Pre-quiz❚ Read this first.❚ Click here to take the interactive pre-quiz
Slavery❚ Many felt it would die
out on it’s own❙ Free labor was
generally more profitable
❙ Why?
❚ What happened? Why didn’t it die out on it’s own?
Cotton❚ Picking
❙ Slave - 200 lbs. per day
❙ Separate - 1lb. per day
❙ Until?❘ Cotton Gin (1793) -
Eli Whitney
Eli Whitney
*Learn more about Eli Whitney, the inventor of the Cotton Gin here
Cotton Gin❚ Separate 50 - 1,000
lbs. ❙ More cotton is grown
❘ 1792 - 13,000 bales❘ 1840 - 1 Million bales
❙ Slavery becomes more and more important
Slavery❚ By 1860
❙ Over 1/3 the Southern population❙ 4 million slaves
❚ Some states passed laws against freeing slaves❙ Increased value
*Learn more about the Laws here
Slavery❚ Lower South
❙ 2.3 million – 47% of total population
❚ Upper South❙ 1.2 million – 29% of total population
❚ Border States❙ 432,000 – 13% of total population
*1860 Census
Slavery❚ Cotton was considered the perfect
crop for slavery❙ Why?❙ Kept them busy year round
❘ Clearing land, Planting, Cultivating, Harvesting.
Slavery❚ Lived in small shacks❚ Grew their own food ❚ Worked in the fields from sunup to
sundown❙ Watched by Overseer
Slavery❚ Different Jobs
❙ Most were Field Hands❙ House Servants ❙ Skilled
❘ Carpentry, masonry, etc.
Underground Railroad
❚ Safe-houses & people helping runaway slaves
❚ Conductors❙ Harriet Tubman❙ Josiah Henson❙ Levi Coffin
Harriet Tubman❚ Escaped in 1849❚ Made 19 trips
back into the South
❚ Helped over 300 slaves escape
*Learn more about Harriet here
Fighting Slavery
❚ Slaves were thought to be lazy and stupid❙ Why?❙ “Dragging their Heels”❙ Their way of protesting slavery
❘ They don’t benefit from hard work
❚ Legal Equality?❙ No❙ Couldn’t vote, hold public office, ❙ Treated as second-class people
Free Blacks - North
Douglass❙ Former Slave
❘ Escaped
❙ Excellent Speaker❘ First-hand information about slavery
*Learn more about Frederick here
Abolitionists❚ Others
❙ William Lloyd Garrison❘ Immediate Emancipation vs. Gradual Emancipation
*Learn more about William here
Abolitionists❚ What did they accomplish?❙ Not the abolition of
slavery – yet❘ That will take the
Civil War to accomplish!
Post Quiz❚ Click here to begin your
underground railroad journey to escape from slavery!
❚ Then tell your slave story here