Who were the Southern plantation owners?

Plantation owner An individual who owned a plantation was known as a planter. Historians of the antebellum South have generally defined “planter” most precisely as a person owning property (real estate) and 20 or more slaves.

Which side was more wealthy during the Civil War?

The economic impact of the Civil War The southern slave economy permitted a small number of wealthy planters to accumulate extraordinary fortunes. The 1860 census data show that the median wealth of the richest 1\% of Southerners was more than three times higher than for the richest 1\% of Northerners.

What is a Southern aristocrat?

The planter class, known alternatively in the United States as the Southern aristocracy, was a racial and socio-economic caste of Pan-American society that dominated 17th and 18th century agricultural markets.

How wealthy was the South before the Civil War?

Rather, though inequality of wealth was somewhat more prevalent in the South than in the North, the Southern states were far wealthier on a per capita basis—on an order of two to one. The wealth of the average Northerner in 1860 was $546.24; of the average free Southerner, $1,042.74.

How did the southern colonies make money?

The southern colonies’ economy was based on agriculture (farming). The cash crops of the southern colonies included cotton, tobacco, rice, and indigo (a plant that was used to create blue dye). In Virginia and Maryland, the main cash crop was tobacco.

What was life in the Southern colonies like?

The Southern Colonies had an agricultural economy. Most colonists lived on small family farms, but some owned large plantations that produced cash crops such as tobacco and rice. Many slaves worked on plantations. Slavery was a cruel system.

What was the wealth based on in the southern states?

Slavery was so profitable, it sprouted more millionaires per capita in the Mississippi River valley than anywhere in the nation. With cash crops of tobacco, cotton and sugar cane, America’s southern states became the economic engine of the burgeoning nation.

What was the basis of wealth in the Southern States?

The basis of wealth in the Southern States was cotton.

What was the southern society like?

Most southerners were in the Middle Class and were considered yeoman farmers, holding only a few acres and living in modest homes and cabins, raising hogs and chickens, and growing corn and cotton. Few yeoman farmers had any slaves and if they did own slaves, it was only one or two.

What did the planter class value?

During the antebellum years, wealthy southern planters formed an elite master class that wielded most of the economic and political power of the region. They created their own standards of gentility and honor, defining ideals of southern white manhood and womanhood and shaping the culture of the South.

How was wealth distributed in the South?

For most of the last half-century, income was distributed more equally in the South than in the U.S. High-income families were few and far between, and most of the region’s income was earned by the large number of middle class and working class families.

What made Southern Colonies so successful?

The Southern Colonies had an agricultural economy. Most colonists lived on small family farms, but some owned large plantations that produced cash crops such as tobacco and rice. Many slaves worked on plantations.

How did the Civil War affect the southern wealth distribution?

But the impact of economic and political shocks on this persistence has yet to be thoroughly explored. This column examines the disruptions from the US Civil War on the Southern wealth distribution. Results suggest that an entrenched southern planter elite retained their economic status after the war.

What happened to the Southern planter elite after the Civil War?

Results suggest that an entrenched southern planter elite retained their economic status after the war. However, the turmoil of the decade opened mobility opportunities for Southerners of more modest means, especially compared with the North.

How did Southern elites pass their wealth to their children?

Even after the enslaved people on whom their wealth was built were freed, Southern elites passed their advantages to their children through personal networks and social capital. Boustan says she first conceived of the project when she was a naive, newlywed graduate student.

How did the economic lives of planters change after the Civil War?

The economic lives of planters, former slaves, and nonslaveholding whites, were transformed after the Civil War. Planters found it hard to adjust to the end of slavery. Accustomed to absolute control over their labor force, many sought to restore the old discipline, only to meet determined opposition from the freedpeople,…