Yeomen Farmers

A student today called them the Yo man farmers, which is just wrong.

The origin is still debated but most likely comes from a combination of Old English terms and German terms which literally meant "man of the district" or countrymen.

   The Yeomen farmers made up the majority of the population of the American South.  These independent land owners took great pride in their social status.  They believed in the ideas of Thomas Jefferson, and identified with his idea of a nation of farmers. 

   The Yeomen were denied access to the best land in the South.  They land that they owned often tended to be rocky or not as rich in nutrients as the land that belonged to the plantation owners.  Some of the Yeomen were able to afford a few slaves to work the land.  Often times the farmers would work alongside their slaves in the field.  This action of the races working together was looked down upon by the plantation owners. 

  Since space was limited the yeomen grew corn, wheat, and vegetables.  They were mainly subsistence farmers, which meant they grew just enough for themselves then sold the surplus food.  There was not enough land to have a successful cotton crop for the yeomen.  They also would not have been able to gather the cotton for harvest without a large number of slaves.  Pigs were the preferred livestock because they did not need alot of land to graze. 

   

  According to the authors the concept of racism was created by the upper class in the South as a political tool to suppress the yeomen.  The planters and the yeomen had little in common.  Racial beliefs united the two classes against the slaves and free African Americans.  This ensured that the poor whites and the blacks would not unite against the rich plantation owners.

    

     For H.W. make sure you read the handout on the life of slaves and answer the five questions.