Extra Credit

To Replace your lowest “Daily GradeDaily Grade”Write a letter to a soldier who was hurt fighting for our country

Assignment: Write a letter to a recovering American soldier and return it unsealed in an addressed and stamped envelopeaddressed and stamped envelope first thing in the

morning and I will replace your lowest daily grade with a 100.

Address: A Recovering American SoldierA Recovering American Soldierc/o Walter Reed Army Medical Hospitalc/o Walter Reed Army Medical Hospital

6900 Georgia Avenue, NW6900 Georgia Avenue, NWWashington, DC 20307-5001Washington, DC 20307-5001

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The South’s economy relies on cotton, and the slave labor used to produce it.

Antebellum Society1800–1860

The South builds a cotton economy, but also creates a class system with race as the most critical factor.

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Antebellum Society1800–1860

SECTION 1

SECTION 2

Southern Culture

Antebellum Society in Georgia

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Section 1

Southern Culture The South becomes a distinct region that is quite different from other regions of the United States by the 1850s.

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“Cotton is King”

Southern Culture

Antebellum South Focuses on Cotton

• Southern antebellum society based on cotton(antebellumantebellum means “before the war,”)

• Late 1700s, cotton is Georgia’s most important crop with English textile mills creating a huge

demand

SECTION

1

Continued . . .

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SECTION

1

The Cotton Gin•Cotton seeds limited amount of cotton produced because the seeds hard to remove

• Eli WhitneyEli Whitney designs cotton gin in 1793- cotton gincotton gin—machine that removes seeds from

cotton- allows each worker to clean 50 times more

cotton per day

• More planters begin growing cotton as a result of cotton gin

continued “Cotton is King”

The Cotton Gin

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SECTION

1

Cotton Gin Brings Changes• Cotton boom allows South to focus on agriculture

• North focuses on industry

• Cotton easy to sell, commands high prices

• Planters begin to grow more cotton than any other crops and less food crops

• South becomes dependent on cotton

The Cotton Boom

Continued . . .

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SECTION

1

Slavery Expands• Cotton requires large workforce; slavery

increases in South

• Cotton profits skyrocket, very profitable

• As profits rise, slave prices jump: - male field hand is $300 in 1790s; rises to

$1,000 by late 1830s

• Slave importation illegal after 1808 - continue to trade slaves already living in U.S.

continued The Cotton Boom

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SECTION

1 Difficulties with Farming

Continued . . .

Soil Exhaustion• Farmers plant same crops each year; takes vital

nutrients from soil

• “Exhausted” soilExhausted” soil no longer supports crops; plantations shift west

• Some rich farmers use use guanoguano, bird droppings, as as fertilizerfertilizer by 1850s

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SECTION

1

Crop Failures• Georgians too reliant on cotton; use profits for

more land, slaves

•Wealth in south is determined by land and slaves owned not cash on hand. Crop failure can lead to poverty

continued Difficulties with Farming

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SECTION

1

Industry is Limited• Little industry in Georgia; some textile (cotton) mills;

iron- these industries later vital to Civil War effort

Industry in Georgia

Barriers to Industry• Wealthy reinvest money in cotton instead of

developing industries

• Planter class—no need to change industry while cotton is profitable

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SECTION

1

River Travel• Rivers are main transportation method until mid-

1800s

• Samuel Howard launches Georgia’s first steamboat, EnterpriseEnterprise, 1816

• In 1819, SavannahSavannah makes first transatlantic steamboat trip- launched by group of Savannah businessmen

Transportation in Georgia

Continued . . .

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SECTION

1

Railroads• In 1837, Construction of Western and AtlanticWestern and Atlantic

(W&AW&A) Railroad begins - first W&A stake driven seven miles east of

Chattahoochee River- staked spot called Terminus—beginning of

modern-day Atlanta

• All but two major southern railroads pass through Atlanta by 1860

•Southern railroads are lighter gauge than northern railroads-built for lightweight hauling of agricultural goods (esp. cotton)

continued Transportation in Georgia

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SECTION

1

Georgia’s Public School Systems • Georgia’s public school system weak, develops

later

• Georgia creates poor school systempoor school system to educate needy children in 1817

• Many Georgians embarrassed to send children to poor schools

• If able, families pay to send children to old fieldold field schoolsschools instead

• Education neglected—20% of Georgia’s white adults literate by 1850

Education in Georgia

Continued . . .

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SECTION

1

Georgia Still Mostly Rural• Savannah is Georgia’s largest city in 1860,

22,000 people

• Augusta—12,500; Columbus, Macon, Atlanta—under 10,000 each

• Most Georgians live in rural areas, small towns

Georgia’s Cities

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Antebellum Georgia develops distinct social classes based largely on race and partly on economic opportunity.

Section 2

Antebellum Society in Georgia

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The Old South

Antebellum Society in Georgia

Social Classes and Slavery• Georgia, South divided into social classes; race

the critical factor PlantersYeoman FarmersPoor WhitesFree BlacksHouse slavesField Slaves

• Whites of all classes see themselves as higher in status than blacks - even free, wealthy African Americans considered lower than whites• Only about 25% of Southern whites own slaves

- slave ownership sign of wealth, political power

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2

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Planters

A Wealthy Minority• Planters—wealthy elite, own 20 or more slaves

on plantations

• Plantations—large farms extending hundreds of acres

• 1860, under 3,000 of Georgia’s 600,000 whites considered planters

SECTION

2

Continued . . .

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Small Communities• Plantations small self sufficient communities

• Plantation owners usually hire overseer to head farming operation

• Owners live in towns to enjoy social lives, better education

• Coastal owners come to cities to avoid disease-carrying insects

• Planters often well-educated community leaders

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2

continued Planters

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Yeoman Farmers

The Majority of White Georgians• Most Georgia whites yeoman farmers—own and

farm a few acres of land

• Some slave owners, some rent farms from larger landowners

SECTION

2

Poor Whites• Poor whites own no land, hire selves out to land,

business owners

• Live at subsistence level; many move to towns, work in mills by 1860

                

              

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Free African Americans

Freedom Not Guaranteed• About 3,500 free African Americans in Georgia,

1850

• Slaveholders free slaves or slaves purchase their own freedom

• Live mainly in towns where they can find work

• Many free slaves still must register; some kidnapped and enslaved

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Different Roles on a Plantation• Field hands tend crops on plantation; driver maintains discipline

• Some skilled slaves become carpenters or blacksmiths - some allowed to keep portion of earnings

• House slaves cook, clean, tend homes, care for children Considered of a higher class than field slaves

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2

Continued . . .

Enslaved Africans

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Life Under Slavery• Slaves live in slave quarters; some in servants’ quarters in homes

• Many slaves allowed plots to grow food; some can sell surplus food

• Illegal to teach slaves literacy, but some taught; pass it on

• Slaves can’t legally marry; many owners recognize informal marriage

• Owner may sell a slave anytime; children of slaves are also slaves

• Slave families often broken up throughout South

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2

continued Enslaved Africans

Continued . . .

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Resistance• Slaves develop means of protest; most common to work slowly

• Some escape to North; severe punishment to deter others if caught

• Many white Georgians fear slave revolts; pass strict slave codes

SECTION

2

continued Enslaved Africans

*Life of a slave girl

reading slave girl

Unchained Memories