Certainly much rarer, and the majority of the population of the south was absolutely poor whites who couldn't afford slaves.

A big chunk of my family comes from Appalachia since late 1700s/early 1800s. I did some genealogy work, read some old family diaries, etc. They lived rough, hard lives. One young man's diary talked about how when he woke up in some winter mornings in their house, the windows and walls were so poorly sealed that his sheets would be covered in a layer of snow. Another young girl was playing with her sister and they both got trampled by a (horse drawn) wagon. Her sister died. One man lost six brothers in three days of fighting at Gettysburg. Alcoholics. Starvation. Disease. Rough shit.

I found one reference to a slave in all the reading and genealogy I did (spanning ~100 years).

Certainly much rarer, and the majority of the population of the south was absolutely poor whites who couldn't afford slaves.

A big chunk of my family comes from Appalachia since late 1700s/early 1800s. I did some genealogy work, read some old family diaries, etc. They lived rough, hard lives. One diary talked about how when he woke up in some winter mornings in their house, the windows and walls were so poorly sealed that his sheets would be covered in a layer of snow. Another young girl was playing with her sister and they both got trampled by a wagon. Her sister died. One man lost six brothers in three days of fighting at Gettysburg. Alcoholics. Starvation. Disease. Rough shit.

I found one reference to a slave in all the reading and genealogy I did (spanning ~100 years).