The Differences Slavery Made: A Close Analysis of Two American Communities
Return to Comparison Statements: Geography

Slaveholders in Augusta did not monopolize the best soil nor did they crowd out nonslaveholders or small slaveholders.

Non-slaveholding residents in Augusta were just as likely to reside on the very best soil in the county as the largest plantation owners. Of 526 nonslaveholders in our data set, 72 percent of them lived on the best soil in the county. In the group of slaveholders with 11-20 slaves, 76 percent of them also resided on the soil rated most suitable for agriculture.

Slaveholders of nearly every category lived and farmed on some of the worst soil in Augusta. Thirty-seven percent of Augusta's land mass contains soil of poor suitability for agriculture, yet between 5 and 8 percent of slaveholders farmed it. Augusta's medium soil region, a narrow band of soils making up just 4 percent of the county's land, also held between 4 and 9 percent of slaveholders.

While 71 percent of Franklin County's land mass (total of 765 square miles) contained soil of high or average suitability, over 95 percent of its residents lived on this soil. In Augusta 63 percent of its total soil contained soil of high or average suitability, and 92 percent of its residents lived in these areas.

Supporting Evidence

Augusta County, Va., Agricultural Production (map)

Augusta County, Va., Elevation (map)

Augusta County, Va., Soil Types (map)

Franklin County, Pa., Elevation (map)

Land Values in Augusta and Franklin Counties (table)

Slaveholders and Agricultural Productivity Correlations (table)

Slaveholders and Agricultural Productivity (table)

Slaveholders and Soil Quality (table)

Soil Types (table)

Related Historiography

Randolph B. Campbell, "Planters and Plain Folk: Harrison County, Texas, as a Test Case, 1850-1860," Journal of Southern History XL (No. 3), (1974): 369-398.
John D. Majewski, A House Dividing: Economic Development in Pennsylvania and Virginia Before the Civil War (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000).
Gavin Wright, Old South, New South: Revolutions in the Southern Economy since the Civil War (Baton Rouge: Louisiana University Press, 1986).


Citation: Key = TAF03
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