Land and the Colonial South
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1. The availability of land had profound effects on the social, economic, and political structure of the colonial South into the nineteenth century. Land was a major economic asset in the colonies, and its price remained reasonable. Ownership of land was a key to social position and to participation in politics as well as to economic success. Plantation owners headed the list of landowners in the colonial South, and they possessed enormous acreage. No more than 30 percent of the white male population in the South remained landless. Among the landowning classes, 30 percent owned more than 500 acres, 60 percent owned between 100 and 500 acres, and 30 percent had between 100 and 300 acres in South Carolina. Land ownership created new elites, as did geographic mobility. This reduced class conflict in the South. The possession of land guaranteed political participation. The plantation system developed to have a continuing and cheap workforce for the large plantations, and this was especially important given the prominence of agriculture in the South. After the Revolution, political participation found the South a largely Republican stronghold, and national issues were of great importance to those who did so participate. The desire for more land caused many Southerners to look to the West to the land beyond settlement, and this led to states such as Kentucky and Tennessee before the Revolution and further after. Land speculators played a role in the opening of these n
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losophies shifted with time until the South was the region opposing government interference and the North was more willing to seek government control and protection. Economic issues were a source of dissension between the two regions, especially in terms of the exercise of constitutional power by the central government in economic matters. Problems erupted between the older and more newly settled portions of states, and only the federal government could solve these issues, such as the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794. The conflict between North and South over ideology was framed in terms of nationalism versus sectionalism, and the South was a sectionalism region that wanted to have its own rules and government.
The South was tied to the land and depended on agriculture for its economy. Land ownership determined political and social position, and local autonomy was sought and protected from the first. The major issue would indeed remain local control versus federal control right up to the secession of a number of Southern states prior to the Civil War.
4. Political developments were governed and shaped by a number of forces in the South prior to the Revolution. Land ownership was a primary force and has been discussed above. P
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Approximate Word count = 1475
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)
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