Antebellum South
The Antebellum South refers to the period in American history prior to the Civil War, specifically between 1815 and 1861, encompassing the southern states below the Mason-Dixon line, including Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas. This era was characterized by an agricultural economy heavily reliant on slave labor, mainly for the cultivation of cotton, tobacco, and indigo. The invention of the cotton gin around 1810 significantly boosted cotton production, resulting in a dramatic increase in the enslaved population from 700,000 to 3.2 million.
Societal hierarchies were pronounced, with a small elite of wealthy plantation owners forming an aristocracy based on land and political power, while the majority of whites worked as small-scale farmers or in other occupations, often supporting the institution of slavery for economic reasons. Women, though legally subordinate, had some property rights and were integral to managing households and plantations. Slaves were treated as property with no legal rights, subjected to harsh conditions, and their lives were strictly regulated by laws that restricted their freedoms and interactions. This complex social structure and reliance on slavery deeply influenced the culture and economy of the Antebellum South, laying the groundwork for the conflicts that would lead to the Civil War.
Antebellum South
The term Antebellum South refers to a specific time and place in American history. Antebellum means before a war, in this case the Civil War. In the South, the region below the Mason Dixon line, an agricultural economy and the use of slave labor distinguished it from the culture of the North. The Antebellum South included Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas during the period between about 1815 and 1861.
Overview
The American territory south of the Mason Dixon line expanded and thrived by developing large plantations on which to raise crops for export. The eastern areas grew indigo, tobacco, and coastal varieties of cotton with the help of slave labor. Once a reliable cotton gin was invented, around 1810, planters farther inland were able to grow short-staple cotton. Before that, cotton had not been profitable because it was too difficult to remove the seeds. With the growth of the cotton industry over the next 50 years, the number of slaves soared from 700,000 to 3.2 million. Because plantations were dependent upon slaves to plant and pick the cotton, slavery spread and entrenched itself into the South's economy and culture.
Cotton plantations operated independently and were quite self-sufficient. Kitchen gardens provided vegetables, and families planted corn and grains for home use. This independence had negative consequences for the South as a whole, however. There was little trade among the southern states or with western territories, which impeded the development of financial systems and infrastructure. The South's deficient roads and railroads later hampered the southern armies' ability to move troops and supplies during the Civil War.
Social Classes
During the antebellum period, elite members of southern society—mainly wealthy white owners of plantations—comprised an aristocracy based on land ownership and political power. They were largely of English origin and brought with them the customs of the gentry from which they came. The culture was patriarchal, and a man's honor depended upon his success as master of his family, business, and property. As large-scale farmers, plantation owners kept many slaves, sometimes hundreds on one plantation. Yet overall, such plantation owners were a small minority in the South, only about 4 percent of the population in 1860. Farmers who had fewer than 20 slaves comprised another 20 percent.
The majority of whites—about 75 percent—worked small subsistence farms without slaves; some held jobs. Most of these people, unlike slave owners, came from Celtic or upland stock and held a time-honored dislike of the aristocracy. Their customs included close-knit families, herding, oral history, poetry, and music. Their willingness to share evolved into traditional southern hospitality. Once called "plain folk," these unpretentious farmers and herdsmen often dressed in worn clothing and appeared poor even when they were fairly prosperous. Although they were not slave owners, members of this lower class supported slavery, perhaps because they wished to be wealthy enough to buy slaves or the subjugation of blacks kept them from occupying the lowest rung of the social ladder.
Women
Although nineteenth-century law favored men and gave them control of all their wives' assets after marriage, the southern culture indulged women a bit in the area of property rights. Marriage settlements between a bride's father and husband sometimes allowed specific property to be held and controlled by the woman, even if it was ostensibly, and legally, on loan to her during her lifetime. Judges generally respected such patriarchal rights. For example, if a wife owned slaves or land given to her by her father and her husband sold part or all of the lot, the property could sometimes be legally retrieved because the directive of the woman's father had not been followed, or the woman had been coerced into giving up her assets. The same was true if property was seized to settle a husband's debts.
After marriage, women were responsible for running the household, which entailed keeping the household budget, stocking provisions, managing the house slaves, and supervising the cultivation of gardens and the preparation of food. Women also served as gracious hostesses. Those who were single or widowed could manage farms or even plantations because of the ready labor provided by slaves.
Slaves
Slaves were considered property that could be bought and sold like a horse or a rifle. They had no legal rights and were sometimes badly abused. While many owners were responsible and provided for the needs of their slaves, if only to protect their investment, the cruel, heartless owner had a lasting legacy in history and literature. Because black people were generally considered less than human, even kind, generous masters believed in the racial inferiority of blacks.
In many cases, a house slave raised her master's white children, had a strong hand in managing the household, and provided folk remedies for the family, as well as for other slaves. Slave children were the playmates of the white children; they were often raised together until one became the owner of the other. Some slaves were taught skills, such as blacksmithing or carpentry, and could be hired out to other farms and plantations to earn money for the master. Occasionally, a slave was allowed to keep some of the money and eventually buy freedom.
Slaves were under the control of not only their masters, but also a set of legal codes that applied throughout the South. By law, they were forbidden to leave the plantation, conduct business, hit a white person, testify against a white person in court, or learn to read. Other codes limited where they could go and with whom they could meet. Any time a report of slave rebellion surfaced, discipline tightened. White patrols prevented blacks from gathering and could be quick to use violence to quell any disturbance.
Bibliography
"Africans in America, Part 4." PBS.org. PBS, 2014. Web. 27 Aug. 2014. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/index.html
"The Antebellum South: The Old South and Slavery 1820-1860." American History. PB Works, 2014. Web. 27 Aug. 2014. http://americanhistory.pbworks.com/f/A10W+Antebellum+South+Concise+WEB.pdf
Hamner, Christopher. "The Disaster of Innovation." Teaching History.org. Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media at George Mason University, 2014. Web. 27 Aug. 2014.
LeClercq, Anne Sinkler Whaley. "Introduction." An Antebellum Plantation Household. University of South Carolina Press, 2006. Print.
McWhiney, Grady. "Prologue." Cracker Culture: Celtic Ways in the Old South. University of Alabama Press, 1988. Print.
Wyatt-Brown, Bertram." Chapter 10: Law, Property, and Male Dominance." Southern Honor: Ethics and Behavior in the Old South. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007. Print.