What economic trend occurred in the South in the 1850s?
a. Owners of northern textile factories became increasingly indebted to the planters they bought their cotton from.
b. Many poor whites lost their land and were forced to serve as tenant farmers alongside slaves.
c. Manufacturing became a significant source of employment for free blacks.
d. More people became slave owners, while the average number of slaves owned by a single master decreased
Oe. The high price of slaves and the deep debt incurred by many planters undermined the profitability of plantations.