Wealth and Power in Antebellum Texas

Americans have long lived with an optimistic view of their society, what might be termed the "egalitarian idea." The antebellum South, with its peculiar institution of Negro slavery, has stood in general as the most likely exception to this ideal, though the "planter vs. plain folk" debate has engaged generations of scholars. How closely did the South approximate the "egalitarian ideal"? And how did the South compare with the rest of the nation in terms of economic and political arrangements?