APUSH Chapter 11 (The Peculiar Institution)

Slavery was an institution unique to only southern society (started when 20 African slaves came to Virginia on a Dutch ship.

) The Mason-Dixon Line separated slavery and freedom; the North and the South. Slaves in total made up 1/3 of the total southern population, and about ½ the population in the Deep South.

Cotton was the world's major crop produced by slave labour, and the U.S. (its Old South region) was the center of it all.

Cotton was the South's "white gold", and they were so successful because they held a monopoly of the industry. Cotton had also become the most important commodity in international trade b/c it was used as raw material to manufacture goods. ¾ of the world's cotton came from southern U.S., so it was the most important American export; allowing the U.S.

to pay for the imported goods and investments that topped the value of factories, railroads, and banks combined.

Lords of the loom were New England's early factory owners, and Lords of the Lash were the southern slave owners. Both depending on each other because the loom people needed to make cotton into cloth which would integrate them into international trade, and the slave owners needed cheap fabrics to clothes the South's slaves (also called "Negro cloth"). Both the North and the South were very integrated; tied together by the slave labour system.

Big planters monopolized on the most fertile land, so small farmers lived outside the plantation belt and had to try to grow cotton in unsuitable conditions. They did this by using family labour instead of slave labour. They were also disconnected from the Market Revolution because they relied on themselves to provide basic needs; not stores, so they never developed an industrial base. Furthermore, the "plain folk" of the south resented the large planters because they were the only ones getting into office; making the South a "slaveocracy.

" But, it was regional nationality in face of criticism that bonded them and large plantation owners together.

The idea that the master was the head of his slaves and his family; the South morphed into a hierarchical, agrarian society in which slaveholders took on the personal responsibility of taking care of all their dependents. This was capitalized upon in 1808 when the gap between master and slave lessened due to the ban on the African slave trade. This outlook also allowed slave-owners feel kind and responsible masters by taking their slaves in as "family." Reverend Charles C.

Jones, a wealthy planter in Georgia, tried to reform the system so slaves were treated better.

the "peculiar institution" idea developed in the North, but the South held true to proslavery ideas; they didn't believe the system was a "necessary evil", but rather a stable and safe system for agriculture. Racism was only a part of this argument, but they also used history and biblical claims the practice was alright. The practice also promised equality for whites by having slavery for blacks.

It also allowed white men to have political autonomy and was the "cornerstone of our republican edifice" because it granted freedom to masters.

Slaves also had a distinct version of Christianity that offered a relief to their hardship, and offered hope for liberation. They were a part of the Great Awakening, and were a part of the South's Baptist and Methodist churches. Slaves were prohibited from gathering for church without a white person present, but each plantation had its own black preacher (who was a "self-called" slave with no formal education.) The south worshipped in biracial congregations.

Masters used Christianity to have social controls over their slaves and used preaching to prevent slaves from rebelling.

Day to day resistance of slaves to their masters. Slaves could not boldly defy their master, so they resorted to this one form of resistance. They did this by doing poor work, breaking tools, abusing animals, and disrupting the plantation routine and stealing food.

Less frequent resistances were arson, poisoning, and armed assaults against certain whites.

A loose organization of sympathetic abolitionists who hid fugitives in their homes and then send them to the next "station" that led to the south.

Slaves that ran away from their plantation in hopes of freedom. Most runaway slaves were young men (like Frederick Douglass), and women couldn't bear to leave their children behind and it was impossible to take them on their journey for freedom.

The best known individual who risked her life escaping from slavery, and then going back to her home state and rescuing others.

A major slave uprising in 1822. He was a slave carpenter in Charleston, South Carolina, who purchased his freedom after winning a local lottery. He tried to prove that slavery and bondage was against the Bible and the Declaration of Independence. Gullah Jack claimed to be able to protect the rebels from injury or death, but their plot was discovered before it even began. They - among other slaves - were executed and others banished from the state.

Best known slave rebel from Virginia. He traveled and conducted religious services. On August 22 (though he originally planned for July 4) 1831, he and some followers marched from farm to farm and assaulted white inhabitants. Most were women and children. Turner, when asked if he regretted anything, replied: "Was not Christ crucified?" This was the last large-scale rebellion in the south. Occurred where slavery was most constricting, and less followers in the beginning meant less of a chance to be caught.

Only an outside force would be able to alter the balance of power in the south; it couldn't come from within the slave community. This rebellion also spread panic throughout the south, and debates opened about whether slavery should continue. However, Virginia just tightened its hold over its slaves.