Mocking idleness and turning labor [in the North] into a badge of honor made the South, with its leisured aristocracy supported by slavery, seem even more anomalous than it had been at the time of the Revolution, thus aggravating the growing sectional split in the country. Many Southern aristocrats began emphasizing their cavalier status in contrast to the money-grubbing northern Yankees. They were fond of saying that they were real gentlemen, a rare thing in America.
Ross, Betsy
Philadelphia, PA — The original structure was built about 1740, Betsy and her husband John Ross rented the house 1773 - 86; includes period furniture, exhibits on the American flag, and, near the garden, the graves of husband and wife.
Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789–1815 (2009)