Before the Civil War, the population of wealthy individuals in the South was relatively small but held a disproportionately large share of the region's wealth and power. Wealth in the South was heavily concentrated among the planter elite, those who owned large plantations and enslaved people. By 1860, only about 4% of Southern households owned 20 or more slaves, which was the general benchmark for being considered part of the planter class. An even smaller fraction, the wealthiest 1% of Southern families, controlled approximately 27% of the region’s wealth, with an elite few owning over 100 slaves and vast tracts of land. In contrast, wealth in the North was more diversified and increasingly tied to industrial production, commerce, finance, and urban enterprises. Northern cities like New York, Boston, and Philadelphia were home to wealthy industrialists and merchants, such as the Astors and Vanderbilts, whose fortunes were built on manufacturing, shipping, and banking. While wealth inequality existed in both regions, it was more pronounced in the South, where wealth was largely based on land and enslaved labor. In the North, industrialization and urbanization allowed for greater economic mobility and the emergence of a broader middle class. Although the South had more wealth per capita if enslaved people were counted as property, the North was wealthier on average when considering free populations and overall economic development. This growing economic disparity contributed to the sectional tensions that culminated in the Civil War.
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