11-12-13 NEW Flashcards
Social Hierarchy in the south
see fig 1 bc I don’t feel like typing allat
Why the cotton kingdom is less industrialized
farming is the main source of income, they create the raw materials and send them up to the industrialized north to be made into things. Also, money is invested in land and the slave market instead of companies and stuff.
Debow’s Review
He says the south should industrialize more, especially because they are so dependent on the north to craft their materials into goods. Southern Whigs are moved by this, but no real change comes from it
Slave codes
Necessary when establishing a system with slavery- defines the rules within said system.ex. black people can’t testify against a white person in court, can’t own land, can’t be taught to read, etc.
master-slave relations
Most white owners were paternalistic rather than harsh, but still didn’t treat slaves as people and more like a valuable animal. A good master was considered one who didn’t beat their slaves, but arguably that is less than the bare minimum
slave lives (rural vs urban)
Urban areas: more interaction with others (including whites) which offers possible learning experiences. Clothed better and fed better, partially because they would be seen by the public and prove that the master was kinder to their slaves. Rural: nothing to life other than field work and sleep; often clothed and fed less since there is no public pressure, no chance to see what life is like outside of slavery and also had closer supervision & more corporal punishment
slave lives (house vs field)
House slaves: got leftovers from white people’s tables. Lived under a roof and tended to be dressed better, physically easier work. Racism was more common since you’d work with white people more often, and envied by field slaves. However, also more likely to be raped. House slaves had to “perform” while doing their duties in the house, and fit stereotypesField slaves: often under physically harsher conditions, jealous of house slaves. THey did not have to perform as much.
(resistance) slave revolts
revolts were very rare, but masters were TERRIFIED of themMatt Turner Uprising: Happened in 1831 in Virginia, Turner was a preacher. 60 white people were killed, 100 black people executed afterwards. Clearly punished very harshly
(resistance) slave escapes
Escaping was one of the most common forms of resistance. They said that if you followed the big dipper, you would eventually be safe (north).However, they would have to get to Canada since the north was still under slave law and would have to return any escaped slaves they found
(resistance) work sabotage
Sabotaging work and seeming dumb could be a way to do less work without being whipped. Thus, they would “break” tools, do the bare minimum, etc
slaves and religion
Slaves would often take on the religion of their master, which masters encouraged. they were encouraged to go to a segregated church because the church said that one shouldn’t resist being enslaved and to love one’s master. They would say it’s god’s will that black people were enslaved and fighting back meant you wouldn’t go to heaven. This helped them prevent slave resistance. However, lots of racial equality leaders would be religious leaders as well like MLK.
slaves and music
Connections between west african music and blues, etc.Music offered solace for many, and coded languages sometimes through metaphors
Gullah (language)
a blend of african and american languages so they could have autonomy and privacy from whites. Still spoken in some remote islands
animism
African Americans created animism which is like christianity. Objects living or nonliving have spiritual power- this also included other spiritual practices like voodoo
kinship and family of slaves
Extended kinship networks: when you make the people around you your family, even if you aren’t blood related. Real family was often separated to try and prevent these kinds of connections from forming.
Transcendentalism
You should learn from your own experience instead of book learning (they weren’t against learning like that they just preferred experience). Very influential in American literature, ex. Emerson and Henry Thoreau were strongly into this
Brook farm - Transcendental utopia
led by George RipleyTried to do work on one day so they could create/write/paint the next, but it didn’t work and eventually dissipated
Hancock Shaker Village
Believed that marriage and sex are inherently unequal to women, thus everyone swore to celibacyIncreased their numbers through converts insteadMade lots of crafts, and were well known for cabinets and stuffWomen often held positions of power
the Oneida Community
All lived together, dressed the same, cut their hair the same, etc.Thought that traditional christianity wasn’t quite right, and though polyamory was better. They often assigned young people to older people so that procreation was less common.Neighbors were not a fan of them and even tried to shut them downThey made a living by selling animal traps, then they made tableware
Mormons
The angel meroney came down from heaven to give the book of mormon to Joseph SmithInto bigamy, which makes them very unpopular/persecutedcommitted to a strict way of living: no alcohol, no no caffeine, no tobaccolots of tithing (10% of income)They move to Idaho, settle down to get money n stuff, then to Utah where they form a more permanent community where they still are today
Hudson River art school
MOst famous art school in america. Common themes included the beauty of the natural land/american wild, but also hinted at the death colonists brought to it.Horace Mann caused reform, like longer school years, better teachers who got more pay, secular subjects taught in addition to religious.
Important writers
James Fenimore Cooper: wrote “The Last of the Mohicans” which was important because it had a lot of relevance to american culture. Native Americans, the American Frontier, etc Walt Whitman: Probably the best american poet. Wrote a cool poem about lincoln ig. also very HomoHerman Melville: Wrote MOby Dick (heehee)
“the hidden curriculum”
Taught alongside the other stuff was order, discipline, punctuality, respect for authority, etc. This is to convert people from farmers into workers
the temperance movement ( great prohibition experiment)
americans drank wayyyyy too much to the point where many wanted to ban sales of alcohol ENTIRELY (it increased domestic abuse especially). they achieved this in the “great prohibition experiment.” it didn’t really work and the act was repealed in the 1930s (people wanted a drink as a break after work). However, there are still some “dry counties” in the south that still have no alcohol
