One of the wealthiest planters and largest slaveholders in the antebellum South, Hampton was widely regarded as a typical figure of the region's planter-aristocracy, and also respected for his wartime exploits and gentlemanly conduct. During his post-war political career, despite the partisan and racial conflicts that divided the region, he presented himself as a proponent for national unity and racial reconciliation. | One of the wealthiest planters and largest slaveholders in the antebellum South, Hampton was widely regarded as a typical figure of the region's planter-aristocracy, and also respected for his wartime exploits and gentlemanly conduct. During his post-war political career, despite the partisan and racial conflicts that divided the region, he presented himself as a proponent for national unity and racial reconciliation. |