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Your 5-6% number (percentage of slaveholders in the south) I have seen quoted before; but I know it to be controversial. I have seen other data which represent that as many as 1/3rd of the white soldiers from Mississippi, Alabama, and other states of the deep south were from "slave-holding families." As is usually the case, war is a young man's fight. I would not be surprised that many of the teenaged rebel soldiers did not individually own slaves; nor would I be surprised that they came from families that did. I know you don't like the 1860 Census data, but the number of slaves in the deep south nearly equalled the total number of whites. That would mean, roughly, the average slaveholder (based on your 5% figure) would have owned about 20 slaves (20 to 1 ratio). I thought the average number was much lower - more like 3 to 1. Do you happen to know what that number might be?

Before you call me "SILLY" and "IGNORANT" again, let me find my citations for your perusal.

Your 5-6% number (percentage of slaveholders in the south) I have seen quoted before; but I know it to be controversial. I have seen other data which represent that as many as 1/3rd of the white soldiers from Mississippi, Alabama, and other states of the deep south were from "slave-holding families."

In MS, LA and SC, slave ownership devolved on @ 50% of whites and on 1/3 in the rest of the so-called seceded states.

Stand Watie has seen that data many times.

Walt

the 5-6% of slaveowners is "controversial" ONLY to the revisionists & southHATERS. MOST historians of the period agree with that figure.

in point of fact the percentage is CORRECT. there were FEW slaveowners, but those who did/could afford slaves generally owned MANY. it was more like 50-100 to one in many areas of the deep south, particuliarly in the sugar & cottonraising counties/parishes.

my home county in TX had a total of 4 slaveowners:

one owned a total of one (his wife! btw, his next-to-youngest granddaughter is still living. i interviewed her some years ago for the local community college newspaper.).

one had 4 slaves.

one had 8 in 1850.

the last had evidently 146 at one point (1850 tax data).

the rest of the county population owned NONE!

one county in MS had a total of TWO (2) slaveowners in 1860,each of whom owned more than 200 slaves "of working age" . i don't know what their TOTAL number of slaves was.

face it CPT, slaves were EXPENSIVE & the VAST majority of southerners COULDN'T have bought any slaves IF they had wanted to! (i would like to point out that i'd like to own a mansion, a dozen Ferrari automobiles,the Dallas Cowboys, a 100' yacht, etc.,etc., etc. i have about the same chance to get all those things as the typical white southerner had of EVER buying a slave, given that the NET assets of the average southern male in 1860 was about TWENTY-FIVE DOLLARS ($ 25.00) & that the annual AVERAGE NET income for a family of five was LESS than FIFTY DOLLARS ($ 50.00)!)

free dixie,sw