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27. The Peculiar Institution

Cotton, the slave codes, the plantation and its chivalric self-image, resistance and rebellion, and the arguments the South made in its own defense.

27. The Peculiar Institution

Slaves being put up for auction were kept in pens like this one in Alexandria, Virginia — just a few miles from Washington, D.C. "The Peculiar Institution" is…

27a. The Crowning of King Cotton

University of VirginiaFemale slaves using the mechanical cotton gin. Removing seeds from newly picked cotton is not as simple as it sounds. Cotton is sticky wh…

27b. Slave Life and Slave Codes

The Colonial Williamsburg FoundationInterpretation of Slave Quarter, Carter's Grove Plantation, Williamsburg Slave life varied greatly depending on many factor…

27c. The Plantation & Chivalry

HGTVHome to prominent Virginia planter Thomas Lee and his illustrious progeny: Richard Henry and Francis Lightfoot Lee the only brothers to sign the Declarat…

27d. Free(?) African-Americans

Frederick Douglass Museum and Cultural CenterFrederick Douglass escaped from slavery when he was 20 years old. Eventually, his freedom was purchased by British…

27e. Rebellions on and off the Plantation

Gateway Virginia, The Richmond Times DispatchIn 1800 Gabriel Prosser conspired to lead a march on Richmond, capture the governor, and start a revolution. Start…

27f. The Southern Argument for Slavery

Southern slaveholders often used biblical passages to justify slavery. Those who defended slavery rose to the challenge set forth by the Abolitionists. The def…