Chapter 11 Reading Questions

In what ways – social and economic- was the South dependent on slavery and cotton, and in what ways was it not? How much variety – social and economic- existed in the Old South?

Building a diverse cotton kingdom

1.  What percentage of southern whites were NOT slaveholders?

2.  Define a yeoman.

3.  Cotton was cash crop in the south, but more acres were devoted to what crop?

The Expansion of Slavery in a Global Economy

1.  What were the five factors that the expansion of cotton depended on? Provide examples of each of the five factors.

Compare and contrast North American with Latin American slavery.

Slavery in Latin America

1.  Where else were there slaves during this time period?

2.  What crop was crucial to Latin America?

3.  What distinguished Latin American slavery when compared to slavery in the south?

4.  Why was the death rate so high in Latin America?

5.  Why did the slave population drop in Latin America?

6.  How did a Latin Americans slave obtain freedom?

White and Black migrations on the South

1.  Where did the southern population expand to between 1830-1860?

2.  What impact did the economic depression starting in 1820 have on the south?

3.  What went “down the river”?

Southern Dependency on Slavery

1.  Between 1820 and 1860 how much did slavery increase in the south?

2.  What was the percentage of slaves were involved in agriculture? Out of that percentage, how many were involved in growing cotton?

3.  What was the percentage of slaves that were domestic servants?

4.  Explain how the actions of the Tredegar Iron Company hurt the poor whites in the south? How would this cause tension? What impact could it have for the future if other companies replicate the Tredegar example?

5.  One slave would cost how much to be fed and produce how much in cotton by 1859? What was the price per slave by 1860?

Paternalism and Honor in the Planter Class

1.  Explain the role of the head of the plantation.

2.  What was the role of the wife?

3.  What activities were common in the south?

4.  What was the code of honor? What would happen if the code of honor was broken?

Slavery, Class, and Yeoman farmers and The Nonslaveholding South

1.  Social pyramid: Duka will cover this.

Show your understanding of the morning, noon, and night structure of this chapter by explaining it to a friend not in the course. How does the structure reflect three different interpretations of slavery?

Morning: Master and Mistress in the Big House: The Burdens of Slaveholding

1.  What were the difficulties in owning slaves?

The Plantation Mistress

1.  What were the many roles of the mistress?

Justifying Slavery

1.  There are five arguments to justify slavery. Explain each.

Daily Toll:

1.  How long was a slave’s day?

2.  How much was a cotton slave supposed to pick each day?

Slave Health and Punishment

1.  What was the average rations a day per slave?

2.  Why were women more vulnerable to disease?

3.  What types of diseases did slaves suffer from?

4.  What were the forms of punishment used on a plantation?

5.  What rewards were used?

Slave Law and Family

1.  Who was the abolitionist that attacked slavery?

2.  How were the slave laws tightened up in 1831?

3.  How was slavery an extra burden for slave women?

NIGHT: Slaves in their quarters: Black Christianity

1.  T/F Blacks were allowed to worship freely.

2.  What kind of church did most southern black slaves attend?

3.  How did slaveholders use religion to their advantage?

4.  What would happen at night?

The Power of Song

1.  What theme did spirituals reiterate?

The Enduring Family

1.  How was the love and affection that slaves had for each other and their families sometimes a liability?

List five or six different ways in which slaves resisted their enslavement and achieved a measure of autonomy, agency, and self-esteem.

Forms of Black Protest

1.  List the many ways slaves protested.

2.  Who was Harriet Tubman

Slave Revolts

1.  What did the revolt led by Gabriel and Denmark Vesey have in common?

2.  What was the most famous slave revolt in Virginia?

3.  Explain how the revolt was carried out.

4.  What effect did the revolt have on southern society?

Free Blacks: Becoming One’s Own Master

1.  What happened to the number of free blacks between 1820 and 1860?

2.  Why did the increase occur?

3.  What common characteristics did the free blacks share?

4.  In most states, what kind of rights did free blacks have?

5.  What kind of lifestyle did most free blacks live?

6.  What role did the church play for freed blacks?

What does the author of this chapter think was the worst thing about slavery? What do you think? What does the institution of slavery suggest about American values and how have they changed over time?