PSY 150
Mr. Hall
HUM 122
October 21, 2013
Midterm Take Home Essay
1) The southern way of life went through a dramatic change during the Civil War. Before the Civil War southern people lived a very agrarian lifestyle. The average person spent their day farming with the rest of their family. Some southerners lived in the few towns and cities that were far and few in between but for the most part there where plantation owners and small farmers that made up most of the population. Plantations produced many crops including: sugar cane, cotton, corn, rice, and tobacco. Most crops were made to be sold in in markets up north. Plantation work was done by slaves instead of the owner and his family. The smallest plantations had at least 20 slaves while the largest consisted of several hundred slaves. Plantations were the perfect example of agrarian life. They were examples of how important the land was and how southerners lived off the land. The land people owned was their lively hood. It keep them feed, gave them income, and offered them a place to set up their establishment. Southerners felt being closer to the land made you closer to God. They believed farming was really the only job men could have that would have any importance. The agrarian lifestyle had no place for modern inventions and was not progressive in any way.
After the Civil War the southern way of life was completely changed. There was no slavery after the Civil War which made it much harder for large plantations to be as successful as they were before the war. Plantation owners still had methods of getting people to work for them though. They were called tenant farmers and they lived on the plantation, worked for the owner, and generally split profits 50/50 or 60/40 depending on what the plantation owner decided. Merchants became very popular after the civil war and markets were much more common. They were almost everywhere and everyone seemed to be in a never ending debt cycle. Modern inventions came out
HUM 122
October 21, 2013
Midterm Take Home Essay
1) The southern way of life went through a dramatic change during the Civil War. Before the Civil War southern people lived a very agrarian lifestyle. The average person spent their day farming with the rest of their family. Some southerners lived in the few towns and cities that were far and few in between but for the most part there where plantation owners and small farmers that made up most of the population. Plantations produced many crops including: sugar cane, cotton, corn, rice, and tobacco. Most crops were made to be sold in in markets up north. Plantation work was done by slaves instead of the owner and his family. The smallest plantations had at least 20 slaves while the largest consisted of several hundred slaves. Plantations were the perfect example of agrarian life. They were examples of how important the land was and how southerners lived off the land. The land people owned was their lively hood. It keep them feed, gave them income, and offered them a place to set up their establishment. Southerners felt being closer to the land made you closer to God. They believed farming was really the only job men could have that would have any importance. The agrarian lifestyle had no place for modern inventions and was not progressive in any way.
After the Civil War the southern way of life was completely changed. There was no slavery after the Civil War which made it much harder for large plantations to be as successful as they were before the war. Plantation owners still had methods of getting people to work for them though. They were called tenant farmers and they lived on the plantation, worked for the owner, and generally split profits 50/50 or 60/40 depending on what the plantation owner decided. Merchants became very popular after the civil war and markets were much more common. They were almost everywhere and everyone seemed to be in a never ending debt cycle. Modern inventions came out