Ch. 16: The South and the Slavery Controversy, 1793-1860

As a result of the introduction of the cotton gin – slavery was reinvigorated
Members of the planter aristocracy – dominated society and politics in the South
All of the following were true of the American economy under Cotton Kingdom - cotton accounted for half the value of all American exports after 1840 the South produced more than half the entire world’s supply of cotton.
75% of the British supply of cotton came from the South quick profits from cotton drew planters to its economic enterprise But the South did not reap all the profits from the cotton trade
Plantation agriculture was wasteful largely because – its excessive cultivation of cotton despoiled good land
Plantation mistresses – commanded a sizeable staff of mostly female slaves
Plantation agriculture – was economically unstable and wasteful
The plantation system of the Cotton South was – increasingly monopolistic

All the following were weaknesses of the slave plantation system: it relied on a one-crop economy it repelled a large-scale European immigration it stimulated racism among poor whites it created an aristocratic political elite But it was not a weakness that its land continued to remain in the hands of the small farmers
German and Irish immigration to the South was discouraged by – competition with slave labor
All told, only about – one-fourth – of white southerners owned slaves or belonged to a slaveholding family
The following quote, “I think we must get rid of slavery or we must get rid of freedom” was said by
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
As their main crop, southern subsistence farmers raised – corn
Most white southerners were – subsistence farmers
By the mid-nineteenth century – most slaves lived on large plantations
Most slaves in the South were owned by – plantation owners
The majority of southern whites owned no slaves because – they could not afford the purchase price
The most pro-Union of the white southerners were – mountain whites
Some southern slaves gained their freedom as a result of – purchasing their way out of slavery
The great increase of the slave population in the first half of the nineteenth century was largely due to
– natural reproduction
Northern attitudes toward free blacks can best be described as – disliking the individuals but liking the race
For free blacks living in the North – discrimination was common
The profitable southern slave system – hobbled the economic development of the region as a whole
Regarding work assignments, slaves were – generally spared dangerous work
Perhaps the slave’s greatest psychological horror, and the theme of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, was – the enforced separation of slave families
By 1860, slaves were concentrated in the “black belt” located in the
– Deep South states of Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana
As a substitute for the wage-incentive system, slave owners most often used the – whip as a motivator
By 1860, life for slaves was most difficult in the – newer states of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana
Forced separation of spouses, parents, and children was most common
– on small plantations and in the upper South
All of the following were true of slavery in the South: slave life on the frontier was harder than that of life in the more settled areas a distinctive African American slave culture developed a typical planter had too much of his own prosperity riding on the backs of his slaves to beat them on a regular basis by 1860 most slaves were concentrated in the “black belt” of the Deep South It was not true that most slaves were raised in single unstable parent households
Most slaves were raised – in stable two-parent households
Slaves fought the system of slavery in all the following ways: slowing down the work pace sabotaging expensive equipment pilfering goods that their labor had produced running away when possible