Planter elites became the most powerful sector in the South. They have the money and power to influence each sector, and small farmer were not excluded. Elites could offer to small farmers some help to their growth, guaranteeing some benefits.
These planter elites became that powerful due to their large amount of land and slaves that were at their disposal.
The planter class were able to get small farmers to follow them given that they exercised a profound and disproportionate amount of social, economic, and political economic influence in southern society. Small farmer typically owns a few slaves. It was easy to convince the their interests were aligned
