Specifically, tobacco, one of the main cash crops of the South, had been the basis of the system, which would inevitably have fallen apart otherwise. The planters had been at the top rung, followed by the aristocrats, then by the gentlemen, and finally by the slaves at the lower echelons of the caste. In defense of the Peculiar Institution, slaveowners had cited the need for this social structure, as without it, there would be effectively no distinction between planters and
Specifically, tobacco, one of the main cash crops of the South, had been the basis of the system, which would inevitably have fallen apart otherwise. The planters had been at the top rung, followed by the aristocrats, then by the gentlemen, and finally by the slaves at the lower echelons of the caste. In defense of the Peculiar Institution, slaveowners had cited the need for this social structure, as without it, there would be effectively no distinction between planters and