The Dual Crisis in the American South: Perceptions of the North and the South - Prof. Step, Study notes of World History

Download The Dual Crisis in the American South: Perceptions of the North and the South - Prof. Step and more Study notes World History in PDF only on Docsity! The North in the Southern Mind 28/03/2008 14:07:00 ← Major Questions  What was the “dual crisis” of the South, and how did it condition a growing minority of white Southerners to see the North as a threat?  Threatened from w/o and threatened from w/in Southern Modernization  North is modernizing quicker, to be certain  But South is far from stagnant  Democratized politics  Temperance  Humanitarian reform o Liberalized criminal codes o Improved treatment of prisoners o Established housing and schooling for deaf, dumb, blind, insane  Improved public health and sanitation  Invested in slaves because they gave the best return ← ← What Made the South Different?  Slavery?  Black people o In 1860, the South contained 95% of the nation’s Af-Am population o One in every three Southerners was black o In SC and MS blacks in the majority o By contrast, in 1860 only 1 in 76 Northerners black  Consequences: o Bi-racial culture (language, food, religion, accent, music) o Oppressive racial regime ← ← Mounting Pressures on the South  1. From the slaves themselves o Southern justification: slavery a necessary evil.  2. From world opinion o Increasing pressure from a world getting rid of slavery all over.  3. From abolitionists o Bad Christians; do unto others… o Southern justification: slavery a positive good.  Paternalism necessitated slavery  Brought into civilization, safety, and the church  History endorsed slavery  All great civilizations held slaves, the bedrock of the Egyptians, greeks, romans, Hebrews  The bible sanctioned slavery  4. From freesoilers and Republicans o Southern justification: black slavery is better than the Northern alternative, white slavery. Argument associated particularly with George Fitzhugh.  5. Within the Upper South o DE 4 to 1%; MD 23 to 13%; KY 24 to 19%; MO 18 to 10%. o Increasingly few southerners are supportive of the institution of slavery  6. Within the poor white community o Hinton Rowan Helper’s Impending Crisis (1857)  7. Within the yeoman community o small farmer who owns his own land o In 1830, 35% of Southern families owned slaves o By 1850, 31% 28/03/2008 14:07:00 ← 28/03/2008 14:07:00 ←