Southern Society Storyboard Project
Storyboard Text
- Geography
- Greetings! I have come to say hello! It is always nice to greet a new neighbor. I am not from the South and am thinking of moving here. I was wondering if you, as a native Southerner, could give me some pointers and have a talk?
- Of course! I can give you some basic knowledge and a tour of my place. First of all, everything here in the South is based off or because of our geography and climate. The geography is basically responsible for every aspect of our life. Our farms rely on the fertile soil, warm climate, long growing season, and flat and substantial land. Also, we are reliant and use our rivers for transportation of our cash crops. The rivers made the transportation cheap and easy, and due to being the main source of transportation, many Southern cities developed near the geographical features.
- Welcome, new neighbor, to the South!
- Economy
- Here, we are base on farming cash crops such as cotton, tobacco, rice, sugar. Cotton is the most profitable crop right now because of an invention called the cotton gin. You should get one of those to start a plantation. We also trade/sell or export cotton to England and other regions. In return, we buy imported luxuries from England, and manufactured goods from the North and food from the West.
- Yeah, I will keep that in mind. I was wondering how do you farm all these crops and land? It seems like a whole lot of work to do.
- Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that here in the South, we heavily rely on slavery or slave labor in order to keep us going and grow and harvest our crops. The growth of the cotton industry caused us to rely more on slavery, and without slavery it would be impossible for us to meet our demand for our products. Also, owning slaves takes down workloads and cuts costs.
- Society/ Social
- Thank you for showing me around and giving me tips! I was wondering, since the South is so different and the life style relies on mainly farming. What are the social classes like and what do they do? What should I expect?
- Like you said, the South is very dependent on farming, so social statuses revolve around your land or the plantation that you own and also the appearance of perfection is important for your social status. The Planters or the wealthiest of society, they are large landowners or plantations and own 20+ slaves. Those families dominate social and political life here and are of a small percentage. Next are small farmers, they own land and own fewer than 20 slaves. They participate in government, but are rarely in office. Next are poor farmers, they make up most of the population here, participate little in gov. and own no slaves The last are the slaves, who work on plantations.
- Political
- Here in the South, we heavily rely on slavery slave labor for our way of life and economy. So we are for slavery and are wanting to expand it.
- Since Northerners and some others don't hold such views and oppose it. Are there times where you were heavily opposed and received backlash, especially after the heavy outrage from the North about the Fugitive Slave Act?
- Cultural (Religion)
- Greetings. Name's Thomas. I have come here to tour the place because I have decided to possibly move here.
- So Travis, Christianity and Church must be an important part of the culture and society here.
- Hi Thomas, here is our Church that I recommend you come to, once you move here. A lot of our Southern beliefs and society, and thus, our development comes from here. Also, since we live far away from each other due to farming, we only see our neighbors at church events and to socialize.
- Yes, most of us Southerners share the same beliefs and like I said, come from here. We believe that the bible and god justifies our position in society and slavery. Also, that God creates people like us to rule over others. Well, why don't we go in and participate. It just so happens that today we have a church event.
- Culture (Cuisine)
- Why yes it is!
- Yes, I was very hungry. The porridge, cornbread, eggs, and potatoes taste great, especially with the tea! I can't wait to eat that pie!
- What a delicious dinner! A very customary Southern dish indeed.
- It is likely because dairy is a luxury and expensive. On the bright side, we are fed and eat a similar diet to them.
- Mom, why don't we have dairy like our master's food? Only the slave children get the leftover milk.
- Of course! There are some revolts in the South from slaves and verbal attacks from lawmakers of the opposing side. There was even that infamous Nate Turner's Rebellion, where Nate Turner lead a group of slaves to kill our slaveowners and their families! I'm also angry that Lincoln was elected. Now the South has lost its national power and representation!
Over 30 Million Storyboards Created