Posted on 05/09/2005 9:35:24 PM PDT by CHARLITE
And there are sources that support Webb's sub 5% figure:
http://www.msubillings.edu/history/SlaveStats.htm
SLAVEOWNING STATISTICS
Total White Population in South (1860): 11,907,756
Total Number of Slaveowners (1860): 393,967 (ca. 3%)
Number of Slaveowners (20 or fewer): 338,000 (86%)
Number of Slaveowners (5 or fewer): 200,000 (52%)
Percentage of Slaves on Plantations of 50+: 25%
Percentage of Slaves on Plantations of 20+: 50%
When I was growing up we had only one car and it was titled in my father's name. One could accurately say that only 20% of the family owned a car but 100% of the family derived benefit from it. That's why you can accurately say that in Mississippi, for example, fewer than 9% of the population owned slaves. But virtually all those men had families, wives and children, and those people benefitted from slavery. So it is also accurate to say that somewhere around 49% of all families held slaves. Suddenly the statistics become a little clearer.
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