The agricultural census of 1860 shows that farms in 1859 had been very productive. An unskilled laborer could earn as much as a dollar a day, and families who might be regarded as poor were relatively few. I don't have the published census summary in front of me, but miles of railroad track increased at a great rate between 1850 and 1860. More farmers consigned their cotton to agents who shipped by rail rather than by steamboat, and the number of shipping options opened the possibility of greater profits.
The published census also shows that most Georgia counties had at least one newspaper, several two or more. This suggests strong public interest in political events and American culture during the 1850s.