Given that by 1860 the economic investment represented by the slave population exceeded the combined value of the nationfactories, railroads and banks, explain how important slavery was to the national economy and the emergence of the United States as a great power.
While some poor southern whites resented the domination of the slavocracy most supported the institution and accepted the power of the planter class. Explain why the œplain folk continued to support slavery.
Describe the paternalistic ethos of the planters embraced, and explain how it both masked and justified the brutal realities of slavery.
Explain how slavery affected the lives and freedoms of both black and white Americans.