The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1896-07-24
THE POOR WHITES.
,RieHs OF A DISTINCT CLASS LINING
~ TsE SoUT-.
ne -Cr-eksr % the Hnls- IL The Dircci
De-osnd.ni q the sid P.-<<ngers- whs
Came to TIA. cosntry 10 the s~.estessrh
Csatary.

De-ccndant 81 the ->aAd f1k<>< ngcrt W 10
Came 10 tn. cosntry IN the s<.estessth
csatary.
The notion thar the poor white ele-
ment q the s0utheTn AppAlschiAn re-
gion j. identical with the pcor people
generally over the country Is an errCx.
and an error q enough Importance 20
call for corrciion- The poor white Of
the south has some kinfolk in the A1-
irundack region q New York and the
Blue and Allegheny mountains Of Penn
sylvania, bat he has few relatives any
place else about the Mason Dixon line
The states Of New York and Pennsylva-
MIA were slave states until the early
part Of this century.
This poor white mountaineer descerds
direct from those immigrants who came
over in the early days Of the colonies.
from 1890 10 about or some time after
the Revolutionary war period. as sold
passengers. They sold their services
for a time sufficient 20 enable them 20
work out their passage money. They
were sold, articled 20 masters, in the
colonies for their beard and fixed wage,
and thus they earned the cost Of their
migration
The laws under which they were az
ticled were severe, "a severe az appren-
tice laws in those days The sold pas
senger" virtually became the slave Of
the purchaser Of his labor. He could be
whipped If he did not do the task set
him. and woe 20 the unlucky wight il
he ran away. Hewa sure 20 BE- caught
and cruelty punished
And though he was usually descend
ant Of the lowest grade Of humanity ON
the British islands. he still had enough
Of the Anglo-Saxon spirit about him TO
make him an unsatisfactory chatteL
From 1890 forward-the year when
the Dutch landed the first cargo Of Afri-
can slaves ON the continent-the ''sold
was fast replaced By negroes,
who took more naturally and amiably
10 the slave life.
The poor white naturally came TO
cherish a bitter hatred for the blacks
that were preferred over him He al
ready hated his domineering white mas
ter When ne was free 20 20, he put as
many miles as his means and his safety
from Indian murderers permitted be-
tween himself and those he hated and
hoped he might never see again In
that early time the mountain regiop
was not even surveyed, let alone owned
by individual proprietors
The English, Scotch, Irish and con-
-inental immigrant who had some means
sat down on the rich valleys, river bot
ioms and rolling savannahs, and the
poor white was made welcome 20 the
foothills and mountain plateaus.
These descendants Of the British viii
elm Of the feudal era grew and multi
piled, became almost as distinct a peo-
pie from the lords Of the lowlands as
The Scotch Highlander was, as related TO
mis- lowland neighbor, in the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries.
The stir Of the period since the close
If our civil war has made somewhat in
distinct the line that separates the
from the plainsman Of the
south. especially in the foothills and at
points where the two have intermingled
in traffic, in the schoolhouse and church,
and especially where the poor whites
have been employed at mining, iron
making, etc But go into the mountains
Far enough and you find the types as
lear cut as it was 100 years ago, with
is inimitable drawling speech and Gu
.ious dialect, its sallow complexion.
anky frame, lazy habits and immoral.
ty-all as distinctly marked as they
we're when hundreds Of these people |
ound Cherokee wives in Georgia and |
Tennessee in the early part of the CEN
ury and bleached most Of the copper |
nut Of the skin Of the Choctaw as well |
IS out Of the Cherokee.
II is a pity that some competent an
historian has not traced |
he annals Of this interesting and dis |
inctive section Of our population and |
made record Of it in the interest Of sci. |
nee, no less than in the interest Of the |
proper education and elevation Of the |
mountain people. IL has become, espe-
tally in the Piedmont section Of the |
outh. most important labor element
The cotton mill labor by thousands
omes from the Cracker Of the Hills, I"
md it is destined 10 become great |
'ower, that labor population. social and |
The redemption Of the poor white be-
Fan when slavery went down in blood |
nd destruction, and it has gone on fast
r and travelled farther than some Of us