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Handout
Digital History

Digital History: Pre Civil War South

For Students 9th - 10th
A comprehensive look at the economy of the South and the changes brought by the cotton gin. Read through five pages that discuss the economy, the tradition of the plantation, and the sectionalism that arises in this time period.
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Website
Digital History

Digital History: The Old South: Images and Realities

For Students 9th - 10th
First read the plantation legend about life in the South. The remainder of the article refutes the legend, explains the differences in many facets of the South, and emphasizes the importance of the Southern agricultural output to the...
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Website
Digital History

Digital History: The South's Economy

For Students 9th - 10th
A good look at the economy of the South prior to the Civil War. Read a good explanation of how the use of slave labor impeded technological innovation and a lack of urban development. See how transportion improvements and good public...
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Website
Digital History

Digital History: Slavery's Evolution

For Students 9th - 10th
From the 1740s until 1860 there were great changes in the slavery system, slave culture, and where slaves lived. Read about these changes and the beginnings of anti-slavery ideas.
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Article
University of Groningen

American History: Essays: Colonization in Texas: Cultivation of Cotton and Wheat

For Students 9th - 10th
Discusses the cotton economy in the Lower and Upper South of Texas in the 1800s, and the role transportation played in its growth, or lack thereof in some regions. Wheat was more widely grown in the Upper South where the yeomen farmed.
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Article
Google

The Life of Yeoman Farmers

For Students 9th - 10th
A look at the lives of the yeoman farmers who lived in the South. The yeomen were akin to the status of a middle class of farmers.
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Article
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: Us History: 1865 1898: The New South

For Students 9th - 10th
Could the American South be remade as an industrial economy like the North?
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Unknown Type
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: Us History: 1865 1898: New South

For Students 9th - 10th
A quick four question comprehension check over the New South.
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Article
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: Us History: 1844 1877: The Slave Economy

For Students 9th - 10th
The South relied on slavery heavily for economic prosperity and used wealth as a way to justify enslavement practices.
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Article
A&E Television

History.com: How the South Helped Win the American Revolution

For Students 9th - 10th
British commanders attempted to reverse their floundering fortunes by launching a campaign in the South. There the British would find not just crops such as tobacco, rice and indigo that were vital to their economy, but stronger Loyalist...
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Article
University of Groningen

American History: Essays: Anglo Amer. Colonization in Texas: Food Production

For Students 9th - 10th
Describes the role Texas played in trading food crops in the mid-1800s.
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Website
Digital History

Digital History: Antebellum Slavery

For Students 9th - 10th
The ideals of liberty after the Revolutionary War brought freedom to many slaves. Read about why the institution of slavery rebounded after the introduction of the cotton gin.