This paper examines masculine gender relations on Louisiana sugar plantations from 1795 to the end of the Civil War. It argues that the distinct, homosocial space of the sugar plantation provided a diverse cast of men the opportunity to conform, contest, or flout altogether elements of hegemonic masculinity in the antebellum South. By illuminating the various ways in which black men and poor white men particularly negotiated the terms of the southern manhood, this study also argues for a richer, more inclusive gender conversation within southern history.