American History in General

Many Whites in the South owned slaves. A slave owner would give “good whippings” to the slaves, if their slaves didn’t behave and to coerce them into productive labor. The South was split in two, the Upper South and the Lower South. In the 1850’s the Lower South was made up of: South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. Cotton production and slavery went hand in hand in the Lower south. Slavery was very profitable for the plantation owners. Between 1815 and 1860 the price of a male field hand nearly tripled. Slaves were used for cheap labor, so the masters would be able to keep most of the profit.
The Upper South consisted of Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Arkansas. In these states, slavery was present but wasn’t as popular as in the lower “cotton” South. This was because the growing season was shorter and the land was less fertile. In the upper south the land value went down w...