The Oligarchic South

--1860: 5.6 million whites     

--1700 own around 100 slaves

--46,274 own around 20 slaves

--slave population was 3.84 million

--26,000 free blacks in the South

--36% of families in South own slaves in 1830

--25% of families in South own slaves in 1860

--between 1820 and 1860, around 2 million African Americans were either forcibly moved by their owners or sold to others in the Gulf states region

--Traveling the 1,460 miles from Baltimore to New Orleans in 1850 meant riding five different railroads, two stage coaches, and two steamboats.

--In 1850, 20 percent of adult white southerners could not read or write, compared to a national figure of 8 percent.

--According to economic historians Jeremy Atack and Peter Passell, "After 1815 much of the nation's growth was generated by increased British demand for cotton and Midwestern settlement that created opportunities for regional specialization and trade."