Southern Society and Culture

• Many fiction writers made it believed that all white people had plantations and owned a lot of slaves

• During the first half of the 1800's only about 1/3 of southern families had slaves. Fewer families had plantations

• Despite the small numbers the economy was dependent on agriculture and most of the agricultural production relied on slave plantations

Southern Society and Culture

• Many plantation owners served as political leaders

• Created a society where each of these different groups contributed to the economic success of the south

• Planters

• Yeomen farmers/ Poor Whites

• Slaves

• Free African Americans

Planters

• Wealthiest members of the society

• Some showed off their wealth by living in big mansions, others saved their money to buy more land/ more slaves

• Males were in charge of raising the crops and supervising slave laborers

• Wives were in charge of running the house (Raising the children, supervised the house slaves) While also being responsible for hosting gatherings for husband and other political figures

Yeomen

• Most white southerners were yeomen: Owners of small farms

• Owned few to no slaves

• Typical land was about 100 acres

• Took great pride in being a farmer

• The whole family helped in whatever task was needed to survive (Women and children)

• If they had slaves they would work alongside the slaves to produce crops

Poor Whites

• Lived on land that could not grow cash crops

• Survived by hunting, fishing, raising small gardens, and doing odd jobs for money

• Cooked

• Cleaned

• Help raise the white families children

• Treated better than males

Females

• worked in the fields typically all doing the same job

• Worked from sunup to sundown

• Given 1 meal per day

Males

Slaves

Free African Americans

• Although majority of african americans were slaves more than 250,000 free african american lived in the region by 1860

• Lived in rural and urban parts of the community

• Many worked as paid laborers on plantations

• Some tried to open business in town but were not profitable, Why?