Which group made up the majority of white southerners
Prior to the Civil War, the majority of white Southerners were farmers who owned small to medium-sized farms, and they were typically referred to as yeomen farmers. These yeomen farmers were largely self-sufficient, growing their own food and raising livestock to support their families. They typically did not own slaves and were not part of the wealthy planter class that dominated the South's economy and politics.
However, the wealthy planter class, who owned large plantations and depended heavily on the labor of enslaved people, held a disproportionate amount of power and influence in the South. They made up a smaller percentage of the overall population but controlled much of the region's wealth, politics, and social hierarchy.