OK. So here we are going to begin our analysis of the information in the textbooks. I am going to encourage all of you working in the computer labs to write your work in Microsoft Word, and then post it here. This way we can avoid the confusion of editting multiple posts.

Here's the format: 1) Data & Inferences, 2) Historical Annecdotes, 3) Thematic Connections, 4) Online Primary Sources and Images, 5) Study Guide Essays

1) Data & Inferences: You will use either you textbooks or the online e-books to gather information from the content in Chapter 11. As in our class discussions, you will link each piece of data with a historical inference. Refer to each piece of data by page number in your text. Explain each inference in detail. Each student should analyze 4 facts & inferences. Post your work here.

James Racine
1.Although more acreage was planted in corn, cotton was the main cash crop and was therefore called “king.” Southern plantation owners were looking to get rich. pg 359
2.By 1840, Cuba was the world’s largest producer of sugar. Of the Caribbean Islands, Cuba had the most slaves of sugar plantations. pg 360
3.Congress formally ended the slave trade on January 1, 1808. Most of the slaves that were to follow were either smuggled or born into slavery in America. pg 361
4.High slave prices made rising into the planter class increasingly difficult, raising class tensions. Many of the southern farmers who did not own slaves desired to do so in order to climb the social ladder, but were stuck in the system they were born into that let the rich get richer while the poor stayed poor. pg 367

Taran Riggs-Hart
Faith played one of the largest, if not, THE largest part in slave life. Slaves looked to religion for the hope they needed to persevere through harsh labor and horrid times. “…Christian worship was indispensable to life in the slave quarters…”(p. 375). Many slave owners allowed slaves to attend botched church practices, where they would only be told that it was the “Christian” thing to be obedient to “Master”, so they turned to their secret night practices to get the “real services” they needed.
Slaves fell heavily into the spirit of song and music, it being the little light, the little culture they had. Through the Faith, came the Power of Song. “Music was a crucial form of expression in the slave quarters on both secular and religious occasions”(p. 377). And through singing and shouting, they were able to voice, in a way, both the mournful sorrows of bondage and shining hope of freedom.
It can be more than imagined that the connection of a large extended family in a Slave community was crucial to survival. “The benefits of family cohesion were those of any group: love protection, education, moral guidance, cultural transmission, status, role models, and support”(p. 377).
While slaves wouldn't always start all-out rebellion, they clearly had ways of protesting the white rule over them. "..from breaking tools to burning houses, from stealing food to defending fellow slaves from punishment, from self-mutilation to work slowdowns, and from poisoning masters to feigning illness"(p. 381)

Branden Shorey

1. In South Carolina the death rate of slaves was appallingly high. South Carolina needed more slaves annually due to the loss of slaves. P.368
2. Even though the wives of plantation owners were expected to be chaste ladies the husbands had unrestricted sexual access to slave women. Men were allowed to have intercourse with their slaves without jeopardizing his marriage and some of the slaves that are mulatto are from the master and are his own children. P.368
3. Workdays of slaves ranged from 10 hours to 14 but during harvest time an 18-hour workday was not uncommon. Slaves were strong and in good shape when healthy due to the long and exhausting work they were forced to do. P.370
4. Mortality of slave children under age 5 was twice as high as for white children. Slave children were also expected work long brutal hours like their parents. P.372

2) Historical Anecdotes: Anecdotes are short stories. You will examine the chapter for short stories that provide both content and context. Summarize each short story. Explain the connections each story to the broader issues explained in the Chapter 11 Study Guide. Each student should explain two annecdotes in detail. Post your work here.

Rachel Acevedo

Fredrick Douglas had the typical hard life of a southern slave. He was sent to the Auld’s plantation when he was a kid. The mother then taught him how to read for a little while until her husband scolded her for doing so. Relating to the chapter 11 study guide, Slavery was a burden in the household and affected not only the slaves but the slave owner also. In the story they talk about how Fredrick Douglas then finished teaching himself to read and because of this he was sent to a slave breaker. This shows the rejection of slave health, and showed the intensity of slave punishment. They treat him as though he were a horse, trying to be tamed and have his spirit broken. Fredrick was very close to having his will broken when he decided to challenge the slave breaker and won in a match. Slave Revolts were a big issue in the south and many plantation owners could hardly sleep, in fear there was going to be a revolt. In the end Fredrick escaped to the north and was free at last. The story of Fredrick Douglas shows how slavery not only affected the slaves but also affected the owners.

In Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, a slave woman Harriet Jacobs is in love with a free black man. Her owner does not want her to see this man because she may have ideas of running away with him. He tells her to marry one of his slaves on the plantation and she replied that she couldn’t change her mind on which man she loves. Right there he hits her, and she pronounces that she hates him. This shows the complicated relationship between a slave and a master. Slave life was hard and this happened all the time. This also shows the punishment for a slave; slave masters could treat there slaves however they wanted which was not right. Harriet Jacobs shows a form of slave protest and stands up to her master, which I doubt most slaves had the courage to do.

Jarrid

I read the story of slave’s secret songs. The story I read contained quotes by Wash Wilson a former slave. He explains how the slaves would sing, “Steal Away to Jesus,” this to slave masters or overseers looked like the slaves were happy and that they were looking forward to going to heaven. However this is not the case, the singing is actually a code to organize the slaves to a religious meeting of the slaves usually for a burial. This story of slave songs relates to the story because it shows secret song, which the slaves could use as a language against slave oppressors in the future. I read a story about family life of slaves it was about a slave named Mary Prince and her family. The story tells of how she was struck by her master and that she called him “a very indecent man—very spiteful” she also said “I would not live longer with him.” Now the story goes on to say how a family member could usually intervene so that another family member would not get hurt. The story now gives some examples of what families did to fight back against these oppressions on their families. Such as a slave named Ben shot dead a white man for living with Ben’s wife, and another slave killed an overseer in 1859 for raping his wife. Female slaves risked serious consequences by protecting themselves or family members. When a knifewielding rapist attacked Cherry Loguen, she knocked him out with a large branch. When an Arkansas overseer abused a slave woman named Lucy, her son reported that she “jumped on him and like to tore him up.” The love slaves had for there families made them strong and this helped them through some hardships in the long run.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Jarred Condez


3) Thematic Connections: Using the guide linked here, describe the relationships between information in the chapter and the themes outlined by the College Board AP Program. Each student should explain the connections in the chapter to two themes. Post your work here.

Zachary Benner
Within Chapter 11 there are many themes that are express. The two that I have chosen is Slavery and that of Regionalism.
Slavery: Slavery in the 19th century was as normal as Apple Pie. But the question of the legitimacy of the slavery was being question. Moral or Immoral was the question of slavery. The institution of slavery had been around in American society since colonial times, but the first time in its history the South faced the complete abolishment of Slavery. To the Southerner’s the abolishment of this important institution was attack of their way of life and they were going to do anything to protect this vital institution. In the North the majority of the people believed that slavery was immoral and against the Constitution of the United States. In the Western Frontier the people faced a larger issue would they enter the Union as a Free State or Slave State. Because of the Missouri Compromise it stopped slavery from spreading northwards of Missouri. The Southern Western states how to decide on this vital question, Free or Slave?
Regionalism:
Regionalism in the United States was a factor in Civil War. If you aligned your self with the North you made a statement that you were against slavery and against the Southern way of life. The states that were in the South and aligned themselves with the South there statement was very clear that they believe the Southern Way of Life was being challenge by the North and some the Western States. Also you agreed that the issue of slavery was moral and did not go against the Constitution. For the Western States split in both ways some became Free others became Slave if they were permitted to. In all every region what they thought was best for the people in that region and what they thought was right.

Zachary White 7.Globalization- The invention of the cotton gin and the high demand of cotton in global trade lead to the influx of slaves needed during the period from 1793 until 1860. After Eli Whitney introduced the cotton gin the southern economy was brought into the global market, this caused many plantations owners to expand into new territories. By 1860 the southern economy was one of the wealthiest in the world due to foreign and internal need for cotton. Without the global trade market the southern economy would never have gained the power or capital it did. The promise the global market showed the south was critical in causing further development in the Industrial Revolution. In England the demand for cheap cloth was great, this caused England to import three hundred sixty-six million pounds of cotton by the 1840’s. Southern planters used the global demand for cotton to show that they were dependent on slaves and if it was to be abolished the entire world economy would feel its effects.

9.Reform-Themes involved in chapter eleven mainly deal with slavery and its expansion, but reform is not yet the focus of this period. The reform period comes at a slightly later year and chapter.

12.Slavery and Its Legacy- Slavery is a very important theme in chapter eleven, in fact the entire chapter is on it. The chapter focuses on such slave topics as the importance of slaves to the economy and cotton, the lives of enslaved blacks, the lives of freed blacks, and how they resisted.


Monica Vasconcelos
1. American Diversity In Chapter 11 there are many examples of one prominent relationship in the early 1800’s. The concentration is upon the relationship of African Americans and Caucasian Americans, and even further, slaves and slaveholders. At the top of the social structure in the South at this time was the planter aristocracy. Seventy percent of the South was composed of middle level farmers, usually owning less than ten slaves. Most Southerners supported slavery whether they owned slavers or not, because the economy depended on slavery. Slaves were property of their masters, and treated as such, purchased for the goal of making money. They were forced by their masters to live under harsh conditions, and were required to listen and carry out every order given by said master or there were harsher punishments. However, treatment of slaves did vary from owner to owner, and not all were treated inhumanely. 3. Culture Chapter 11 focuses mainly on the culture of the South, or more exactly, that of African American slaves. Slaves used music as an important form of expression, wether it was religious non religious. Sometimes the songs had hidden meanings, and were not only sung out of sorrow, but often they were written/sung for entertainment as well. Their own Mass gatherings were also held at night, after the one given by the white minister earlier in the day. Families were a large part of the African American culture as well. It was partly due to strong families, that their culture still exists. While gathering in their quarters at the end of the day, parents would pass on all they knew to their children, including their family story, language paterns and words, folk tales, recepies, and musical traditions. Their culture did not really create a conflict with American society, it was just not exactly accepted.



Greg Larsen

8. Politics and Citizenship

Colonial and revolutionary legacies, American political traditions, growth of democracy, and the development of the modern state. Defining citizenship; struggles for civil rights.

A central part of this chapter concerns the battles African-Americans faced at the beginning of a long road to gaining equality. In the mid-19th century, the obvious problem of slavery kept even basic human rights out of reach for many blacks in the United States. The abolitionist movements that sprang up had a varying set of tactics, ranging from violent slave revolts to scathing editorials in newspapers.

Even free African-Americans did not have the same rights protected by the government that whites did. For one, they were not legally considered full citizens. They were not allowed to vote, and some politicians had determined that even free blacks were "property" rather than fully human.

10. Religion

The varieties of religious beliefs and practices in America from prehistory to the twenty-first century; influence of religion on politics, economics, and society.

Plantation mistresses were expected to conform to a strict social standard. While their husbands quietly used both them and their slaves for sex, they were expected to maintain an image of chastity and submission. This was partially driven by the long-standing religious and social tradition of subjugation of women. The values these particular women were expected to exhibit fit traditional Christian standards for their behavior.

Defenders of slavery used religion to protect it, while slavery's opponents used different interpretations of the same texts to oppose it. Claiming a curse fell on the black race in Biblical times, some of those who supported slavery claimed that it was moral in Christian terms. This assertion was aided by laws about slavery in the Old Testament and passages encouraging slaves to "obey your masters in all things according to the flesh." The Christian opponents of slavery noted that the subjugation of an entire people was against morals established indirectly throughout the Bible, and that the passages referring to slavery were just an artifact of their times.
Slaves used religion to find hope and inspiration. The spirituals they sang to pass along hidden messages and help the workday go faster were often religious in nature. They spoke of salvation by the Christian god from the horrific conditions they lived in. Although religious gatherings were often forbidden among blacks without white oversight, slaves often gathered at night in forests near their plantations for a combination of traditional African and Christian rituals. Free blacks established many churches of their own in various denominations of Christianity.

Robert Krupa

Environment-Ideas about consumption and conservation of natural resources. The impact of population growth, industrialization, pollution, and urban and suburban expansion.
As the demand for cotton grew in the American South, more land was cleared for plantation farming. Also, many farmers stopped growing other crops because of the demand for cotton, and the land was soon exhausted. The rising demand for slaves to pick the cotton led to even more land being cleared for housing.
Science and Technology-Advances in scientific thinking and the impact of technological innovation; famous inventors and the political, economic and social effects of their inventions; disputes between science and religion.
In 1793, Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin. While this was wonderful news for many plantation owners because it gave them a new cash crop, it was terrible news for slaves. This new crop increased the need for slaves in the southern states. Since the buying of new slaves was prohibited, many plantation owners bought and sold slaves from each other. This often split up families. However, these slaves could be sold to gain revenue, often relieving debt or helping the financial situation of the plantation farmers.
Women-Diversity relating to gender identity; political, economic and social issues related to gender equality and inequality; contributions of famous women, conflicts between patriarchal and women’s rights issues.
There were several different categories of women in this time period. One was the plantation woman. These women were often placed on a pedestal and expected to be everything their husband was not. It did not matter what the husband did; whether he abused his wife or was an alcoholic or sexual deviant. His wife was expected to remain quiet and polite, all while managing the household and keeping her patience. Also, she was expected to run the plantation smoothly while her husband was away.
Another group of women were made up of the yeomen farmer class. These farms, often poorer, relied on a much smaller number of slaves, and still had to be kept running. This was due, in part, to the women. Living in small, self sufficient farmhouses, they were required to cook for the family and keep the household clean. They were often very isolated, and therefore gathered to gossip and sew.
A third group of women was the slaves. These women were treated as property and often made to work in the fields doing manual labor. Occasionally, because of their gender, they would be kept inside to work. Many times they were the victims of rape by their masters, and many slave women had interracial children because of it. The life of the women in this time period was not easy.

Jessica Jacintho
4. Demographic Changes
In this chapter, there were numerous demographic changes in the Southern section of the United States.
Marriage: In Latin America, intermarriages of African slaves among Europeans and Indians (a way in which many slaves obtained their freedom) led to a dramatic increase in the population of free people of color. This caused the number of slave women to drop and because the number dropped, the marriage rate also dropped. Only one out of every six male slave in Brazil was married in 1875. In the United States, slaves could marry if their masters allowed them to, but it was not seen as a legal ceremony. One study of 30 years of data from the Deep South shows that masters dissolved one-third of all slave marriages.
Birth: The Latin American slave birthrate was on 40 births per 1,000, while in the United States is was 50 births per 1,000. Because of their higher slave birthrate, the United States did not have to rely on the African slave trade to replace lost labor like Latin America had to do.
Death & Life Expectancy: For slaves in Latin America, the death rate was appalling. It was the result of hard work, tropical epidemic diseases, malnutrition, and an extremely high infant mortality rate. Mortality of slave children under
age 5 was twice as high as for white children. The average life expectancy was 23 (United States slave life expectancy was 35). When the demand for sugar went up, a slave’s working life in the fields fell from 15 to 7 years and the death rate increased from 6 to 10 percent.
Family Patterns & Classes: In the plantation families, the head of the plantation (master) and his wife (mistress) were like the European aristocrats and had very defined roles for males and females in their society. The master provided the slaves with the necessities and humane treatment and expected hard work and loyalty in return. The mistress ran the household and took care of the slaves as well as her own family. She was expected to hold genteel values and make up for everything her husband was not. In poorer white families, both men and women did their share of the work. If they were lucky, they owned a few slaves. Hence, the typical white family in the South had nine or fewer slaves and only about 130 acres of land on which the entire family worked on with the slaves. The poorest white families owned no slaves at all. They worked hard on their own little pieces of land to grow enough food to survive. Slave families in the South had to overcome tremendous challenges. Families were constantly broken up by the masters selling off different members because slave marriage wasn’t legally binding. Also, many plantation masters sexually abused their enslaved women, which led to thousands of mulattoe children. Slave women were expected to have children to keep the number of slaves up but were given very little time to recover after childbirth. As we already know, both slave men and women did unimaginable amounts of work each day.
Population: In the South, a majority of the population was in rural areas. Some states had more slaves than white people such as Mississippi whose population was 55% black. This trend continued throughout the deep south. The most free blacks were in Maryland and Delaware and that made sense because these states were close to the Northern free states. One third of all free African Americans lived in cities or towns.
13. War and Diplomacy
This chapter mainly delt with the period before the Civil War know as the antebellum period. Slavery is discussed in detail here, but the war and it's effects come in later chapters.

4) Online Primary Sources and Images: Using the online textbook website, choose two primary source documents and two images for analysis. Each student should write a brief descriptive essay on each, explaining the intent of the author or painter as well as its historic relavence. Post your work here.

Rebecca Kanter

1) The poem "The Slave Auction" by Ellen Watkins Harper describes the anguish of slaves watching their loved ones sold. In the beginning of the poem she describes slave mothers and young women's cries of distress. Phrases like "sobs of deep despair", "streaming eyes", "bitter cries" create a painful picture of their anguish. As the poem continues, it moves to silent anguish as the poet describes anguish that "none may paint nor tell." The intent of the author is to depict the heartache and pain slave auctions brought to slave families and how the humanity of these people in pain went ignored by those selling and buying them. This relates to slavery in the south because slave auctions were very common and were looked upon as the trading of property. These auctions ended up separating many black slave families and as this poem describes, was devastating to them.

2)In the poem “The Slave Mother”, Ellen Watkins Harper describes the anguish of slave mother giving up her child. The poem begins by describing a graphic image of the mother in pain. “As if a storm of agony, were sweeping through the brain.” The poem then goes on to explain how this child, “although her blood”, is not her own, but the slave owners. It explains how this child’s “love has been a joyous light” in her life, and then ends again with the final shriek of despair as the child is taken away. Similar to “the Slave auction”, this poem paints an emotional picture of the separation of slave families during the early 1800’s.

3)The image “Cotton Gin on a Plantation in Louisiana” depicts 3 slaves working a cotton gin. The whole room is covered in lint, which would make poor health conditions to work in for the slaves. This picture shows the two most crucial factors to the success of the cotton industry, which were the cotton gin, which could process almost 1000 pounds of cotton per day as well as slaves, who were the workforce behind picking the cotton. Without these to things, cotton might not have been made “King.”

4)This picture shows a black minister preaching to a church of free blacks. The Minister is at a pulpit and the rest of the congregation is in front of him, some responding to his words by raising their hands up. Churches provided a secure place for black children to receive education, a place for deceased family members to be buried, couples married, and anniversaries celebrated. These churches became the center of the free black communities.

Leslie

George Fitzhugh, The Blessings of Slavery (1857) The document The Blessings of Slavery is an essay by the descendant of a southern family who was struggling. He was a supporter of slavery, and believed that the world could only be either all slavery or all free. His essay details the life of slaves, and he tries to describe why slavery is a good thing. Fitzhugh takes many aspects of slavery, and argues why these things are beneficial as opposed to being an evil. He proposes that slaves should be content with their lives because of all the freedoms they are given. The intent of his essay is to make slavery seem like it is benefiting the slaves instead of harming them. This essay relates to history because the southerners were now being forced to justify the reasons why slavery was necessary.
A Catechism for Slaves (1854) This document is a guide for slaves through questions and answers. It was meant for slaves who went to church with their masters to follow. The document has a series of questions about work, obedience, and follows with an answer that God made it for slaves to follow their master. It also has questions that ask slaves why they are wicked and answers the question by stating that the devil made them wicked. This document is a way for the slave masters to justify enslaving a person. It is historically relevant because it shows the racism that was placed in society at the time, and how slaves were viewed as inferior because of various reasons. Cotton Gin on a Plantation in Louisiana The picture shows many slaves near a cotton gin. The room is covered in lint, and there are large amounts of cotton surrounding a few workers. The intent of the artist is to show how a few workers now had to produce a larger volume of cotton. This is historically relevant because the invention of the cotton gin secured the standing of slavery by making it more necessary to the economy.
Death of the Amistad Captain, 1839
This painting depicts captured slaves holding a revolt against the captain of a ship. It shows the slaves attacking the members of the crew. The intent of the artist is to depict the slaves in a negative image because they killed a captain. This is historically relevant because it caused a controversial decision on whether the slaves would still be considered property of the people who bought them.

Tyler Wilkinson
1. The Stability of the Union (1850) The stability of the Union was written in De Bow’s Review. This magazine was critically acclaimed throughout the South, and it vouched for a change in the South’s economy to make the economy more diverse and to turn away from the institution of slavery. The reasoning for this justification was that in the end, the slavery institution would eventually collapse under the manufacturing institutions of the North and or England. Another reason for the change for outlawing slavery was that the Africans of America were are more sophisticated and advanced than their primitive cousins still living in Africa. The last reason for change was that the population of freed Africa-Americans was growing faster than the growth of the slave population. In this way, one day there will be more freed African-Americans than enslaved ones; maybe a racial war could have broken out.

2. The Slave Mother (1854) The poem the slave mother is a very deep and emotional poem. It truly expresses the gripping terror of the mother and the son, making the reader feel as if he really is in the story, the moment it is happening. This poem might affect more people than a speech by abolitionists because it shows the real everyday view of slavery, where families are divided up like property, with no consent whatsoever. This poem represents a slave auction type of place, where the mom does not want to let go of the son, but the slave owner has more authority, and he said yes. The adjectives and phrases the author uses to convey the feelings are, shuddering fragile form, storm of agony, and bind her breaking heart. These are emotions that people have on an everyday basis, these are intense moments, where only a few are shared in a person’s lifetime.

3. Portrait of Benjamin Banneker- This picture is the portrait of the great mathematician Benjamin Banneker. He was widely renowned for developing the plans for Washington D.C and sold many books about astronomy, mostly throughout the Middle Atlantic States. He was very influential in the antebellum period, but this picture of him is very nasty and has spots all over it. This says to me that however influential you were in American history, you were still not that important to history if you were African-American.

4. Slave Dealers This picture shows the auction house where slaves were sold. The building is small to begin with, so it is not meant for the comfort of the slaves. There is also one person stationed outside the auction house with a gun. This means that these people were used to riots or attacks enough to take security cautions. In that area on the borderline of free country, the guardsmen probably were used to shooting slaves on sight who were running away, or who were going to attack them.

Joelhead:

Levi Coffin Reminisces of the Underground Railroad in the 1850’s

Levi Coffin describes her experiences trafficking slaves from the South to the Canadian wilderness via the Underground Railroad. The Underground Railroad was a series of houses and hideaways set up to allow enslaved people to freedom. The Coffin family was a Quaker family who, along with their entire religion, opposed slavery. Helping more than 3,000 slaves to freedom, the Coffin family quickly became well known and soon many slaves passing through Cincinnati passed through the Coffin’s house.
Having a large house, it was easy for the Coffins to hide fugitive slaves in secret rooms and chambers, unknown to the boarders that sometimes boarded in the house. Many of the slaves came alone; some came in large groups, and some came guided by a white person, helping to safely pass from one safe haven to the next.

Eli Whitney’s Cotton Gin

The invention of the cotton gin greatly impacted the South’s, as well as the nations, economy. Cotton could now be cleaned faster, allowing it to be put on the market faster. This now made slaves life easier by not having to remove the seeds by hand, however, they now had to run the gin. The effect on the economy was substantial. Now that cotton was being produced faster than ever before, the demand for it skyrocketed. The invention of the cotton gin was similar to the development of factories and mass production in the North, however, instead of getting rid of slavery and starting cheap Union labor, the South just added to the work and need for slaves.

Runaway Slave Advertisements (1838-1839)

From reading these advertisements, it seems as though slave owners are literally bribing people to find, capture and return runaway slaves. Also from reading these, it seems clear that many slave owners believed that any runaway slave would most likely hide out near or around where family, such as wives and children, are working. During this period, it was common for slave families to be split up and sold to different plantations, never to see each other again. The slaves that seemed to bring back the largest reward were the younger male slaves, probably because of their strength and durability, as opposed to the elder and less strong woman.

Richard Allen-Portrait

Richard Allen was born into a Quaker slave farm, but then his family was shortly after sold to a man named Stokley. He lived there with his parents and four siblings. There he joined the Methodist Society, becoming very religious and enduring much racial criticism.
In 1777 Stokley freed Allen and his brother because he believed that slavery was wrong. Allen then became a minister, and eventually formed the first ever all African American church, the African Methodist Episcopal Church. It was around this church that many African Americans rallied around during the Negro Convention Movement; the first meeting of African American leaders, one of them being Richard Allen.

5) Study Guide Essays: Using the Chapter 11 Study Guide linked above, choose one of the 'Familiarity with Basic Knowledge' or 'Practice in Historical Thinking' questions to answer in essay form. Underline your thesis statement and provide evidence to support your statements. Each student should chose one question to answer. Post your work here.

Walter Bohn
2. Explain the distribution of slaveholders and nonslaveholders in the South.
Slavery in the South varied depending on which state you went to. This all depended on the crop plantations were growing. In the Upper South, Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Maryland. These states grew mostly corn and tobacco. The states in the Lower "Black Belt" South: South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Easter Texas. These states grew mostly cotton. Some of these states were more dependant on slave labor than others. For instance, cotton plantations relied greatly on slave labor, because picking cotton was such a tedious task. Other crops, such as tobacco and corn were not so hard to pick, and relied less on slave labor. These differences also affected the distribution of slaveholders, and nonslaveholders. There were fewer slaveholders in the "Upper South", because corn and tobacco were easy to pick, so there was no need for farmers to waste money on slaves, when they could do the work themselves for less cost. Large "Upper South" plantations did need slaves, because there was so much crop to pick, but owning lots of slaves was less common. This lesser expense made it easier for farmers to make more money. On the other hand, in the "Lower South", slavery was almost necessary, because cotton was such a tedious crop to pick that it was more beneficial to have slaves do all of the work. This made slaves less available, which meant fewer large cotton plantations. Although slaves were more common in the "Lower South", they weren't in as many areas, but where they were they were dense in a specific region.

Brandon Koster

Black life and culture in slave quarters, including religion, music, dance, playing instruments, and telling folklore gave the slaves a sense of identity and self-esteem. Slaves used these aspects of their culture to escape from the suffering of slavery and to make life make sense. Slaves mixed Christianity, Islamic, and African religious beliefs but Christianity among the slaves was growing widely. Slaves sang and danced as a sign of mourning and happiness after a hard day of work. Folktales told by slaves were used to teach wisdom and show measures of gaining freedom.

Slave’s religion was very important to them and some slaveholders even set up segregated churches for their slaves to attend to. Slaves were very attentive in church as the great majority of slaves would attend. Some preachers though would give sermons about slave’s disobedience and how they should respect his master and never lie or steal from him. Some slaves were made to view their master’s views of Christianity and slaves would and were arrested for expressing their views of it. Slaves created an invisible church which they would attend on Sunday nights and would sing, dance, clap, and shout to God and would pray for freedom.
Slaves at night would gather behind their quarters to sing and dance. They did this to express there culture away from the whites and slaveholders. At first they would mourn at their hard day of work. Then they were to be happy in the midst of one day being free. The most singing was to express their religion but also freedom and they wanted to be free in Heaven and have freedom by going north. Slaves did not always have a hidden meaning in their songs, most times they would just sing and play instruments for the fun of their old African styles.
Folktales told by slaves were used to teach wisdom to the young and to show a measure of gaining freedom. Folktales had a hidden message within them that the teller wanted the listener to understand without great detail. This message was usually a sort or moral that was to be understood by all who had heard the story. Most times it was how violence wasn’t the solution of problems but that intelligence was the key. It usually was about slavery and how slaves just couldn’t revolt against their masters or else there were going to be consequences.
Black life and culture in slave quarters, including religion, music, dance, playing instruments, and telling folklores gave the slaves a sense of identity and self-esteem. Slave’s religion was important to them so they could gain their freedom someday either on earth of in Heaven. Singing and dancing allowed the slaves to show off their culture and truly express themselves. Folklores gave the listeners a moral to be understood about slavery and the solution of problems. This is how life and culture in slave quarters allowed slaves to have a feeling of identity of self-esteem.