|Grade Level||High School|
|Location||Antebellum South, United States|
|Topic||Civil War, Economic Development, Slavery|
There was a great deal of wealth in the South. If history is about choices, the planter aristocracy committed the South to an agricultural society in which wealth was tied to the land and a forced system of labor. The stark reality that such a small number of individuals were making choices that affected so many is worth exploring with your students and one that will be woven throughout many of these lessons.
You may want to do this lesson in conjunction with The Economic Power of the Antebellum North