Despite the contagion of liberty during the Revolutionary years, conservatives continued to deny that freedom and liberty were synonymous and opposed democratic development. Discuss how conservatives resisted democratization in the South.

Freedom and liberty meant different things to the Founders of the United States.  Many of the original Founding Fathers were scared of the idea of universal suffrage because they thought that one had to own property in order to be invested enough in society in order to vote.  They were worried that ordinary people would be swayed by empty promises and would not vote for what would be good for the state in the long term.  Many in the Southern aristocracy believed this.  They did not trust poor whites to make good political choices at the polls. As a result, they instituted poll taxes and property requirements to keep them away from the polls.  Also, giving blacks the right to vote was out of the question.  In addition to supporting property requirements in order to vote and hold office, public education in the South lagged behind that of the North.  It was not uncommon for many poor whites to be illiterate as late as the Civil War.  There was also little chance for upward social mobility in the South.  Given how hard it was for a poor person to make a good living and vote for candidates of his choosing, it is little wonder that many who decided to move West in search of new land were Southerners seeking to get away from the South's ridgid social structure.