Lesson 14.4b: The Southern Defense of Slavery

Today we will discuss the South’s defense of slavery against the abolitionists.

Vocabulary

• argument – a reason or series of reasons designed to persuade

• impending – about to happen

Check for Understanding

• What are we going to do today?

• What is one argument against returning to a year-round school calendar?

• What is an impending doom?

What We Already Know

Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin in

1793, revolutionizing

the way raw cotton was cleaned and processed.

What We Already KnowWhat We Already Know

Cultivating cotton as a cash crop was highly profitable but required many workers, so slavery grew dramatically during the 1830s and 1840s.

What We Already KnowWhat We Already Know

As slavery grew geographically and numerically during the 1830s and 1840s, calls for its abolition also were growing louder and more aggressive.

As slavery grew geographically and numerically during the 1830s and 1840s, calls for its abolition also were growing louder and more aggressive.

Hinton Rowan Helper, a Southerner, one of the first to criticize slavery .

• Although Helper opposed slavery, he was a racist whose concern was not for blacks but for “free white labor.”

Helper wrote a book entitled “The Impending Crisis of the South.”

Helper wrote a book entitled “The Impending Crisis of the South.”

• Slavery was hurting the Southern economy overall by preventing industrialization.

• Slavery was hurting the Southern economy overall by preventing industrialization.

• Slavery was the main reason why the South’s white population had not grown as much as that of the North.

• Slavery was the main reason why the South’s white population had not grown as much as that of the North.

• Slavery caused poorer Southern whites to be held down by a small but politically powerful aristocracy of wealthy slave-owners.

• Slavery caused poorer Southern whites to be held down by a small but politically powerful aristocracy of wealthy slave-owners.

Get your whiteboards and markers ready!

Hinton R. Helper's book "The Impending Crisis of the South" argued that those who suffered most from the use of slave labor

were

A. poor southern whites.

B. wealthy Southern planters.

C. the slaves themselves.

D. western farmers.

Helper also argued that slavery

A. prevented industrialization in the South.

B. kept the white population of the South from growing as much as that of the North.

C. was morally wrong because all men were created equal.

D. made it impossible for Western farmers to compete with Southern farmers.

Choose all that are true!

As abolitionists stepped up

their calls for an end to

slavery as a moral wrong,

other Southerners

began to defend it in

various ways.

Some Southerners defended the South by admitting that slavery was ‘a

necessary evil.’

Some Southerners defended the South by admitting that slavery was ‘a

necessary evil.’

• They acknowledged that slavery was morally wrong, but without it cotton could not be grown commercially.

• Loss of the income from the cotton trade would damage the American economy severely.

• They acknowledged that slavery was morally wrong, but without it cotton could not be grown commercially.

• Loss of the income from the cotton trade would damage the American economy severely.

John C. Calhoun rejected this idea.John C. Calhoun rejected this idea.

• He declared that slavery was a “positive good.”

• “. . . there never has yet existed a wealthy and civilized society in which one portion of the community did not, in point of fact, live on the labor of the other."

• He declared that slavery was a “positive good.”

• “. . . there never has yet existed a wealthy and civilized society in which one portion of the community did not, in point of fact, live on the labor of the other."

Get your whiteboards and markers ready!

John C. Calhoun believed that

A. that slavery was morally wrong, but vital to the national economy.

B. slavery was a “positive good.”C. in every civilized society, some part

of the community lives on the work of the other.

D. slavery was necessary, even though it violated the Constitution.

Choose all that are true!

There were four general arguments made in the defense of slavery.

There were four general arguments made in the defense of slavery.

• The religious argument• The historical and cultural argument• The racial argument• The socioeconomic argument

The Positive Good Theory: the Religious Argument

The Positive Good Theory: the Religious Argument

• Biblical figures such as Abraham owned slaves.

• The Bible does not speak against slavery.

• The Bible contains rules about the treatment of slaves.

The Positive Good Theory: the Religious Argument

• In the Bible, Christians are often described as slaves, with Jesus as their master.

• Also, St. Paul encourages slaves to work well for their earthly masters as if they were working for Christ.

• In the Bible, Christians are often described as slaves, with Jesus as their master.

• Also, St. Paul encourages slaves to work well for their earthly masters as if they were working for Christ.

Without slavery, blacks would have remained in savage Africa and would never have known the blessings of civilization and Christianity.

Get your whiteboards and markers ready!

Which of these was NOT part of the religious defense of slavery?

A. Biblical figures owned slaves.B. The Bible does not speak against slavery.C. The Bible contains rules about the

treatment of slaves.D. St. Paul said slavery was the result of a

curse God placed upon all Negroes.E. The Bible encourages slaves to work for

their earthly masters as if they were working for Christ.

Choose the one that is NOT true!

The Positive Good Theory: the Historical and Cultural ArgumentThe Positive Good Theory: the

Historical and Cultural Argument

Every great society of the past had relied on slave labor at one

time or another.

Every great society of the past had relied on slave labor at one

time or another.

Both Greece and Rome had been slaveholding societies.Both Greece and Rome had been slaveholding societies.

Plato: “Slavery permits others to produce art,

science and philosophy.”

Three times as many Southerners attended college as New Englanders.

Three times as many Southerners attended college as New Englanders.

Get your whiteboards and markers ready!

According to the cultural argument in defense of slavery,

A. slavery had permitted southerners to create a more cultured society.

B. the use of slaves had allowed more southerners to attend college than Northerners.

C. Negroes could develop a higher culture if they were kept as slaves by whites.

D. all great cultures, such as Greece and Rome, had been slave-holding cultures.

Choose all that are true!

The Positive Good Theory: the Racial Argument

The Positive Good Theory: the Racial Argument

Nearly all Americans believed blacks were racially inferior.

Nearly all Americans believed blacks were racially inferior.

• They are not able to compete for work with whites.

• Slaveowners are doing them a favor by protecting them from freedom.

• They are not able to compete for work with whites.

• Slaveowners are doing them a favor by protecting them from freedom.

As a result, slaves were happy, and lived comfortable and secure lives.

Get your whiteboards and markers ready!

According to the racial argument in defense of slavery,

A. Negroes were morally and intellectually inferior to whites.

B. every culture that had achieved greatness practiced slavery.

C. blacks were suitable only for work as slaves.

D. African Americans could never compete with whites for jobs.

Choose all that are true!

The Positive Good Theory: the Socio-economical Argument

The Positive Good Theory: the Socio-economical Argument

Northern factory workers are employed only as long as they are

needed and are able-bodied.

Northern factory workers are employed only as long as they are

needed and are able-bodied.

• If they are injured and become unfit for work, or if there is an economic slow-down, Northern workers are fired.

• If they are injured and become unfit for work, or if there is an economic slow-down, Northern workers are fired.

Slaves are fed, sheltered, and clothed for their entire lives, regardless of age or health.

Slaves are fed, sheltered, and clothed for their entire lives, regardless of age or health.

When Northern workers are too old to work, they are dependent on

their family for support.

Pensions and retirement plans were very rare in

the 1800s.

When slaves became too old to work in the fields, other

work was found for them to do.

Even in death, slaves were given care by their owners, who

maintained graveyards set aside specifically for slaves.

The conditions in which slaves lived and worked were better than those endured by immigrants and other

factory workers in the North.

The conditions in which slaves lived and worked were better than those endured by immigrants and other

factory workers in the North.

Slaves worked in the sunshine and fresh air, . . .

Slaves worked in the sunshine and fresh air, . . .

and lived in comfortable cabins instead of cramped, unsanitary apartments.

and lived in comfortable cabins instead of cramped, unsanitary apartments.

It was more dangerous to be a Northern industrial worker than to be a slave.

It was more dangerous to be a Northern industrial worker than to be a slave.

• More workers in the North died in industrial accidents than did slaves in the South.

• Workers disabled in industrial accidents were simply fired and replaced.

• More workers in the North died in industrial accidents than did slaves in the South.

• Workers disabled in industrial accidents were simply fired and replaced.

• Slaves were too valuable to be risked in dangerous occupations.

• Injured slaves would be given other duties that would not be impeded by their disability.

Industrial workers were much more likely to conduct strikes, rise up in labor violence, or join revolutionary

societies than slaves were.

Industrial workers were much more likely to conduct strikes, rise up in labor violence, or join revolutionary

societies than slaves were.

Slaves were not given any opportunity to rebel in the South.

As a result, the Southern society and the Southern economy were

more stable than that of the North.

As a result, the Southern society and the Southern economy were

more stable than that of the North.

Get your whiteboards and markers ready!

According to the sociological argument in defense of slavery, the South is

superior to a Northern society where

A. racial equality is practiced.B. workers’ living conditions are worse

than those of slaves.C. occupational injuries are frequent., D. work stoppages and labor violence

are common.E. disabled workers are fired and left to

fend for themselves.

Choose all that are true!