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Sectional differences between north and south civil war
Sectional differences between north and south civil war
Civil war north vs south
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America in the 1800s; divided, yet united. How is this so? The North and South emerged as two distinct reasons because they had various differences. These differences included the geography, the economy, and their transportation methods. These varying differences, caused a major divided between the citizens of America that would eventually lead up to the Civil War. One notable physical difference between the North and South, was their geography and climate. While the North was more industrial based and the South agricultural based, striking differences between how the land was, affected how people lived their life. In the North, farming was difficult. Cold weather and rocky soil made the farming season short and hard. However, the North contained …show more content…
huge, vast forests. To make a living, most Northerners turned to building industries. Because of the many natural waterways the North had, they relied on water power to power their factories and machinery. Another distinguishing characteristic that the North had was that they formed tight towns and settlements along the rivers and bays. These towns served as major trading cities and ports. On the other hand, the South had sunny weather and lots of rain, making it ideal for mass farming. Fertile soil resulted in huge plantations and farms being set up, making the South rely on farming. Because of the South’s immense use of farming, they require many slaves of help run the plantation. Since the North didn't need manual labor, they opposed slavery while the South relied on it. This became one of the major conflicts in the Civil War. In addition, there are many differences between the North and South’s economy.
In the North, although farms were still present, they were small and produce was only sold locally. (Chapter 8 Section 1) Instead, the North went through the Industrial Revolution. The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes. They invested money into business using the economic system of capitalism. One main industry in the North was textiles. The textile mills relied on cotton that was planted in the South. Further, the South only focused on farming crops such as tobacco, hemp, wheat, vegetables, rice, and sugarcane. However, the main crop was cotton. Because the North needed so much of it, most plantation owners in the South turned to slave labor to plant and harvest cotton. Also, with the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney, the demand for slaves increased to make up for more cotton. Building an industry in the South was difficult because of the lack of capital or money to invest into a business. In a sense, the North and South depended on each other to make money and stay …show more content…
alive. Transportation provided an opportunity for the North to expand resources and communication easier than in the South.
In the North, people used canals and railroads to grow their business. One major canal, the Erie Canal, opened in October 26, 1825, created an explosion in canal building. Canals allowed businesses to supply food and shelter to workers. (Chapter 8 Section 2) In the South, canals and roads were scarce. However, since most towns were along coasts or rivers, natural waterways provided the main means of transportation in the South. (Chapter 9 Section 1) The shortage of railroads in the South led to the small city development unlike the North. In addition, such shortage of railroads proved to be a disadvantage for the South in the Civil War. In the end, new ways of transportation helped unite the
country. Society and culture were different in the North than it was in the South. The culture of the North was determined by life in the cities. In northern towns, schools and churches were present. Religion and education were organized. However, very few boys and almost no girls went on the secondary school. During the Civil War, small farms and business in the North, were left up to the women to run because most men and boys were fighting. On the other hand, the war brought greater economic opportunities to Northern citizens. Factories producing firearms, shells, bullets, blankets, tents, and shells escalated. In the South, the culture was determined by the upper class plantation owners and their families. Only children of plantation owners were allowed to receive an education. In the Civil War, the South was decimated. The lack of railroads and transportation made it hard to ship food and resources to the people. In short, the differing societies of the North and South changed during the Civil War. If I were to live in either society, I would choose the North. It was more established, cities were closer together, the economy was industry based, and education was more accessible. The South however, was isolated and agricultural based. In conclusion, the North and South were two differing areas in the United States.
oth had a high code of honour. The people in the South were more respectable and had higher status if they had a lot of slaves. The North also had a high code of honour and this depended on their education and careers. Both the North and the South were also very religious and practiced their religion. Overall, I feel that the differences were very substantial between the North and the South as these differences played a part to the Civil War.
The population of the North consisted of forward thinking individuals. They realized that a change had to be made from agriculture to industry if they were to prosper and for them to use free labor to accomplish prosperity would be to take a step backwards. This ushered in an small and early Industrial Revolution. Factories and mills that produced finished goods sprung up all over the Northern United States along major waterways. These factories produced fabric, iron, machinery, weapons. Raw materials such as cotton was bought from the South and then sold back to them in the form of clothes. Iron workers made iron railroad ties for the growing railroads across the country. More machinery was being built than ever before. These machines were able to multiply the work that could be accomplished. These industries drew in people from rural areas because they were paying for work. As more people came, they settled around the factori...
The economies of the two regions are still very different. The North tends to be more pro-union and workers rights. Whereas the South, tend to have more right-to-work states, which embraces more of corporate rights stance.
Sectionalism and the Breakup of the U.S. Throughout the early 1800's the country was split in many areas over many issues. Some of the more severe clashes between differing groups resulting from such issues as slavery, expansion, and internal improvement. With all of these controversial topics to worry about along with the vast diversity in the nation, causing separation and tensions throughout the country. The most prominent of the previous topics was slavery.
the south. Both north and south economies had many similarities and a several differences. The northern economy was built on a commercial platform of trade-dependent, industrial society. During the 1800s, the north experienced an Industrial Revolution. Many factories sprung up in prominent cities such as New York, leading to an increase unskilled labor. Population sizes grew due to the swell in job opportunities, urbanization, and immigration. There were also, intricate railway systems and numerous waterways that allowed for simple trade and shipping among major cities.
Transportation improved from the market revolution through many new inventions, railroads, steamboats, and canals. Pressure for improvements in transportation came at least as much from cities eager to buy as from farmers seeking to sell. The first railroad built was in 1792, it started a spread throughout the states. Cumberland which began to be built in 1811 and finished in 1852, known to be called the national road stretched over five hundred miles from Cumberland to Illinois. By 1821, there were four thousand miles of turnpike in the United States. Turnpikes were not economical to ship bulky goods by land across long distance across America, so another invention came about. Robert Fulton created steam boats in 1807; he named his first one ‘Clermont.’ These steam boats allowed quick travel upriver against the currents, they were also faster and cheaper. The steamboats became a huge innovation with the time travel of five miles per hour. It also stimulated agricultural economy of west by providing better access to markets at lower cost. While steamboats were conquering the western rivers, canals were being constructed in the northeastern states. The firs...
Geographically, North and South were very different places. The pastures of New England were similar to those found in England, suitable for a variety of uses. Hot Southern prairie lands were perfect for cotton growing, a lucrative business at this time. Following the invention of Eli Whitney's Cotton Gin, the South became increasingly dependent on this crop, and an entire society grew out of it. The society was one of wealthy planters, who led a life similar to the landed gentry of England, controlling politics and society of the day. In the fields laboured Negro slaves, usually only a handful per plantation, though larger farms were occasionally seen. In addition, there lived poor whites, tenant farmers or smallholders, who eked out a living from the land. This contrasted sharply with Northern society, where industrialisation flourished, creating wealthy entrepreneurs and employing cheap immigrant labour. Given the localised nature of media, and difficulties of transport two cultures grew up in the same nation, remarkably different and often suspicious of one another.
In the north, machines, interchangeable parts, and mass production were fast becoming a way of life. Northerners began building factories for mass production. These first factories were used for making textiles and later evolved to manufacturing a wide variety of goods. This created several opportunities for jobs. And with immigrants flooding in from Europe, finding employment was no problem. The factory system was efficient and inexpensive for the north to employ a large work force.
Slavery had a big impact on the market, but most of it was centered on the main slave crop, cotton. Primarily, the south regulated the cotton distribution because it was the main source of income in the south and conditions were nearly perfect for growing it. Cheap slave labor made it that much more profitable and it grew quickly as well. Since the development in textile industry in the north and in Britain, cotton became high in demand all over the world. The south at one point, was responsible for producing “eighty percent of the world’s cotton”. Even though the South had a “labor force of eighty-four percent working, it only produced nine percent of the nations manufactured goods”, (Davidson 246). This statistic shows that the South had an complete advantage in manpower since slavery wasn’t prohibited. In the rural South, it was easy for plantation owners to hire slaves to gather cotton be...
The most important difference between the north and south was the issue of slavery. The South was primarily agricultural, and the southern economy was based upon the existence of large family farms known as plantations. The plantation economy relied on cheap labor in the form of slaves to produce tobacco and cotton. Farmers on the plantation did not do the work themselves; they needed slaves in order to make the largest amount of money possible. The North, however, was primarily industrial in nature. The North believed that all men should be able to work and support themselves and their families, regardless of color. They also felt that if a man were happy doing his job, then he would be more productive. Therefore, both he and the business would make more money.
The Southern and Northern states varied on many issues, which eventually led them to the Civil War. There were deep economic, social, and political differences between the North and the South. These differences stemmed from the interpretation of the United States Constitution on both sides. In the end, all of these disagreements about the rights of states led to the Civil War. There were reasons other than slavery for the South?s secession. The manifestations of division in America were many: utopian communities, conflicts over public space, backlash against immigrants, urban riots, black protest, and Indian resistance (Norton 234). America was a divided land in need reform with the South in the most need. The South relied heavily on agriculture, as opposed to the North, which was highly populated and an industrialized society. The South grew cotton, which was its main cash crop and many Southerners knew that heavy reliance on slave labor would hurt the South eventually, but their warnings were not heeded. The South was based on a totalitarian system.
Secondly, the demand for cotton grew tremendously as cotton became an important raw material for the then developing cotton industries in the North and Britain. The growing of cotton revived the Southern economy and the plantations spread across the south, and by 1850 the southern U.S produced more than 80% of cotton all over the world. As this cotton based economy of the south grew so did the slave labor to work in these large scale plantations since they were more labor-intensive...
The completion of the canal in 1825 led to a two way trade system. Boats would travel East with supplies from the Great Lakes and the surrounding territory and return with settlers and passengers travelling West, which became an extensive business (Johnson 375). The economic success and prosperity of the Canal also provided motivation for the construction of railroads West, including the transcontinental railroad (Seelye 264). The Erie Canal determined the flow of commerce in the United States for over a century (Seelye 252).
The people of the north and southern regions have their differences between their way of life, society, food they eat, the animals and crops they can have, to the way they make a profit...
With the economic system, the south had a very hard time producing their main source “cotton and tobacco”. “Cotton became commercially significant in the 1790’s after the invention of a new cotton gin by Eli Whitney. (PG 314)” Let alone, if they had a hard time producing goods, the gains would be extremely unprofitable. While in the North, “In 1837, John Deere patented a strong, smooth steel plow that sliced through prairie soil so cleanly that farmers called it the “singing plow.” (PG 281).” Deere’s company became the leading source to saving time and energy for farming as it breaks much more ground to plant more crops. As well as mechanical reapers, which then could harvest twelve acres a day can double the corn and wheat. The North was becoming more advanced by the second. Many moved in the cities where they would work in factories, which contributed to the nation’s economic growth because factory workers actually produced twice as much of labor as agricultural workers. Steam engines would be a source of energy and while coal was cutting prices in half actually created more factories, railroads for transportation, and ships which also gave a rise in agricultural productivity.