The Antebellum South

• Prior to the Civil War, the South comprised distinct societies with social class disparities that created varied social and economic systems.
• Seven states are typically recognized as the Deep South: Georgia, South Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida, Texas, and Alabama.

Antebellum South

• The Antebellum Era in the southern states existed from 1812 until the Civil War.
• The era romanticizes wealthy slaveholders, but the majority of people were poor, non-slaveholders living difficult lives.
• Antebellum homes like the George Izzard House in Charleston, South Carolina, showcase exceptional wealth.

Southern Economy

• The Antebellum Southern economy depended heavily on labor-intensive agricultural cash crops.
• Manufacturing was limited to local needs like fabric and sawmills, with few exports.
• Primary exports were cotton and rice, which thrived in the southern climate.
• Profitability relied on cheap slave labor, making the South economically vulnerable due to a lack of diverse enterprises and railroad infrastructure.

Crops

• The plantation system was brought to America by English and French sugar plantation owners from Barbados and the Caribbean.
• This system was used for growing cotton, tobacco, and rice using indentured servants or slave labor for over 200 years.
• Cotton production in Mississippi grew from zero million pounds in 1800 to 535.1 million pounds in 1859.
• The expansion of slavery in the old southwest was caused by gulf coast land becoming accessible, rising cotton prices, and the invention of the cotton gin.
• Tobacco growers shifted to cotton due to growing demand.

Role of Slavery

• Slavery was essential for the profitability of labor-intensive crops.
• Cotton and rice production levels required for export and profit could not have been achieved without slave labor.
• Products were "sanitized" after leaving plantations, as slavery was seen as a necessary evil.
• The North also participated in slavery, with New York financing slave ships in the 1850s.
• Historically, many great societies relied on slave labor to build large economies and financial systems.
• The U.S. economy depended on slave labor, indentured servants, or underemployed workers.

Southern Society

• Economic factors heavily influenced Southern society for generations.
• Wealthy plantation owners were the high class, focused on etiquette, cotillion, and marrying within their social circles.
• Wealthy families from the 1800s often remain wealthy today.

Southern Class Structure

• The Southern class structure consisted of wealthy plantation slave owners, yeoman farmers (both white and black, mostly non-slaveholders), and poor white sharecroppers/hired workers and slaves.
• Enslaved people in the rice fields and on small farms sometimes had a task system that allowed them to work for themselves after completing assigned tasks.
• Some enslaved people were highly skilled and earned money to buy their freedom.
• The poll tax restricted voting rights and reflected wealth controlling economics.
• Segregation of churches played a role in the stratification of Southern society.
• While the South is no longer legally segregated, many institutions remain non-representative.
• Economic stratification largely follows economic lines, with wealthy minority people at all levels.