lives generally centered in the home, where they served as companions to and Their hostesses for their husbands and as nurturing mothers for their children Southern men gave importance to defending their women o George Fitzhugh, one of the South’s most important social theorists, wrote in the o like children, have but one right, and that is the right to protection. The right to “Women, protection involves the obligation to obey.” Most women in the south lived on farms, isolated from the public world o These women engaged in spinning, weaving, and other production; they participated in o agricultural tasks; they helped supervise the slave workforce Nearly a quarter of all white women over twenty were completely illiterate; o few female in the South trained women primarily to be suitable wives The “academies” Burdens Other The Southern white birth rate was nearly 20% o higher than that of the nation as a whole, and infant mortality in the region remained higher o than elsewhere half the children born in the South in 1860 died before they reached five years of age nearly Male slaveowners had frequent sexual relationships with the female slaves on their o plantations; the children of those unions became part of the plantation labor force The Plain Folk of plain folk men Definition The typical white southerner was a modest yeoman farmer o owned a few slaves, with whom they worked and lived far more closely than did o the larger planters (in fact, three-quarters of all white families) owned no slaves could not Most usually produce enough to allow them to expand their operations or even get out of debt Limited Educational Opportunities  Southern educational systems provided poor whites with limited learning o opportunities 260 southern colleges and universities, public and private, with 25,000  students enrolled higher proportion of whites were illiterate than in other parts of the country  Hill People 
Their lives generally centered in the home, where they served as companions to and hostesses for their husbands and as nurturing mothers for their children o Southern men gave importance to defending their women o George Fitzhugh, one of the South’s most important social theorists, wrote in the “Women, like children, have but one right, and that is the right to protection. The right to protection involves the obligation to obey.” o Most women in the south lived on farms, isolated from the public world o These women engaged in spinning, weaving, and other production; they participated in agricultural tasks; they helped supervise the slave workforce o Nearly a quarter of all white women over twenty were completely illiterate; The few female “academies” in the South trained women primarily to be suitable wives Other Burdens o The Southern white birth rate was nearly 20% o higher than that of the nation as a whole, and infant mortality in the region remained higher than elsewhere nearly half the children born in the South in 1860 died before they reached five years of age o Male slaveowners had frequent sexual relationships with the female slaves on their plantations; the children of those unions became part of the plantation labor force The Plain Folk Definition of plain folk men o The typical white southerner was a modest yeoman farmer o owned a few slaves, with whom they worked and lived far more closely than did the larger planters Most (in fact, three-quarters of all white families) owned no slaves usually could not produce enough to allow them to expand their operations or even get out of debt  Limited Educational Opportunities o Southern educational systems provided poor whites with limited learning opportunities  260 southern colleges and universities, public and private, with 25,000 students enrolled  higher proportion of whites were illiterate than in other parts of the country  Hill People
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