domestic
slave trade
From 1820 - 1860, planters in the
Upper South sold over one million
surplus slaves to the Deep South
cotton region from Georgia to
Texas bringing wealth to American
slave traders.
“black belt”
The region of fertile cotton land
from Mississippi through South
Carolina where the majority of
black slaves lived and labored by
1860.
benevolent
masters
Having a paternalistic attitude
toward their “slave family,” some
slave owners considered
themselves committed to the
welfare of their slaves.
republican
aristocracy
The Old South gentry that built
impressive mansions, adopted the
manners and values of the English
landed gentry, and feared federal
government interference with their
slave property.
“positive
good”
argument
Southern apologists claimed that
slavery was beneficial as it provided
physical care, civilization, and
Christianity to a genetically inferior
race.
gang labor
system
On southern cotton plantations in
th
the mid-19 century, white
overseers and black drivers
supervised large groups of slaves in
disciplined teams to achieve
greater productivity and profits.
slave society
Southern social structure in which
the institution of slavery affected
all aspects of life for all classes of
whites, including planter elites,
smallholding planters, yeomen, and
poor propertyless freemen.
Black
Protestantism
This emphasized the evangelical
message of emotional conversion,
communal spirituality, and the idea
that blacks were also the “children
of God,” ignoring Biblical passages
that encouraged slaves to obey
their masters.