Describe the complex structure of southern society. What role did plantation owners, small slaveholders, independent white farmers, poor whites, free blacks, and black slaves each have in the southern social order?

The complex social structure of the South consisted of many people ranging from plantation owners to slaves. With the introduction of the cotton gin in 1793 by Eli Whitney, the entire Southern region would be dominated and controlled by cotton. Slaves were kept alive because the owners needed the manual labor to raise the cotton. Demand for cotton was increasing at a rapid pace, making the necessity for the South and slaves reach unprecedented levels. By 1840, the South produced over half the world’s supply of cotton. With such a booming agriculture and distinct separation between owners and workers, the need for a structure to govern everyone was of the utmost importance. The planter “aristocracy” created such sectional divides that each of the members was segregated socially, a fact which ignited the national controversy of slavery.

            From the broadest perspective of the structured society of the South, there were whites and blacks. At the top of the white social ladder were the plantation owners. Consisting of the select elite, these people who accounted for a margin of the people in the South enjoyed the significant share of the wealth. Sending their children to the finest schools and giving them the most expensive gifts, the plantation owners realized their elevated stature in society and believed they were duty bound to serve the public. This undemocratic control of the rich over the poor widened the gap between the different levels in the aristocracy. The arrogance of the Southern elite was so great that they would conduct jousting tournaments reminiscent of medieval times. Perpetuating this feudal society even included selected roles for the mistresses of the men. Although they were women and considered at a lower level, the women of the Southern elitist were allowed servants of their own.

            The other elements of the white class included independent farmers and poor whites. Making up the majority of the plantations, small time farmers did not enjoy nearly the same success as large plantation owners. Living in modest households, they would sweat aside their slaves if they had any at all. Being dominated by King Cotton, the small time slave owners were forced into farming other agricultural ventures. Including wildlife, these poorer white folk could not compete with the cotton plantations, so they had to resort to raising anything they could. Known as “hillbillies” or “crackers” they were often described as uneducated and listless. Although they were believed to be lazy, it is now believed their malnutrition caused by their poverty inhibited them from possessing the energy to work as hard as they potentially could have. These people, who lived a life that would seemingly cause one to oppose the slave system, were actually their biggest supporters. Seeing the hope of achieving wealth could only be obtained in this way, so their poverty aided in the great disparaging conflicts between whites and slaves.

            The slaves were the most instrumental players in the planter aristocracy. Although they were regarded as the peons and worth nothing more than their value in manual labor, their work was the controlling factor that kept King Cotton in business. Being forced into slavery meant they were not afforded the opportunities of education, freedom, or just about any rights. Considered property by their owners, they would be forced to graze in the fields all day. The instability of the cotton industry caused harsher conditions for the slaves, as the owners would force them to work harder when times were rough. Those who were fortunate enough to escape bondage still had to get to the North to avoid capture and reentry into the slave system. Cruel treatment against blacks in the South raised tensions to their boiling point and became the central issue behind the Civil War.

The South consisted of five primary classes in their society.  They were, in order, the large plantation owners, the small slaveholders, the independent white farmers, the free blacks, and the black slaves.  Each of these classes had very different lifestyles and played very different roles.

The large plantation owners were the aristocracy of the South and were also the highest class.  This group, however, was rather small; only 1,733 families owned at least 100 slaves in 1850.  With their wealth, the plantation owners were able to put their children into the best schools.  These highly educated offspring made up the largest portion of “front-rake” statesmen before 1860.  The planter aristocracy was consequently able to greatly influence the government, causing such acts as tax-supported education to be weakened.  This caused the gap between the poorer southerners and the richer plantation owners to grow.  

            The class under the plantation aristocracy was the class of the small slaveholders.  This class consisted of about 345,00 families in 1850.  Out of this group 255, 268 families owned less than ten slaves each.  The lifestyle of this class was very different from the lifestyle of the rich plantation owners.  These farmers lived in farmhouses rather than in the columned mansions of the wealthy plantation owners.  Also the farmers usually worked alongside their slaves.

            After the class of the poorer slave owners was the class of the independent white farmers.  Consisting of 6,120,825 individuals by 1860, they made up three-fourths of the southern white population.  Rather than growing items that would be sold for profits, they grew items that they needed to live off of; they grew corn and would raise hogs in order to feed themselves.  The poorest of this class were considered to be lazy and languid, although the reason for this characteristic was because of their sufferings from diseases, malnutrition, and parasites.  They were even looked down upon by slaves.  This class was given names such as “hillbillies,” “crackers,” “clay eaters,” and “poor white trash.”  Even though these farmers did not own slaves, they still wanted to preserve slavery because of their hope of rising class status.  One group of the independent white farmers that did not support slavery were the mountain farmers.  They later were one of the factors that helped the North to beat the South in the Civil War.

            Under the independent white farmers class were the free blacks.  This class consisted of blacks that bought their own freedom, who were freed because of the idealism of Revolutionary days, and who were the children of a white planter and a black mother, also known as mulattos.  A large amount of these freed blacks owned their own property; some even owned their own slaves.  Even though these people had been freed, they continued to be treated very harshly.  They were not allowed to work in certain occupations or to testify against whites in courts.

            The lowest class in the Southern society was that of the slaves.  Around 4 million individuals were part of this group in 1860.  Slaves were considered to be investments and were the main form of wealth in the South.  The large plantation owners were only rich because of the slaves.  Some slaves were treated poorly by their “masters,” while others were treated rather well.

            All five of the classes in the Southern society had very different lifestyles.  Some lived lives of luxury, while others had to grow their own food.                    

The structure of southern society was made up of six main groups tied together through the peculiar system of slavery. Plantation owners, small slaveholders, independent white farmers, poor whites, free blacks and black slaves were all directly affected by the slavery system, but for some groups there were more benefits than others.

          There was a small number of plantation owners with 100 or more slaves, only 1,733 families to be exact. These made up the “cottonocracy,” who were the political and social leaders of the area, and of the nation. Although this group produced very important leaders, they basically controlled the local governments. This stunted the development of a good public school system because all of their children attended private schools. Plantation owners had a favorite author: Sir Walter Scott whom idealized the feudal societies in his novels. They tried to perpetuate a dead medievalism and even held jousting tournaments. Mark Twain accused Sir Walter Scott of encouraging Southerners to fight for a “sham civilization.” Plantation mistresses commanded the house staff and gave orders to cooks, maids, seamstresses, laundresses, and body servants. The relationship between mistress and her household slaves varied greatly, it could be affectionate or ghastly. Even if they had a good relationship, the mistress would rarely protest her maids’ loved ones being sold away. And very few Southern women believed in blacks’ emancipation.

          Small slaveholders made up the majority of masters, but didn’t own a majority of the slaves. They worked as hard as their slaves, and owned only one or two, sometimes a family. They didn’t live in large, white houses with pillars as plantation owners did, but modest farmhouses. The style of their lives was more similar to those of small farmers in the North than the planters around the block.

          Independent white farmers made up three-quarters of all southern whites. These rednecks lived in the backcountry and in mountain valleys. They were subsistence farmers who raised corn and hogs and lived isolated lives interrupted periodically by religious camp meetings. The Cotton Kingdom was a distant dream to them and they scorned the lordly “snobocracy.”

          Poor whites were such a low class that even slaves looked down on them. They were called “poor white trash,” “hillbillies,” “crackers,” or “clay eaters.” Most described them as, “listless, shiftless and misshapen.” They weren’t lazy though; they merely suffered from malnutrition and parasites such as hookworm. They supported the slave system because they took a perverse comfort in the fact that they could think of themselves as better than somebody. They also hoped to own a slave or two, and move up in society, work for the American Dream.

          By 1850 there were 250,000 free blacks in the South. Most in the upper south were emancipated because of Revolutionary fervor in days past and in the deep south because they were mulattoes, set free on the basis that they were the master’s children.  Many bought their freedom from extra labor. In New Orleans a mulatto community prospered and many owned property. Some even owned slaves. This “third race” could work certain occupations, testify against whites and they could be taken into slavery by “unscrupulous’ slave traders. They were resented and detested by slave system supporters because they showed what emancipated blacks could achieve. They were also disliked in the North, maybe in more so than in the South.

          There were four million black slaves in the South by 1850. And although slave importing was outlawed in 1808, many still did it anyways. Southern juries always found slave importers “not guilty.” Their numbers had quadrupled since the dawn of the century but most of the population came from natural reproduction. Slaves were also the primary form of wealth in the South at that time. Any prudent capitalist would treat them like investments and spare them life-threatening work. That kind of work went to Irish laborers. Slavery was very profitable for planters, but it stunted the South’s economic growth. By 1860 South Carolina, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana had a majority or near majority of blacks and owned half of all the slaves in America. Some slave women were promised freedom after bearing ten children and they were enthusiastically called “rattlin’ good breeders.” Whit masters fathered a large mulatto population. Slave auctions were brutal. Families were sold apart for economic reasons- bankruptcy or the division of “property” among heirs. Although conditions varied everywhere, “slavery always meant hard work, ignorance and oppression.” Slaves were also given minimal protection from murder and other ominous threats.