Table of Contents
Who were the planter elite in the antebellum South?
At the top of southern white society stood the planter elite, which comprised two groups. In the Upper South, an aristocratic gentry, generation upon generation of whom had grown up with slavery, held a privileged place. In the Deep South, an elite group of slaveholders gained new wealth from cotton.
What was the planter class in the South?
Gentry, also known as the “planter class,” is a term associated with colonial and antebellum North Carolina and other southern states that refers to an upper middle class of wealthy gentlemen farmers who were well educated, politically astute, and generally came from successful families.
What were planters in the southern society?
Often planters were absentee owners who left an overseer or other manager in charge of the plantation. Overall, out of a population of 8 million, only 383,637 owned slaves and there were few individuals in 1860 who qualified as planters, owning more than twenty slaves.
What were the southern planters like?
But the Southern planter was an aristocrat and the virtual ruler of a huge territory. He maintained this area by keeping a large number of slaves (though there were slaves in New England in those days too). In rei igion, most Southerners belonged to the Church of En gland.
What role did the plantation elites play in Southern society?
What role did the plantation elites play in southern Society, and what level of influence did they exercise? Southern elites exercised a profound and disproportionate amount of political, social, and economic influence in southern society.
What groups made up the planter aristocracy?
What groups made up the planter aristocracy? The planter aristocracy consisted of the small fraction of whites who owned at least forty or fifty slaves and 800 or more acres; they stood at the apex of society.
How did one qualify as a planter?
In order to be a member of the planter aristocrats you had to have 20 or more slaves. Most planters owned more than 100 slaves; the majority of slaves lived on the plantation.
What is a planter in history?
A “planter” was generally a farmer who owned many slaves. Planters are often spoken of as belonging to the planter elite or planter aristocracy in the antebellum South.
How did the planters live?
To earn a living, planters grew some type of cash crop that could be sold for money or credit in order to buy needed tools, livestock, and household goods which could not be produced on the farm.
What role did planters play in Southern society and politics?
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.
What role did the plantation elites play in Southern society quizlet?
How did the planter class become so powerful?
The Planter Class And because they had more slaves, they could grow more tobacco, rice, or indigo to sell. Small landowners with just one or two slaves simply could not compete. Many gave up their land and moved westward. As a result, the powerful planter class gained control of the rich land along the coast.
How many slaves did planters own?
2,278 plantations (5%) had 100-500 slaves. 13 plantations had 500-1000 slaves. 1 plantation had over 1000 slaves (a South Carolina rice plantation)….Plantation.
| 4.5 million people of African descent lived in the United States. | |
|---|---|
| Of these: | 1.0 million lived on plantations with 50 or more enslaved people. |
What role did the plantation elites play in southern society?