HY 101 Chapter Notes - Chapter Chapter Sixteen: Theodore Dwight Weld, Peculiar Institution, Nullification Crisis
Document Summary
In the late 1700s, slavery was starting to die out, but the invention of the cotton gin prompted plantation owners to keep their slaves to support the larger cotton harvests. Cotton accounted for half the value of all american exports after 1840. Britain"s most important manufactured item was cotton cloth. Britain imported 75% of its raw cotton from the south. Because of this, the south had a significant influence in britain. The south was more of an oligarchy, a government ran by a few. The government was heavily affected by the planter aristocracy. Southern aristocracy widened the gap between the rich and poor because the aristocrats made governmental decisions in their favor. The southern plantation wife commanded the female slaves. The economic structure in the south became increasingly monopolistic. The southern economy was very dependent on cotton, which made the economy unstable. Many plantation owners over-speculated in land and slaves, causing them fall into debt.
