Summary Of Delta Empire By Jeannie Whayne

1538 Words7 Pages

In Delta Empire: Lee Wilson and the Transformation of Agriculture in the New South by Jeannie Whayne, can capture all the many occasions that occurred in Lee Wilsons life while constructing his agricultural empire. ¬Wilson grew his empire in the south allowing it to be one of the biggest, most effective plantations there. This book displayed the events that Lee Wilson had to endure from the start of his plantation to expanding it over the country. A West Tennessee planter and businessman named Josiah Wilson was recognized for his astounding potential work in Northern Arkansas swamps. He was so well known around the south for his work, President Thomas became so inspired he pushed for the purchase of the Louisiana Territory in 1803. This …show more content…

Not stating that they were completely free from harsh conditions, but they were free from slavery, allowing Southern African Americans to join tenant and sharecropping. “The sharecropping system arose in the years immediately following the civil war, apparently as a compromise between freedmen who wanted land and cash-starved planters who found it difficult to pay wages” (Whayne 50). African Americans did not like this idea because these actions would remind them of their past of being slaves, they had just gained their freedom and wanted complete power and control to own their own land. Even though many African Americans did not agree with the sharecropping system, this tend to be the only choice that allowed the men in the south that had to support their families to continue working. By surprise Lee Wilson joined in the tenant and sharecropping union, but he treated his men a lot better than majority of the tenants did. Lee spent his time, money and space on his workers, he built the men their very own cabin on his land where they could bring their families along and could live if they were working for him. Lee Wilson even thought to build churches they could attend and schools for their kids to enjoy. “They have helped me to make what I have, and I wanted to do something to help them in the substantial way” (Whayne 113). Hearing about all the genuine things Lee Wilson did for his workers, doesn’t always mean everyone treated their workers with the same respect. There still lived the dispute between racism of white and African

Open Document