| Front | Back | | --- | --- | | Why did the invention of the cotton gin (1793) entrench and expand slavery in the US South rather than phase it out? |

Economic efficiency: It revolutionized cotton processing, making short-staple cotton highly profitable.
Labor demand: Increased profitability drove a massive territorial expansion ("Cotton Kingdom") that required a vast, forced labor force.

| | The expansion of the "Cotton Kingdom" across the Deep South linked the US economy to global trade, as the region supplied over half of the world's cotton by the mid-19th century. | The expansion of the "Cotton Kingdom" across the Deep South linked the US economy to global trade, as the region supplied over half of the world's cotton by the mid-19th century. | | How did the cotton economy shape the social hierarchy of the American South? |

Planter elite: Created a wealthy, politically dominant class of slaveholders who controlled Southern politics.
Underclass: Enslaved millions of African Americans in a rigid, racialized system of forced labor.

| | How did enslaved communities preserve their identity and build resilience despite the brutal conditions of plantation life? |

Cultural synthesis: Created spirituals, oral traditions, and religious practices blending African and Christian elements.
Kinship networks: Formed strong family ties to counter the trauma of forced separation.

| | How did subtle forms of day-to-day resistance by enslaved people challenge the plantation system? |

Economic sabotage: Working slowly and breaking tools directly reduced plantation productivity and profits.
Agency: Maintaining forbidden cultural practices asserted humanity against a dehumanizing system.

| | The Underground Railroad was a secret network of routes and safe houses used by enslaved African Americans to escape to the North or Canada. | The Underground Railroad was a secret network of routes and safe houses used by enslaved African Americans to escape to the North or Canada. | |

How did Nat Turner's Rebellion (1831) paradoxically worsen conditions for enslaved people across the American South?

Fear of uprisings: Terrified white Southern slaveholders into believing any autonomy would lead to violence.
Stricter slave codes: Led to new laws banning education, assembly, and religious meetings for enslaved people.

| | Led by an enslaved preacher, Nat Turner's Rebellion in 1831 killed about 60 white people in Virginia, becoming the deadliest slave revolt in US history. | Led by an enslaved preacher, Nat Turner's Rebellion in 1831 killed about 60 white people in Virginia, becoming the deadliest slave revolt in US history. | | How did Northern abolitionists use the violent outcome of Nat Turner's Rebellion (1831) to advance their political arguments? |

Moral warning: They framed the rebellion as an inevitable, desperate response to the inherent cruelty of slavery.

| | How did religious arguments split the US over the morality of slavery? |

Northern reformers: Quakers and evangelicals condemned slavery as a sin violating Christian principles.
Southern defenders: Used biblical texts to argue slavery was divinely sanctioned and part of the natural social order.

| | Northern abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison used his newspaper The Liberator to rally public opinion, while Harriet Beecher Stowe exposed slavery's cruelty in her 1852 novel Uncle Tom's Cabin. | Northern abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison used his newspaper The Liberator to rally public opinion, while Harriet Beecher Stowe exposed slavery's cruelty in her 1852 novel Uncle Tom's Cabin. | | What were the two central constitutional rulings in the Supreme Court's Dred Scott decision (1857)? |

Citizenship denial: Ruled that African Americans (free or enslaved) were not US citizens and could not sue in federal court.
Territorial expansion: Declared the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional, ruling Congress could not ban slavery in territories.

| | Why did the Dred Scott decision (1857) make political compromise between North and South virtually impossible? |

Nationalized slavery: By opening all western territories to slavery, it destroyed moderate efforts to contain its spread.
Radicalized the North: Outraged Northern public opinion and strengthened the anti-slavery Republican Party.

| | Chief Justice Roger B. Taney delivered the majority opinion in the Dred Scott decision (1857), which used the power of judicial review to strike down the Missouri Compromise. | Chief Justice Roger B. Taney delivered the majority opinion in the Dred Scott decision (1857), which used the power of judicial review to strike down the Missouri Compromise. | | How did economic dependence on cotton shape the Southern political defense of slavery? |

Economic survival: Southern defenders argued that cotton-driven prosperity and global trade would collapse without enslaved labor.
Social order: Framed slavery as necessary for maintaining racial and social stability.

| | The intense political and moral debate over slavery led to legislative compromises, culminating in the Civil War (1861–1865) and the passage of the 13th Amendment (1865) to formally abolish the institution. | The intense political and moral debate over slavery led to legislative compromises, culminating in the Civil War (1861–1865) and the passage of the 13th Amendment (1865) to formally abolish the institution. | |

How did the economic division between the industrial North and the agrarian South make slavery the central cause of the Civil War?

Incompatible systems: The North relied on free labor and industry, while the South's economy was entirely dependent on the expansion of slave-based cotton agriculture.

Paper 1 - The Move to Global War6 subtopics

Paper 1 - Rights and Protest6 subtopics

Paper 1 - Conflict and Intervention6 subtopics

Paper 2 - Independence Movements5 subtopics

Paper 2 - Emergence and Development of Democratic States5 subtopics

Paper 2 - Authoritarian States7 subtopics

Paper 2 - Causes and Effects of 20th Century Wars4 subtopics

Paper 2 - The Cold War: Superpower Tensions and Rivalries4 subtopics

Paper 3 - History of Europe18 subtopics

Paper 3 - History of the Americas18 subtopics

Paper 3 - History of Asia and Oceania18 subtopics

IB History Slavery Flashcards

Flashcards for Slavery

Flashcards for Slavery - IB