Thats where the slaves were ;) also they can trade back with England
Convict lease system, which was popular in the South essentially leased convicts to large agricultural operations. This system led to many forms of abuse of workers who had lost their rights as a result of being convicted of a felony, whether guilty or not. This was particularly true for African Americans in the late-nineteenth century. One of the most notorious of these operations was Parchman Farm in Mississippi, which literally utilized thousands of black convicts for various unpaid tasks.
A. because it was a time when the war was happening and there was propaganda.
