American Pageant Ch. 16

All of the following were true of the American economy under Cotton Kingdom except

• the South produced more than half the entire world's supply of cotton.

• 75% of the British supply of cotton came from the South.

• quick profits from cotton drew planters to its economic enterprise.

• the South reaped all the profits from the cotton trade.

As a result of the introduction of the cotton gin

• fewer slaves were needed on the plantations.

• short-staple cotton lost popularity.

• slavery was reinvigorated in the South.

• the African slave trade was legalized.

Members of the planter aristocracy

• produced fewer front-rank statesmen than the North.

• dominated society and politics in the South.

• provided democratic rule in the South.

• promoted tax-supported public education.

Plantation agriculture was wasteful largely because

• it relied mainly on artificial means to fertilize the soil.

• it required leaving cropland fallow every other year.

• excessive water was used for irrigation.

• its excessive cultivation of cotton despoiled good land.

Plantation mistresses

• were frequently assaulted by vengeful slaves.

• frequently supported abolitionism.

• commanded a sizable household staff of mostly female slaves.

• were almost universally loved by their slaves.

The plantation system of the Cotton South before the Civil War

• resembled a tightly controlled oligarchy in its monopolistic features.

• became more democratic and open to newcomers.

• was very financially stable over many years.

• was attractive to European immigrants.

All of the following were weaknesses of the slave plantation system except that

• it repelled a large-scale European immigration.

• it stimulated racism among poor whites.

• it created an aristocratic political elite.

• its land continued to remain predominately in the hands of the small farmers.