United States History Student Edition

06 People of the South

The South’s Farmers GUIDING QUESTION

READING STRATEGY Analyzing Key Ideas and Details Read carefully to determine the kinds of work done on Southern plantations. Record descriptions of that work in a diagram like this one. For what task were most enslaved African Americans used on plantations?

How were Southern farms different from Southern plantations? By 1860, slavery was at the heart of the Southern economy, and enslaved African Americans made up a large percentage of the population of the Southern United States. In some states, enslaved people made up more than half the population. However, that did not mean that every white person held large numbers of enslaved people. White society in the South was complex and had many levels. Most white Southerners fit into one of four categories: yeomen, tenant farmer, rural poor, or plantation owner. Most white people in the South were yeomen (YOH•muhn), farmers and their families who generally owned small farms of 50 to 200 acres (20 to 81 ha). These yeomen lived mostly in the Upper South and in the hilly areas of the Deep South, and they did not practice plantation-style agriculture. They grew crops to use themselves and to trade with local merchants. Yeomen generally owned few or no enslaved African Americans. Another group of Southern whites worked as tenant farmers, and they rented land from property owners. These classes of white Southerners made up the majority of the white population of the South. They lived in simple homes—cottages or log cabins. The poorest of these groups lived in crude cabins.

Working on a Plantation

yeoman a farmer who owns a small farm

FLORIDA BENCHMARKS

• SS.8.A.1.2 • SS.8.A.4.3 • SS.8.A.4.8 • SS.8.A.4.11 • SS.8.A.5.2 • SS.8.A.5.7 • SS.8.CG.1.3 • SS.8.CG.2.4 • SS.8.E.1.1 • SS.8.G.2.1 • SS.8.G.4.1 • ELA.K12.EE.4.1 • ELA.K12.EE.5.1

The farmhouse at the Smith Farm was built in the 1840s in DeKalb County, Georgia. Between 11 and 19 enslaved people worked on the 800-acre farm. Today, visitors can tour the farmhouse, a cabin where enslaved people lived, and other buildings at their current location at the Atlanta History Center.

Andre Jenny/Alamy Stock Photo

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