plantocracy
/plænˈtɑkrəsi/
noun
- A social or political system in which wealthy landowners who own large farms (plantations) hold power and influence.
- The history of the Caribbean islands is deeply tied to the plantocracy that controlled the sugar trade.
- During the 18th century, the southern colonies were ruled by a plantocracy that made laws to protect their own interests.
- Many novels set in the antebellum South criticize the injustices of the plantocracy.
- The wealthy landowning class that controls a plantation-based economy.
- The plantocracy lived in grand mansions while the workers toiled in the fields.
- The plantocracy often resisted changes that threatened their economic control.
- Reforms after the civil war gradually reduced the power of the plantocracy.
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