The southern states were a society based on a division of classes. White Society and Black Society.
The White society was divided between:
Planters: The rich class that held the majority of the wealth of the southern states with them.
Middle class: Composed mostly by farmers who lived modestly growing cotton and corn.
Poor whites: Did not possess slaves and struggled for a survivor.
The Black Society was divided into:
Free black people: They usually bought they own freedom with money they saved.
Mulattoes: People of mixed breed that had plantations. They had limited rights and had to carry documents that proved they were free, if not they would become bonded laborers again.
Slaves: Tied to their owners usually resided in slave quarters away from their masters home.
Forcing the confederacy to surrender to escape total destruction
Slavery helped support the rich by tending to the things that made them richer (the plantations).
