Most white southerners were yeomen, who were owners of small farms. Yeomen owned few to no slaves at all. The typical farm averaged 100 acres. Yeomen families, including women and children, typically worked long days at a variety of tasks. Some yeomen owned a few slaves but worked alongside the. The poorest of white southerners lived on land that could not grow cash crops. They survived by hunting, fishing, raising small gardens, and doing odd jobs for money. Planters were the wealthiest members of the southern society. They kept a close eye on the slaves and were primarily concerned about raising crops. The wife's usually oversaw the raising of the children and supervised the work of all slaves throughout the household. Free African Americans lived in the region by 1860. Some were descendants of slaves who were freed after the American Revolution, but some worked hard as a skilled worker to buy their freedom. Some slaves also gained their freedom by running away or their slaveholders just released them. They mostly lived on the countryside and worked as paid laborers on plantations or farms.