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Yeomen in the South are often called '''Plain Folk of the Old South'''. They were the middling white Southerners of the 19th century who owned few slaves or none. They played a major role in the history of the [[The South|Ante Bellum South]], although they were less influential than the planters.
Yeomen in the South are often called '''Plain Folk of the Old South'''. They were the middling white Southerners of the 19th century who owned few slaves or none. They played a major role in the history of the [[The South|Ante Bellum South]], although they were less influential than the planters.
Historians have long debated the social, economic and political roles. Terms used by scholars include "common people", "yeomen" and "Crackers." The term favored in [[Jeffersonian Democracy]] and [[Jacksonian Democracy]] was "yeoman", which emphasized an independent political spirit and economic self-reliance. [[Thomas Jefferson]] and [[John Taylor of Caroline]] in particular praised the yeomen as the carriers of America's [[Republicanism| Republican values]]. Jefferson warned that virtue could not long survive in the cities (or among dependent tenant farmers or slaves) because these people would be controlled or corrupted by others and lose their independence.[[File:Yeoman.jpg|thumb|300px|romantic image of hard-working, prosperous, independent yeoman farmer; from 1873 Grange poster]]
Historians have long debated the social, economic and political roles. Terms used by scholars include "common people", "yeomen" and "Crackers."
==Republicanism==
The term favored in [[Jeffersonian Democracy]] and [[Jacksonian Democracy]] was "yeoman", which emphasized an independent political spirit and economic self-reliance. [[Thomas Jefferson]] and [[John Taylor of Caroline]] in particular praised the yeomen as the carriers of America's [[Republicanism| Republican values]]. Jefferson warned that virtue could not long survive in the cities (or among dependent tenant farmers or slaves) because these people would be controlled or corrupted by others and lose their independence.[[File:Yeoman.jpg|thumb|300px|romantic image of hard-working, prosperous, independent yeoman farmer; from 1873 Grange poster]]
Historian [[Richard Hofstadter]] traced the yeoman ideal in America's sentimental attachment to the rural way of life, which is 'a kind of homage that Americans have paid to the fancied innocence of their origins. To call it a `myth' is not to imply that the idea is simply false. Rather the `myth' so effectively embodies men's values that it profoundly influences their ways of perceiving values and hence their behavior.' The author emphasizes the importance of the agrarian myth in American politics and life even after industrialization had revolutionized the American economy and life. He stresses the significance of the writings of Jefferson and his followers in the development of agricultural fundamentalism.<ref> Richard Hofstadter, ''The Age of Reform'' (1955).</ref>
==South==
==South==
From the travel accounts of [[Frederick Law Olmsted]] in the 1850s through the early-twentieth-century interpretations of historians [[William E. Dodd]] and [[Ulrich B. Phillips]] common southerners were portrayed as minor players in the antebellum period. Romantic portrayals, especially [[Margaret Mitchell]]'s ''Gone with the Wind'' (1937) and its 1939 film ignored them. Novelist [[Erskine Caldwell]]'s ''Tobacco Road,'' portrayed the degraded condition of whites dwelling beyond the great plantations.
From the travel accounts of [[Frederick Law Olmsted]] in the 1850s through the early-twentieth-century interpretations of historians [[William E. Dodd]] and [[Ulrich B. Phillips]] common southerners were portrayed as minor players in the antebellum period. Romantic portrayals, especially [[Margaret Mitchell]]'s ''Gone with the Wind'' (1937) and its 1939 film ignored them. Novelist [[Erskine Caldwell]]'s ''Tobacco Road,'' portrayed the degraded condition of whites dwelling beyond the great plantations.