The implementation of slavery in the Southern colines of the U.S. that began by the end of the 17th century implied important changes in the social structure. To begin with, the use of slaves allowed farmers but especially owners of big territories or planters that owned thousand of slaves to produce products such as cotton or tobacco massively. This made planters become part of the aristocracy and indeed during this time they were considered as the most powerful and influential sector on the South due to the amount of money they earned through the plantations and they control they have over territory. On the other hand, slaves and poor whites remained in the bottom of the social hierarchy while small farmers and professionals that in some cases have few slaves were in the middle of the social hierarchy. Therefore, slavery allowed the South to enter into the new in a class structure dominated by planters.
Towns grew along the canal route, shipping costs between the great lakes and new york were cut to a tenth, and then the second and third choices as well.
