The economy of the south was dominated by the large plantation and the agricultural way of life influenced the whole society. While only 25% of white southerners owned slaves during the 1850’s, the US economy was heavily dependent on Southern agriculture and its slave labor. Cotton became king crop by replacing earlier cash crops such as sugar, rice and indigo. Even in the North where slaves were not found, merchants and bankers were implicated in the slave economy of the South by providing markets, transportation and credit for cotton.
