if you've ever been in one of the southern states you may have taken a sightseeing trip just as this family trip to see one of the plantation of alms that were built before the civil war this beautiful mansion is one of many homesteads that were once the residences of the southern latitudes these homes were centers of plantation life inside the mansion we can get some of the luxuries that a wealthy plantation the family enjoyed but home was often beautifully furnished but it was important in a household goods from england these things represent part of the w that came from products grown on the plantation there is a map that explains how this plantation was organized it was almost a little community by itself most of the sections of buildings included the platters home males workshops and the row of small cabins for the slaves who did almost all the work we can still find remnants of some of these things on old plantations these small houses work for the slaves who worked on the plantations in the scary jars the plantation vehicles were kept in repaired in the blacksmith shop such things as tools wheel rams and plow shares were made and all of this was done by hand by hand the labor of the slaves but what made each plantation depend mostly on its own labor and its own products the answer is poor transportation there were few roads and many of them were in poor condition so there was little commercial traffic between plantations gravel it was so difficult that each plantation was practically isolated and so had to be almost self sufficient the easiest means of travel was by a river boat and so many plantations were located along the rivers that the boat landing manufactured goods from cities could be brought in crops grown on the plantation could be sent most plantations raised and shipped only one crop in most plantations near the mississippi but one crop was c slaves this then was the economic background of the plantation cheap slave labor producing one main crop and vast tracts of land owned by the platter but the plantation the owners and the slaves left a lasting influence on the society of themselves what was that society like for the plantation owner and his family it was an aristocratic kind of society gentle manners courtesy hospitality many of the ideas that we still are so she ate with the people of this of came from the days when plantation life was in full flower this then was the social organization of the plantations the aristocratic class or the landowners who had the wealth and privilege years and the laboring classes of the slaves who had little wealth and few privileges plantations system in the united states reached its greatest development before the civil war by eighteen sixty plantations reached from virginia to texas and some of these tobacco was produced another sugar was grown on others cotton was the main grab whatever the crop the system of producing was similar cheaper labor one crop and vast tracts of land these are some of the things we can better understand when we visit one of the old plantation of alms of the past but did this plantation live influence the moderns are can we find anything left of the plantations system we might find part of the answer as we look around us in the south today here is a scene that tells us part of the story this an taishan film was abandoned during the civil war great changes in the plantation system occurred during the war the freeing of the slaves and the great financial burden of the war disrupted the economic patterns of some planters went bankrupt and lost possession of their plantations but the plantation system did not entirely disappear some elements of that system did not change the land cultivated for generations and still productive remained the source of labor great numbers of negroes remained the demand for cotton remained and the growing of cotton continued so the plantation system in a smaller and modified way continued and can be found in the south today much of the work is still done by hand much of the wealth still comes from one crop because most of the workers are negroes who live on the plantation today the man who owns the plantation is called the landlord the men who work for farm are tenants and so the landlord the laborers and the land are still the important parts of the plantations system today this on earth has less land than the plantation owner of the past and he lives in a house that is less pretentious than the great mansions of earlier times the tenant farmers and their families live on the plantation each family has a small house which they rent together with a section of la are few tenants pay their rent in money but most tenant farmers on the plantations work the portion of land in return for a share of the crop and so the tenant farmers both negro and white provide the necessary labor for raising the cotton what other changes have come to the plantation the plantation today is not as isolated as it once was paid highways link th plantations with towns and cities the plantation crops can be shipped by railroad or by large trucks today as we look out over the southern countryside all see that plantations are not as plentiful as they once were many have been divided up into smaller farms on this farm beef cattle are raised other farm specialize in producing milk or called for your grain will buy and most of these farmers using modern machinery and will find that these same methods of mechanization are affecting the plantations system to this mechanical cotton picker here's one of many different machines that are replacing hand labor here the most modern machines are used at every stage of the work gr harvesting and preparing for the next crop today that crop is not always cast some plantations raise more than the traditional one crop soybeans for instance kind of sugar cane and peanuts are a few of the crops that are changing the pattern of the plantation system that system has been changing over a long period of time but its economic and social patterns have left a lasting influence on life in the south today if we do is it a social gathering in the south we'll see some of these influences the traditional southern hospitality the gentle manners and courtesy the separation of society into distinct groups and the relationship of that society to the land which supplies its wealth these are some othe things which the plantation system has contributed to the southern li