Textbook Reading:
Chapter 4 Lesson 1 (pages 117-127) |
Cotton Gin Revisited
The cotton gin impacted the lives of slaves and the political rights of white South Carolinians. In 1793, Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin, which separated the seeds from cotton. As a result, cotton growing turned into South Carolina’s new cash crop. Farmers planted more cotton to increase profits and became even more dependent on slave labor. Since cotton could be grown throughout South Carolina, Upcountry farmers increased their ownership of slaves. Since the Regulator Movement, the Upcountry had wanted equal representation in the state legislature. As a result of increased slave ownership in the Upcountry, Lowcountry elites were less fearful of the loss of political power to the Upcountry. In 1810, voting became equal. An amendment to the state Constitution gave one vote to “every free white man of 21” where they currently lived. The voter did not have to own property, but those that did own property could no longer vote in every district they owned land in. South Carolina was the first state to allow voting by all white males over the age of 21.
Southern Economy |
Northern Economy |
During colonial times, agriculture (farming) was the basis of society in South Carolina. South Carolina’s economy, politics, and social standing revolved around the institution of slavery. Large plantations used the headright method and slave labor to work the fields. By 1860, South Carolina had the highest percentage of slaveholders in the nation, even though few slave owners owned large plantations. Most South Carolinians lived on family or subsistence farms and did not own slaves. The majority of slave owners only owned one to two slaves and often worked in the field beside their slaves. The slave population continued to grow in antebellum South Carolina because of cotton, even though slave importation (international slave trade) was outlawed in 1808.
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Because of the great number of textile mills in the North and in England that made cloths and fabrics, planters sold cotton at good prices. The textile mill owners of the North would then sell their finished goods back to southern states and other areas of the world for large profits. Both southern planters and northern mill owners became very wealthy due, either directly or indirectly, to slave labor. Planters were hesitant to find new crops to grow once the soil was depleted, or lacking in nutrients, and instead they moved to new lands. This need for new lands for cotton strengthened the southern argument for the westward expansion of slavery.
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Plantation Life
Plantation life required self-sustaining communities and depended on the institution of slavery for the production of goods and services needed to support plantations. Slaves did the work in the fields and in the plantation houses. They cleared the land, planted, cultivated, harvested, and processed the crops, working from dawn to dusk six days a week. Women and children worked in the fields alongside the men under the supervision of an overseer (white male supervisor) or a driver (black-slave supervisor). Slaves also had a diverse range of skills and might be hired out by the master who would collect the slave’s wages. Other slaves worked in the owner’s homes, cooking cleaning, doing laundry, and raising the owner’s children.
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Start Video at 9:52 for Class Content
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