Southern Plantation Owners

Southern plantation owners were wealthy landholders in the southern United States who primarily owned large estates used for agriculture, such as cotton, tobacco, and rice. These plantations relied heavily on the labor of enslaved Africans and African Americans to cultivate crops and maintain their operations. Ownership of such land and labor defined social hierarchy, giving plantation owners significant economic and political influence in the region. Their wealth was tied to the exploitation of enslaved people and the production of cash crops that fueled the Southern economy before the Civil War.