Ari Gilder, 3-201L

Social Studies Homework #4

1. In the 1840s and 1850s, the southern economy was mostly based on agriculture – tobacco or sugar cane being the main crops. However in many towns and several large cities in the South, industry began to develop, albeit more slowly than the North. During the 1850s, many people had urged for furthering the industrial development of the south.
2. The poor whites and small slaveless farmers had fought for the South during the Civil War because their standard of living was low – they lived in small one-room log cabins or slightly larger houses. The farmers had a higher cash income than the poor people, but it was still not as much as the large plantation owners. Since they were able to be “sacrificed” and they didn’t matter much, they had fought for the South.
3. Slaves were forced to do all sorts of jobs – some had to cook and clean, some watched the children and tend the house, etc. Generally, the larger the plantation, the less care each individual slave received. However, they were kept on surviving conditions because each slave was worth a considerable amount of money. If slaves disobeyed their masters, they were often whipped or flogged, and sometimes even worse.
4. The southerners justified slavery by stating that without slaves, the South would be left with no labor workforce. Also, they claimed that slavery benefitted the slaves themselves since they received food, clothes and shelter for free.