Chapter 13 - The Antebellum South - 1800-1860 Flashcards
What percent of the South’s population did not own slaves?
75%.
How much of the population of the South owned large plantations with over fifty slaves?
1%
How much of the Southern population owns 20 or more slaves?
3%
List the Social Classes in the Antebellum South.
1) Yeoman Farmers
2) Poor Whites
3) Small Slaveowners
4) The Urban Middle Class
5) The Planter Elite
What was the largest social class in the South?
Yeoman Farmers
What percentage of the Southern population were Yeoman Farmers?
About 50%.
About how large were the farms worked by Yeoman Farmers?
50-100 Acres.
Why did Yeoman Farmers wish to preserve the Status Quo?
To preserve their way of life with little government interference and maximum independence.
What was the difference between Northern Yeoman Farmers and Southern Yeoman Farmers?
Northern Yeoman Farmers were always on the move for more wealth and more land whereas Southern Yeoman Farmers stayed put.
How many of all Souther whites were poor Tennant farmers?
Approximately 1/5 or 20%.
How much food did poor white Tennant farmers produce?
Enough to feed their families and not much more.
How did poor white Tennant farmers make additional income?
1) Selling alcohol to slaves.
2) Helping Slaves Escape.
Why did the South avoid class revolts?
Because there existed an egalitarianism from slavery that meant even if you were the poorest white, you were a part of the dominant class (white people.)
Among who did poverty exist in the North?
Immigrants in large cities.
About how much of New York City’s population was receiving some form of poor relief?
25%
How many people in the South owned slaves?
25%
How many of Southern slave owners owned less than five slaves?
12.5%
What were the conditions of the small slave owner in the Antebellum South?
1) Log-Cabin Residence
2) Close Profit Margins on Crops
3) Regular Face to Face Interaction With His Slaves
4) Worked Alongside Slaves in the Fields
Who is an example of a small slave owner?
John Flintoff.
What are skilled slaves and what did they do?
Skilled slaves specialized in a trade such as carpentry or blacksmithing and owners rented them out for profit.
Who held the most political power in the antebellum South?
The small slave owners.
How many small slave owners eventually became large slave owners?
Very few.
Name one prominent man who went from small slave owners to large slave owner?
Andrew Jackson.
How large was the Southern commercial middle class of merchants, bankers, and businessmen?
Very small.
How much of the Northern population lived in towns?
37%
How much of the Southern population lived in towns?
12%
How much of the Southern population lived in towns if the cases of Louisiana and Maryland are removed?
Less than 5%
What were the political objectives of the Southern urban middle class?
Tried to promote industrialization and railroad construction to promote economic diversity.
How much of the South’s white population owned more than fifty slaves?
Less than 1%.
How much of the South’s white population owned more than one hundred slaves?
Less than .2%.
How did larger plantations manage their slaves?
By hiring an overseer.
How did large plantation owners view their actions?
As doing what was in the best interests of all parties involved.
How did most large planters in the Old South gain their large plantation?
Through inheritance from relatives.
