Some dumb guy on the Internet is saying that it reminds him of a time when he was actually happy. Now, he's obviously racially dogwhistling, but it really occurred to me that I don't really know what life was like for a non-slave, non-rich person back then. Obviously, it was hell on earth for slaves, and probably pretty good for the super rich (just like every other time). Was it better or worse for a free, working class person than the northern states? Better or worse than the US right now?
as is said by others in here better, it was shit. i also understand that whites were required to have guns and were pressed into militias to put down the increasing number of insurrectionary events with constant stories of how any slave rebellion would leave everyone dead. of course, any white person doing anything like teaching a slave to read or abscond or whatever was also made an example of.
i think a lot of this is discussed in Zinn's People's History, but some may also be in the chapter about Virginia's Great Dismal in AKPress' Dixie Be Damned. that's a kickass book, by the way. the stories of the south's insurrectionary past is one that has been very successfully suppressed to keep it a very cheap, diverse and massive labor pool.
but, back to the question: basically, it sounds like unless you were a complete bootlicking kool-aid drinker, it sucked. and even if you were a sniveling shitheel, it probably still sucked.