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Development and impact (social, economic, and political) of the plantation system in South Carolina

During colonial times, agriculture was the basis of society in South Carolina. The head-right method and the availability of slave labor contributed to the establishment of large plantations. By 1860, South Carolina had the highest percentage of slaveholders in the nation. It is important to note that most South Carolinian's lived on family or subsistence farms. Most did not own slaves. The majority of slave owners in South Carolina owned only one or two slaves and often worked beside their slaves in the fields. Few slave owners owned large plantations. However, the economic, social, and political systems in South Carolina were based on the institution of slavery.

Impact of the cotton gin and the economy and society of South Carolina

In 1793, Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin, and South Carolina farmers had a new cash crop. As a result, they planted more cotton to increase profits and became even more dependent on slave labor. Now cotton could be planted in the Upcountry and soon the upcountry farmers increased their ownership of slaves. As a result, the elites of the Low-country were less fearful of the loss of political power to the Upcountry and agreed to reapportionment (Compromise of 1808). Since the Regulator Movement (8-1.6), the Upcountry had wanted equal representation in the legislature.

Universal, white, manhood suffrage in South Carolina

In 1810, voting became equal in South Carolina. An amendment to the Constitution gave one vote where one lived to “every free white man of 21.” No longer did a voter have to own property. Nor could a person vote in as many districts as he owned land. South Carolina was the first state to give the vote to all white males over the age of twenty-one. The cotton gin had impacted the lives of slaves and the political rights of white South Carolinians.

Impact of the growth of cotton during the antebellum period

Although slave importation (international slave trade) was outlawed in 1808, the slave population continued to grow in antebellum South Carolina because of cotton. With ready markets in the textile mills of the North and in England, planters sold cotton at good prices, and both southern planters and northern mill owners acquired great wealth either directly or indirectly due to slave labor. Although planting cotton eventually wore out the soil, planters were hesitant to find new crops and instead moved to new lands. The need for new lands played into southern arguments for the westward expansion of slavery.

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