Discovering Our Past: The American Journey to World War I

Chapter 9: The South

Chapter Overview

The economy of the South, like that of the North, prospered between 1820 and 1860, but the South remained largely rural and agricultural. Its main cash crop was cotton. Industry developed slowly in the South due to lack of capital, limited manufacturing markets, and resistance to change.

Most white Southerners could be classified into four categories during the 1800s: yeomen, tenant farmers, plantation owners, and the rural poor. Yeomen made up the largest portion of Southerners in the 1800s. Yeomen owned small plots of land in areas unsuited for large plantations. Tenant farmers worked the land they rented from landowners, but the rural poor lived in crude areas tucked away in the forest. Plantation owners represented a very small portion of the population. Overseers on the plantation supervised field hands, or slaves who worked the farm. Domestic slaves sewed, cooked, and cleaned in the main house. Free African Americans sometimes purchased their own family members in exchange for their freedom.

Many enslaved African Americans in the South tried to resist slavery through work slow-downs, escape, and even revolt. Although slaves faced great hardships, they were able to create family lives, religious beliefs, and a distinct culture. By 1860 great differences, especially over slavery, existed between the North and South.