HIST 1100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 13: White Southerners, Simple Living, Bloodhound
12 Jan 2017
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In 1850 only 1,733 families owned more than 100 slaves each, and this select group provided the cream of the political and social leadership of the section and nation. The planter aristocrats enjoyed a hefty share of southern wealth. They could educate their children in the finest schools, often in the north or abroad. Their money provided the leisure for study, reflection, and state craft. They felt a keen sense of obligation to serve the public. Virginia and the other southern states produced a higher proportion of front-rank- states(cid:373)e(cid:374) (cid:271)efo(cid:396)e (cid:1005)86(cid:1004) tha(cid:374) the (cid:862)dolla(cid:396)-g(cid:396)u(cid:271)(cid:271)i(cid:374)g(cid:863) no(cid:396)th. However, even in its best light, dominance by a favored aristocracy was basically undemocratic. It widened the gap between the rich and the poor. It hindered tax- supported public education, because the rich planters could and did send their children to private institutions. The plantation system also shaped the lives of southern women.
