Causes & Economics of Conflict
The cotton gin made this crop extremely ______ for Southern planters because they didn't pay their enslaved workforce.
What is profitable?
This is the term for a person who joined the organized effort to end the practice of slavery in the United States.
What is an abolitionist?
This invention, created by Eli Whitney in 1793, made processing short-staple cotton much faster and more profitable.
What is the cotton gin?
The cotton gin did not reduce the need for labor to pick the cotton; instead, it led to an __ in the demand for enslaved labor.
What is an increase?
King Cotton created a rigid social hierarchy, with a small group of wealthy __ __ holding most of the power and influence.
Who are plantation owners (or planters)?
This industry, focused on cloth production, was the first to be transformed by the Industrial Revolution in both Great Britain and the American North, creating high demand for Southern cotton.
What is the textile industry?
In U.S. history, this term refers to the formal process or fact of being set free from slavery.
What is emancipation?
By the mid-19th century, cotton accounted for more than half of all U.S. exports and was referred to by this two-word phrase.
What is "King Cotton"?
The number of enslaved people in the American South grew from around 700,000 in 1790 to nearly this many by 1860.
What is 4 million?
The wealth disparity meant that many white families in South Carolina had little direct connection to large plantations and owned only small farms.
What is true?
This concept was the "initial weapon" used by many early anti-slavery activists, who appealed to slaveholders' consciences that slavery was a great evil.
What is morality?
This adjective describes the type of labor performed within a household, such as cooking or cleaning, which was a common form of slavery in various regions.
What is domestic?
Despite the wealth generated, Southern investors were often more interested in land and slaves than in developing this, which led to a lack of industrial diversification compared to the North.
What is manufacturing (or industry)?
The demand for enslaved workers in the cotton kingdom fueled this internal trade, which became the largest forced migration in American history and destroyed numerous families.
What is the (internal) slave trade?
Planters in South Carolina invested most of their profits into buying more land and slaves rather than building cities, which hindered the growth of these.
What are cities or towns?
To adjust the number of seats each state has in the House of Representatives based on population counts from the census is to do this.
What is to reapportion?
Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison were two prominent figures in the movement known by this term.
What is the abolitionist movement?
South Carolina's economy saw an increase in prosperity during the 1830s and 1850s, but it was vulnerable to these events due to its over-reliance on a single crop.
What are financial panics or market fluctuations?
After the Civil War ended slavery, this system developed, where freedmen worked the land for a portion of the crop, keeping them tied to cotton production and often in debt.
What is sharecropping?
The belief in the economic power of "King Cotton" helped blur class divides among white Southerners by reinforcing a social order based heavily on this shared institution.
What is slavery (or the "peculiar institution")?
This term describes the period in U.S. history "before the war," specifically the decades leading up to the Civil War, characterized by growing sectional tensions.
What is antebellum?
Abraham Lincoln used his power as Commander-in-Chief to issue the proclamation for this on January 1, 1863, as a "fit and necessary war measure."
What is emancipation?
This specific, highly-prized variety of cotton, known for its long, silky fiber, was grown on the Sea Islands of South Carolina and was a major export.
What is Sea Island cotton?
Some planters used steam-powered versions of the cotton gin, which dramatically increased processing capacity from 50 pounds a day with a hand gin to approximately this amount.
What is 2,500 pounds (per day)?
The children born from the frequent abuse of enslaved women by white masters suffered greater hardships and were often sold to other plantations to appease this person.
Who is the master's white wife (or mistress)?