend African culture with Biblical themes and allow slaves to express feelings about enslavement

To teach slaves how to read and write

To organize secret meetings