What is meant by the planter aristocracy?

The planter class, known alternatively in the United States as the Southern aristocracy, was a socio-economic caste of Pan-American society that dominated 17th and 18th century agricultural markets through the slavery of African Americans. Planters were considered part of the American gentry.

What was a Virginia planter?

“Ancient planter” was a term applied to early colonists who migrated to the Colony of Virginia in what is now the United States, when the colony was managed by the Virginia Company of London. They received land grants if they stayed in the colony for at least three years.

What is a planter in colonial times?

Gentry, also known as the “planter class,” is a term associated with colonial and antebellum North Carolina and other southern states that refers to an upper middle class of wealthy gentlemen farmers who were well educated, politically astute, and generally came from successful families.

What was the significance of the planter class in antebellum Southern society?

During the antebellum years, wealthy southern planters formed an elite master class that wielded most of the economic and political power of the region. They created their own standards of gentility and honor, defining ideals of southern white manhood and womanhood and shaping the culture of the South.

What was life like in antebellum South?

In the lower South the majority of slaves lived and worked on cotton plantations. Most of these plantations had fifty or fewer slaves, although the largest plantations have several hundred. Cotton was by far the leading cash crop, but slaves also raised rice, corn, sugarcane, and tobacco.

What was a planter in history?

A “planter” was generally a farmer who owned many slaves. Planters are often spoken of as belonging to the planter elite or planter aristocracy in the antebellum South.

What was the cash crop grown in Jamestown?

Tobacco was Virginia’s first cash crop. A cash crop is any crop for raised for its profits rather than its use. It was a labor intensive crop, requiring cheap labor and cheap land.

How do I join the First Family of Virginia?

Membership is strictly by invitation only. No membership list is made available. However, the Order of the First Families of Virginia sponsors the publication of Adventurers of Purse and Person, which provides genealogical information on early colonists through the first six generations.

How many slaves did a planter own?

Plantation owner The historians Robert Fogel and Stanley Engerman define large planters as those owning over 50 slaves, and medium planters as those owning between 16 and 50 slaves.

Why did planters become slaves?

To replenish its labor force, planters in the Chesapeake region increasingly turned to enslaved Africans.

What was the rise of the planter class?

Rise of the Planter Class in Pre-Revolutionary Colonial America. May 27, 2017. 0. 3856. The growing prosperity and power of the Southern elite planter system can be traced to the seventeenth century. By the time the American Revolution began, a small group of elite planters managed to consolidate their control from Virginia to the Carolinas.

What was the role of planters in the American Revolution?

By the time the American Revolution began, a small group of elite planters managed to consolidate their control from Virginia to the Carolinas. Much of this prosperity and power was based on the profits tied to the protected market of the British mercantile system as well as an ever-growing population of slaves.

How did Mount Vernon help the planter class?

At the same time, Washington was transforming Mount Vernon into an enviable estate, first with tobacco profits and later with funds from his wheat crop as well as an inheritance. Historian Ira Berlin states that, “Planters took on the airs of English gentlemen…” as they forged “seats of small empires…”

Why was slavery important to the planter class?

Slavery, however, made the cultivation of such crops highly profitable. Elite planters possessed the financial means to purchase slaves, frequently reselling slaves to less powerful, fledgling planters.

What is meant by the planter aristocracy? The planter class, known alternatively in the United States as the Southern aristocracy, was a socio-economic caste of Pan-American society that dominated 17th and 18th century agricultural markets through the slavery of African Americans. Planters were considered part of the American gentry. What was a Virginia planter? “Ancient…