- Yeoman farmers: These were small-scale farmers who owned little or no land and few slaves. They often resented the wealthy plantation owners who dominated southern society and politics.
- Poor whites: This group included landless laborers and tenant farmers who were often in debt to the wealthy plantation owners. They had little stake in the slave system and often saw slavery as a way to keep them down.
- Religious dissenters: Some religious groups, such as the Quakers, Methodists, and Baptists, opposed slavery on religious grounds. They believed that all people were created equal and that slavery was a sin.
- Unionists: These were southern whites who remained loyal to the Union during the Civil War. They believed that the Union was the best way to preserve the United States and that slavery was a divisive institution that would ultimately lead to the destruction of the country.