CHAPTER V
SOUTHERN LITERATURE
PLANTATION LIFE AND ITS EFFECT UPON LITERATURE.--Before the war the South
was agricultural. The wealth was in the hands of scattered plantation
owners, and less centered in cities than at the North. The result was a
rural aristocracy of rich planters, many of them of the highest breeding
and culture. A retinue of slaves attended to their work and relieved them
from all manual labor. The masters took an active part in public life,
traveled and entertained on a lavish scale. Their guests were usually
wealthy men of the same rank, who had similar ideals and ambitions.
Gracious and attractive as this life made the people, it did not bring in
new thought, outside influences, or variety. Men continued to think like
their fathers. The transcendental movement which aroused New England was
scarcely felt as far south as Virginia. The tide of commercial activity
which swept over the East and sent men to explore the West did not affect
the character of life at the South. It was separated from every other
section of the country by a conservative spirit, an objection to change,
and a tendency toward aristocracy.
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