Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 4.3.
Percentage of African-Americans in the total population in 1910
The black population was mainly rural and linked to the plantation economy
which had developed in the South starting in the 17th century with the use of slave
labor.
At that time, blacks accounted for more than 42% of the population of the five
major Cotton Belt states (Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South
Carolina), with the state of Mississippi leading with over 56%. In the West, the
black population was very small (see Figure 4.4).
