Antebellum South
The Antebellum South era (from Latin: ante bellum, lit. 'before the war') was a period in the history of the Southern United States that extended from the conclusion of the War of 1812 to the start of the American Civil War in 1861. This era was marked by the prevalent practice of slavery and the associated societal norms it cultivated. Over the course of this period, Southern leaders underwent a transformation in their perspective on slavery. Initially regarded as an awkward and temporary institution, it gradually evolved into a defended concept, with proponents arguing for its positive merits, while simultaneously vehemently opposing the burgeoning abolitionist movement.
| Antebellum Period in the Southern United States | |||
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| 1815–1861 | |||
There were just over 3.2 million slaves in the U.S. in 1850, about 14% of the total population. | |||
| Location | Southern United States | ||
| Including | Era of Good Feelings Jacksonian Era Civil War Era | ||
| President(s) | James Madison James Monroe John Quincy Adams Andrew Jackson Martin Van Buren William Henry Harrison John Tyler James K. Polk Zachary Taylor Millard Fillmore Franklin Pierce James Buchanan Abraham Lincoln | ||
| Key events | Adams–Onís treaty Missouri Compromise Indian removal Trail of Tears Manifest destiny Nullification crisis Mexican–American War Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo Compromise of 1850 Fugitive Slave Act Bleeding Kansas Election of Lincoln | ||
Chronology
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| This article is part of a series on the |
| History of the United States |
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The economy was largely plantation-based and dependent on exports. Society was stratified, inegalitarian, and perceived by immigrants as lacking in opportunities. Consequently, the manufacturing base lagged behind that of the non-slave states. Wealth inequality grew as the larger landholders took the greater share of the profits generated by slaves, which also helped to entrench their power as a political class.
As the country expanded westward, slavery's propagation became a major issue in national politics, eventually boiling over into the Civil War. In the years that followed the Civil War, the war was romanticized by historical revisionists to protect three central assertions: that the Confederate cause was heroic, that enslaved people were happy and satisfied, and that slavery was not the primary cause of the war. This phenomenon has continued to the present day to contribute to racism, gender roles, and religious attitudes in the South, and to a lesser extent the rest of the country.