Life in the SouthPart one

What was social class system like for whites in South, 1800-1861?

What’s your mental picture of the South?

(what images come to mind?)

You can either sketch a single image or bullet point various

visuals that you could imagine seeing

Social Class/Power chart

Planters

• Owned large farms, known as Plantations

• Often made one crop to sell

• Used slaves in fields and in homes

• QUESTION: What % of the South do you think owned slaves?

Is this surprising??

Only 1% of population in South were white, male slave owners

In 1860, 25% of white families in South owned slaves (for every 4 white families that could own slaves, 1 did)

Why didn’t more Southerners own slaves?

· The short answer--Money. Slaves were expensive to purchase, and their prices increased throughout the 1800’s.

· By 1850, a 30 year old male slave cost about $800. That is about $20,000 dollars in today’s values.

· Compare this to the $2-3 dollar a week spent on mill girls salaries.

How many slaves did the typical slaveholder own?

% of slaveholding families that had this # of slaves

# of slaves owned

Another way to look at this: 12% of Southern families owner 20+ slaves

Planters, part two

• Planters at head of southern society--politics and business

• Some planter children went into military academies

• Wives hosted social gatherings, made sure kid raised well

Who were the Yeoman?

· Smaller farmers that owned their own land

· By 1860, about 2/3 of white farming families were yeoman

· Grew food for family· Valued their independence,

but some dreamed of being rich as planters

Yeoman and slaves

· Some yeoman could afford a few slaves, but many could not

· When they had slaves, yeoman often worked side by side with slaves

Question:

· why might a yeoman be more likely to be more careful in how he treated a slave?

Poor whites

· About 10% of southern population

· Hunted, fished, sometimes worked as overseers

Another way to look at who is living in the

South

Note: Pine Barrens are poor whites

Southern culture: religion and literature

· Church socials were one of the few times farm families got together

· Wealthy whites claimed God created some people to rule over (and take care of!) others. Used this idea to justify slavery

· Southern writers focused on the positive

Urban South

· Southern cities like Northern cities--city kept streets clean, water systems working, etc.

· Southerners wanted cities to look as “modern” as possible

· Big difference: slavery. Slaves did a lot of the work as servants, factory workers, shipyards, etc.

· A bigger % of urban whites owned slaves than rural whites

· Question: what does this tell you about wealth of whites living in cities?

South Did Produce other Crops and Products

· Cotton· Corn· Rice· Tobacco· Sugarcane· Wheat· Factories produced rope, sackcloth and lumber

CLOSER What is surprising? What is not?

· -In space below, make a chart OR Write of what you’ve learned so far about the identity of the South that is surprising compared to your mental picture and what is not (your mental picture was accurate)

· -What do you think are the major factors influencing the southern identity ( geography, economy, or culture etc.?) WHY?

Cotton is King (Why were the planters so significant?)

• By 1860, the South produced 2/3 of all cotton grown in U.S.• It was 1/2 of all U.S. exports ($200 million)· Two major events increased demand:

A. Eli Whitney’s Cotton Gin: American cotton production went from 156,000 bales in 1800 to more than 4,000,000 bales in 1860 (a bale is 400-500 pounds).

B. British Demand for Cotton: 40% of Britain’s exports were cotton textiles. 75% of the cotton that supplied Britain’s cotton mills came from the American South.

• The number of slaves in America grew from 700,000 in 1790 to 4,000,000 in 1860

Trade of Slaves within US by 1860