The Complex Social Structure of Antebellum America

1. The White majority

2. Big Owners • In 1850, 1,733 families owned 100+ slaves • 6,196 families own 50+ • Made up only 2% of slave owners

4. Small Slave Owners • 345,000 families owned less slaves • 2/3rds owned less than 10 slaves • These owners were often small farmers • These small farmers lived humbly and worked with their slaves in the fields

5. Non-Owners • 6,120,825 or 3/4ths of the population owned no slaves • Tended to live in the backwoods and were not part of the cotton industry • Often subsistence farmers

6. Hillbillies • Non-slave holding, poor whites were often called “hillbillies,” “crackers,” and “clay eaters” • They were often mal-nurished and suffered from parasites

7. Slave System Defense • Non slave owning whites defended slavery because: • 1. They could possibly by slaves and become rich • 2. They believed in white superiority, so even the poor white men had a higher status than somebody

8. Mountain Whites • Some whites lived in the Appalachians and were secluded from society, thus retaining many British customs • They hated slaves and slave owners • Often followed the North and had a key role in ending the Southern Confederacy