Topic # 12
The Antebellum South
I. Growth of the Cotton South
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Spread of the South
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Settled parts of the South grew dramatically
from 1800-1860
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Early pioneers
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generally herdsmen and yeomen farmers
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most moved because population growth in eastern
states cut down amount of grazing and farmland
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tended to move into areas similar to what
they left
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some moved into rich agricultural areas, but
many settled in piney woods regions
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Floodtide begins
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Alabama and Mississippi saw large-scale migration
during 1830s
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Pushed into northern Louisiana and Texas during
1840s and 1850s
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Cotton fuels growth of the South
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for years, best cotton was long-staple cotton,
grown along coast of Georgia and South Carolina
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production of short-staple cotton--began to
blossom in early 1800s
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short-staple cotton was deemed too expensive
to cultivate in 18th century because of difficulty in removing seeds
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1793--Eli Whitney develops cotton gin to easily
remove seeds from cotton
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with advent of cotton gin, cultivation of
cotton spread throughout much of the South--into any area where soil and
growing season could support it
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Reason for spread of cotton
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demand for cotton from mills
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English mills imported close to 70% of its
cotton from South
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Growth of northern mills further increased
the demand
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although the demand for cotton sometimes dwindled,
it remained sufficiently profitable to make more and more people want to
reap its rewards
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at same time cotton on the rise, tobacco goes
into a slide during 1790s
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Spread of slavery
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With the spread of cotton came the spread
of slavery
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In the 40 years between 1820 and 1860, around
2 million African Americans were either forcibly moved by their owners
or sold to others in the Gulf states region
II. Social Relations in the White South
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Southern society mixes aristocratic and democratic,
premodern and modern elements
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Landownership widespread
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Slaveholders and Yeomen -- Different social
classes
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Planters
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usually defined as owning 20 or more slaves
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make up about 5% of white population, but
control large amount of land (usually the best land) and most of slaves
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lifestyle often different from that portrayed
in movies
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often in debt
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looking for better land, higher efficiency,
and profits
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frequent moves often leave planters isolated
from other planters and their wives
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plantation mistress had heavy burden of responsibility--running
household, deputy to husband, child-rearing
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stress on planters' wives caused by double
standard
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mulatto children--Mary Boykin Chesnut
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expected roles for women put them on pedastal--means
of controlling women
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small slaveholders
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own less than 20 slaves
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much more numerous than planters--around 15-20%
of white population
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in the uplands, the small slaveholders often
side with yeomen, but in lowlands side with planters
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frequently on move looking for better land
and profits
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yeomen
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largest group of southern whites (2/3d's)
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definition of yeoman
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own no slaves
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do own their own farms--usually 50-200 acres
in uplands (away from plantation belt)
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focus on food crops for self-sufficiency,
but do grow some cash crops
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work their own land, sometimes hire slaves
at harvest time
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many yeomen desire to become slaveholders
if possible
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poor whites
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sometimes called "people of the pine barrens,"
although they can be found anywhere in the South
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about 10% of white population
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own no land, no slaves
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often squatters or laborers on other farms
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self-sufficient and independent
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big planters socially and politically dominant
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planter hegemony
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control of society and politics by planters--with
consent of nonslaveholders (requires some trade-offs)
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reasons nonslaveholders consent
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hopes of becoming slaveowners
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best means of controlling what they see as
socially inferior blacks
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idea that having blacks as laborers (for other
people) means all whites are equal
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Proslavery Arguments
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slavery a positive good--for blacks and whites
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slavery sanctioned by history and religion
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southern black slaves treated better than
northern "wage slaves"
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southern churches increase support of slavery
(1830s-1860s)
III. Slave life and culture
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Life as a slave
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there is no one way that slaves lived, the
kind of existence they had depended on a number of variables
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who owner was
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kind of agriculture practiced
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whether they lived in rural or urban area,
also upper South vs. lower South
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presence of other slaves on same place or
nearby
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Material provisions to slaves--not much beyond
bare necessities
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Food
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basic diet consisted of pork, cornmeal, coffee,
and molasses or corn syrup
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supplementing diet with vegetables grown from
own gardens
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sometimes master would allow trusted slaves
to hunt to add more meat
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Clothing
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rough clothing--usually one or two cotton
shirts or dresses per year, osnaburg (rough canvas) pants for men, straw
hat
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shoes--none until weather got cool
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Housing
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Usually lived in one-room cabins (often no
bigger than 10' x 20'), with a door and one or two windows--shuttered,
no glass--dirt floor, mud-daubed walls, crude chimney
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little furniture--usually hand made
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straw bedding
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few pieces of cookware
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frequently one or two families lived in a
single cabin
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grouping of quarters when larger numbers of
slaves
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Disease--combination of poorly balanced diet,
no shoes, and crowded housing aided spread of contagious diseases and increased
severity of infections
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Work patterns
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in agriculture
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Gang labor versus task labor
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gang labor
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everyone works together as group
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men and women both work the fields--though
often at different jobs
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most common kind of labor in cotton or tobacco
areas
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task labor
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used mostly in rice and sugar plantations
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each individual has different tasks to complete--works
separately from others
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Amount of labor
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usually long hours--from sunup to sundown
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intensity and hours varied from season to
season
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spring and summer longest and hardest hours
(breaks during hot hours of summer days)
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fall (after harvest) and winter spent more
on preparations for growing--intensity of work less severe
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Slaves working in households or as artisans
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types of work: maids, personal servants,
blacksmiths, carpenters, etc.
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working conditions
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good--escape harsh labor of fieldwork
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bad--having to work in close proximity to
owners at all times; behavior always looked at closely; close proximity
for women had additional hazard of unwanted sexual advances
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status of
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Slaves in the cities and industry
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types of work
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household
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artisans--tin, copper, and silversmiths; blacksmiths;
carpenters
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greater freedom of movement for city slaves
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a few slaves work in southern factories, mines,
lumbering
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these slaves (especially in skilled crafts)
seen as having a higher value than field hands--Charleston slave who was
expert silversmith had value of $25,000
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Control of slaves
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Physical conditions of slaves frequently differed
little from that of yeomen or poor whites--NOTE: physical conditions
are not what make slavery so bad
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Physical control
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Whipping
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Other forms of abuse (branding, caging, denial
of food most common)
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Comparisons with other slave societies
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Discussion of State v. Mann (N.C.S.C.,
1830)
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C.J. Thomas Ruffin
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compares to control over children, etc.
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hopelessness of slave's condition
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"Absolute control over the body"
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Mental aspect of slavery (the really bad
part)
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Control over movement---Slave patrols
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Required to submit to demands of master
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Uncertainty! Uncertainty! Uncertainty!
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Attitudes toward the master
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"Good" masters vs. Simon Legree types
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few Simon Legrees
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reminder that to the slaveowner, a slave is
a valuable piece of human property--should not be abused so badly that
ability to work is hampered
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Two-faces of slave attitudes
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Culture of slaves
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Persistence of African culture
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Religion
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Family life
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Gender roles
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slave men seen by whites as unmasculine, could
not protect their women and children
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women played special role in nurturing young
girls to adulthood
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women often had more to do with children,
because if couple belonged to different masters, children stayed with mother
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Resistance to slavery
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Individual resistance
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work slowdowns and refusals to obey orders
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sabotage of work equipment--break implements
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running away--temporarily and permanently
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theft
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arson
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murder
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Rebellion
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Gabriel's rebellion--Virginia, 1800
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Word of slave revolt in Haiti gradually spread
to mainland
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Gabriel Prosser, a slave blacksmith who enjoyed
a modest amount of freedom because of his position, plotted with his brother
to lead an insurrection to free blacks in tidewater Virginia
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Prosser managed to gain support of about 50-60
slaves--perhaps as many as 1,000 other slaves knew about it
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Plans to burn Richmond failed because of wet
weather
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Whites learned of the plan, and executed a
number of the leaders, including both Prossers
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Not all blacks were executed -- many sold
away to Deep South
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Failed revolt left many whites in the area
very nervous for a long time
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Denmark Vesey
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free black -- won freedom in a lottery
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conspired to lead a rebellion in Charleston
in 1822
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many slaves from leading families involved
(maybe as many as 3,000)
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rebellion harshly put down
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Nat Turner's Rebellion
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Southampton County, Virginia--Aug. 1831
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Turner somewhat educated as a child, became
a preacher
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Planned for a long time on how to revolt
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led group of about 100 slaves on rebellion--tried
to get more to join, but they were scared
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killed sixty whites, men and women, young
and old
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nearly 200 blacks executed, including many
who knew of rebellion but did not join
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Image of Nat Turner's Rebellion remained in
the minds of white Southerners for decades afterward
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Why so few known rebellions
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