What invention made cotton profitable for farmers in the South? Who invented it?
The cotton gin. Eli Whitney invented it.
100
True or false: In the South, most people were rich and lived on beautiful plantations.
False. Fewer than 1/3 of plantation owners were very wealthy.
100
Labor system where field hands worked on the same task at the same time.
gang-labor system
100
A machine that removes seeds from short-staple cotton.
cotton gin
100
Owners of small farms
yeomen
200
What industry was affected by the cotton gin?
How?
The cotton industry.
- There was an economic boom
- New settlers came
- Wealthy white southerners got wealthier
- Slavery in the South grew.
200
What were the four main groups that made up Southern society?
Planters, Yeomen, poor whites, and free african americans
200
What were some types of work done by slaves on plantations?
- Most slaves worked in the fields.
- Some slaves worked as butlers, cooks, or nurses in the planter’s home.
- On larger plantations, some slaves worked at skilled jobs
200
Large scale farmers that held more than 20 slaves
planters (plantation owners)
200
What were some other food and cash crops that Southerners grew?
Corn, rice, sweet potatoes, wheat, and sugarcane, tobacco, hemp, and flax
300
Name three advantages of cotton as a cash crop.
Name one disadvantage.
Advantages:
1. It was inexpensive to market
2. It had a long self life (it lasted a long time)
3. It was inexpensive to transport
Disadvantage:
It depleted the soil.
300
What challenges did free African Americans face in the South?
- they had limited rights
- they could not vote, travel freely, or hold certain jobs
- some places limited where they could live or do business
- in some places they had to have a white person represent them in business transactions
300
What were the 2 reasons white southerners used to justify slavery?
1. They argued that God created some people, like themselves, to rule others.
2. Many white southerners argued that free African Americans could not take care of themselves
300
A region stretching from South Carolina to east Texas where most U.S. cotton was produced during the mid-1800s
The cotton belt
300
What were folktales?
Stories with a moral, to teach lessons about how to survive under slavery.
400
What new technology enabled lumber companies to cut, sort, and clean wood quickly?
steam-powered sawmill
400
What group made up the largest part of the population?
Yeomen (small farmers)
400
How did slaveaholders control slaves?
- Most slaveholders used cruel punishments
- Some planters offered more food or better living conditions
- Many states passed strict laws called slave codes
- slaves couldn't learn to read or write
- anyone caught teaching slaves were fined and whipped.
400
A crop broker who managed the trade between southern planters and their customers
factor
400
What were the songs slaves sang that blended African and European music, to express their religious beliefs
spirituals
500
What effect did the cotton boom have on the southern United States?
It made the South a major player in world trade.
500
Where did most free African Americans live and work?
- Free African Americans lived in both rural and urban areas.
- Most lived in the countryside and worked as paid laborers on plantations or farms.
- Free African Americans in cities often worked a variety of jobs, mostly as skilled artisans.
500
What were two important aspects of slave culture?
- Family and community
- Religion
500
A large iron factory that operated in Richmond, Virginia, in the early to mid-1800s
Tredegar Iron Works
500
What was the most violent slave revolt in the country occurred in 1831 and is known as?