Of the 8 Million People in the South's White Population

Of the 8 million people in the South's white population, how many owned slaves?

A) nearly all of them, as slavery was such a pervasive part of southern culture
B) at least three fourths, as property ownership required slave ownership as well
C) one half, as women were not allowed to own or to give orders to slaves
D) roughly 400,000 of them, as only a fraction of whites qualified as planters
E) roughly 1,000, as most whites were uncomfortable with the idea of slavery